Editing Cable car (railway) (section)

== Relation to funiculars == <!-- Do not make this section about funiculars -->
A cable car is superficially similar to a [[funicular]], but differs from such a system in that its cars are not permanently attached to the cable and can stop independently, whereas a funicular has cars that are permanently attached to the propulsion cable, which is itself stopped and started. A cable car cannot climb as steep a grade as a funicular, but many more cars can be operated with a single cable, making it more flexible, and allowing a higher capacity. During the rush hour on San Francisco's Market Street Railway in 1883, a car would leave the terminal every 15 seconds.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Evanosky |first1=Dennis |title=Lost San Francisco |date=2013 |publisher=Pavilion Books |page=60 |isbn=9781909815247 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KP-_CAAAQBAJ&pg=PT60 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

A few funicular railways operate in street traffic, and because of this operation are often incorrectly described as cable cars. Examples of such operation, and the consequent confusion, are:
* The [[Great Orme Tramway]] in [[Llandudno]], [[Wales]].
* Several street funiculars in [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]].

Even more confusingly, a hybrid cable car/funicular line once existed in the form of the original [[Wellington Cable Car]], in the [[New Zealand]] city of [[Wellington]]. This line had both a continuous loop haulage cable that the cars gripped using a cable car gripper, and a balance cable permanently attached to both cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car (which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable. This line was rebuilt in 1979 and is now a standard funicular, although it retains its old cable car name.