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Covasna Inclined Plane
Covasna's inclined plane (also called Șiclău) is a unique standard-gauge railway system used to carry logs by using gravity, without any other source of energy. History Covasna's inclined plane (Șiclăul, as it is known locally), was designed by engineer Emil Lux in 1886, at the initiative of lumber mill owner David Horn near the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania. The railway's main purpose was to increase wood supply and timber transportation. A narrow-gauge railway (760 mm) Comandău - Covasna was built between 1889 and 1891. After two years Horn transferred the concession to forestry company Ardeleana, formerly Erdelyi Erdoipar RT. Ardeleana was founded in 1890 and was owned by Groedel brothers. This company built nine railway systems covering a total of 118.3 km. To enable the connection between Valea Zânelor (Fairy's Valley) and Șiclău, the Inclined Plane was inaugurated in 1890. The components were manufactured by Viennese firm Oba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard-gauge Railway
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia, Finland, Uzbekistan, and some line sections in Spain. The distance between the inside edges of the heads of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in U.S. customary/ British Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches", which is equivalent to 1,435.1mm. History As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rail heads) to be used, as the wheels of the rolling stock (locomoti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |