The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

What has a long cable, a bunch of wheels, a few towers, and a car with a rotating floor? The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. In the 1930s, a man named Francis F. Crocker was visiting the town of Banning. Banning is in the desert and gets very hot in the summer. One day, Crocker looked up to the peak of San Jacinto Mountain. He could see the snow still on the top of the mountain, and he got an idea. He wanted to build a tramway that would take people from the desert up to the mountain. Almost 30 years passed before the tramway was built. In 1963, passengers took their first trip on the tramway.

A trip on the tramway begins at the Valley Station. The Valley Station is at an elevation of 2,643 feet, or 806 meters. Passengers get into a cabin car that can hold about 80 people and one operator. The cabin car is attached to a cable that is over two miles long! A large wheel called the Main Haul Rope Drive Wheel pulls the main cable. This large wheel is located at the Valley Station. There are extra wheels near the Main Haul Rope Drive. The main cable wraps around these extra wheels. The extra wheels provide more friction for pulling the cable.

The cabin car is pulled up the mountain. Passengers watch the valley floor grow smaller and smaller. The cabin car passes over five towers before it reaches the Mountain Station. At Tower 1, the cabin car is about 227 feet off the ground. The cabin car stays closer to the side of the mountain as it travels upward. At Tower 2, the cabin car is only 146 feet off the ground. By Tower 3, the cabin car is 83 feet off the ground.

Cabin cars travel up the mountain at about 1,970 feet per minute, or about 21 miles per hour. The cars slow down a little bit as they pass over the towers. A large weight, called a Track Rope Counter-Weight, pulls down on the main cable. The counter-weight keeps the main cable taut. The counter-weight weighs about 120 tons! As the cabin car approaches the Mountain Station, the main cable passes through other wheels called Bull Wheels. These wheels guide the cable into the Mountain Station.

Passengers get out of the cabin car at the Mountain Station. They are now at an elevation of 8,516 feet, or 2,597 meters. The cabin car has traveled over a mile from the Valley Station. A view of the valley stretches out below. Since the tramway began operating, more than 12 million people have enjoyed the view from the Mountain Station.

If you ever get to ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, don't worry about getting a “good” seat. The cabin car rotates as it climbs up the mountain, so each passenger can see everything!

Vocabulary

aerial:

Of or in the air.

friction:

A force that makes an object slow down when it rubs against another object.

rotate:

definition

tramway:

The path a cable car follows.

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Sources:

History - Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

http://www.pstramway.com/history-tech/history-detail.asp

Mechanics - Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

http://www.pstramway.com/history-tech/technical-detail.asp