Editing Funicular (section)

==History==
[[File:Tünel Istanbul.jpg|thumb|Tünel in Istanbul, launched in 1875, Karaköy station as of 2006]]

A number of [[cable railway]] systems which pull their cars on inclined slopes were built since the 1820s. 
In the second half of the 19th century the design of a funicular as a transit system emerged. 
It was especially attractive in comparison with the other systems of the time as counterbalancing of the cars was deemed to be a cost-cutting solution.<ref name="Giessbach" />

The first line of the [[Funiculars of Lyon]] ({{lang|fr|Funiculaires de Lyon}}) opened in 1862, followed by other lines in 1878, 1891 and 1900. The [[Budapest Castle Hill Funicular]] was built in 1868–69, with the first test run on 23 October 1869. 
The oldest funicular railway operating in Britain dates from 1875 and is in [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]], North Yorkshire.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8017535.stm |work=BBC News | title=Blunder traps eight on cliff lift | date=24 April 2009 | access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref>
In [[Istanbul]], Turkey, the [[Tünel]] has been in continuous operation since 1875 and is both the first underground funicular and the second-oldest underground railway. 
It remained powered by a steam engine up until it was taken for renovation in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tunel.iett.istanbul/tr/tunel/pages/tunel-kronolojisi/566 |title=Tünel Kronolojisi |trans-title=Tünel Chronology |publisher=İETT - Tunnel |language=tr |access-date=2017-12-07 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108101717/http://tunel.iett.istanbul/tr/tunel/pages/tunel-kronolojisi/566 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Until the end of the 1870s, the four-rail parallel-track funicular was the normal configuration. [[Carl Roman Abt]] developed the Abt Switch allowing the two-rail layout, which was used for the first time in 1879 when the [[Giessbach Funicular]] opened in [[Switzerland]].<ref name="hefti" />

In the United States, the first funicular to use a two-rail layout was the [[Telegraph Hill Railroad]] in San Francisco, which was in operation from 1884 until 1886.<ref>{{cite web|title=Telegraph Hill Railroad|url=http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccsf.html#thrr|date=1 July 2009|work=The Cable Car Home Page – Cable Car Lines in San Francisco|publisher=Joe Thompson|access-date=20 September 2009|quote=The Telegraph Hill Railroad was not a cable car line ...; it was a funicular railway}}</ref> The [[Mount Lowe Railway]] in Altadena, California, was the first [[mountain railway]] in the United States to use the three-rail layout. Three- and two-rail layouts considerably reduced the space required for building a funicular, reducing grading costs on mountain slopes and property costs for urban funiculars. These layouts enabled a funicular boom in the latter half of the 19th century.

Currently, the United States' oldest and steepest funicular in continuous use is the [[Monongahela Incline]] located in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]. Construction began in 1869 and officially opened 28 May 1870 for passenger use. The Monongahela incline also has the distinction of being the first funicular in the United States for strictly passenger use and not freight.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://inclinedplane.tripod.com/otherpaincl.htm |title=Duquesne Incline, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Other Pennsylvania Inclines |website=inclinedplane.tripod.com/ }}</ref>

In 1880 the funicular of [[Mount Vesuvius]] inspired the Italian popular song ''[[Funiculì, Funiculà]]''. This funicular was destroyed repeatedly by volcanic eruptions and abandoned after the eruption of 1944.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Paul |title=Thomas Cook & Son's Vesuvius Railway |journal=Japan Railway & Transport Review |date=March 1998 |url=http://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/jrtr15/pdf/f10_smi.pdf}}</ref>