Ropeway: Who invented the facility that gives wings to tourists?

- The first ropeway (first picture) designed by Fausto four hundred years ago and a picture of another early ropeway

No year or date can be given as to when the Rop-Way started. More than one name has been recorded in history as to who invented the ropeway. But the ropeway has developed gradually. Its topical story ...

The method of crossing the river by rope has been used for over two thousand years. But this technique was first used in the names of 6 countries, including India, China and Japan. In the two-and-a-half-thousand-year-old method, a person would cross a cross by hanging on a rope. Today, such an adventure is considered a circus game. However, in some mountainous areas of India, people use hand-made ropeways to cross the river. Even if they don't hang in there, the temporary trolley they made is dangerous.

Over time a little convenience was added and the basket-trolley-yoke began. Which could accommodate a person or luggage. The luggage hangs on one rope and is pulled by the other. This method was easier when coming from the highlands to the lowlands.

If a person comes down from the rope with a lassi, his hands will be gone. That is why a polo piece of bamboo was tied to the rope. The passenger is holding a piece of bamboo, which pulls it down.

Ropeways began to be used to manipulate animals with humans. The ropeway was pulled by tying a rope to the body of a loaded animal such as an ox-donkey-yak to pull the ropeway in case of carrying heavy goods from here to there.

In the 19th century, a Japanese emperor was forced to flee by ropeway after being surrounded by enemies. Ropeways were also used in Europe in the early 19th century. In the Middle Ages, watermills were used in Europe to draw water, so it was used to bring goods down from a high place. In the 19th century, gold mines in the United States also began to be rigged by ropes tied high.

The first design that can be said to be the ancestor of today's ropeway was made in 1917 by the Croatian explorer Fausto Veranzio. It was the first tidy design, with pillars at both ends, ropes in between, trolleys hanging in it ... etc. It is considered to be the world's first modern ropeway today. A ropeway rope was operated. Fausto came up with several inventions, including a parachute that could fly.

When Faust started, the facility was pushed forward by Dutch researcher Adam Webb. He fitted the wheels so that the hanging trolley could travel continuously. In addition, instead of a single trolley, more trolleys were hung and in a few hundred more goods were smuggled. This is how all ropeways work today. The ropeway he built in the Dunkirk area of ​​Germany was so successful in smuggling goods that the ropeway became more widespread. This facility was very attractive to the then rulers in building forts and palaces on top.

Such indigenous customs continued until the 19th century. Then came the development of mechanical technology and the introduction of machine-powered ropeways instead of humans or animals. With the advent of electricity its consumption increased and ropeways were used wherever goods had to be manipulated from top to bottom or from this side of the river to the other side as it was easier to manage electricity than all other sources.

Until the turn of the 20th century, ropeway was the main use of freight. Today, it is difficult to understand that ropeway is the transportation of goods. Because today the ropeway is mostly used to give ‘wings’ to the passengers in the mountain tourist destinations.

People living in the plains did not have a special need for ropeways. The ropeway also developed in the European Alps, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Italy. The mechanical skills behind the ropeway in Junagadh also belong to the Austrian company Doppelmeyer. Because it is not easy to make special type of rope, strong pillars, safe trolley etc. required for ropeway.

Trolleys hanging in the air with the word ropeway appear in front of the eye. But the ropeway also includes a cable car running on the ground and a funicular climbing on the tracks. If we look at funiculars today, we remember train-railways instead of ropeways. Because that's what performance looks like. But when this facility was started, the railways had not been developed yet. That's when it started to be considered part of the ropeway.

The first modern cable car was launched in the city of Lyon, France in the 19th century. The three-car train was pulled by a rope on the tracks, carrying three and a half hundred passengers at a time to a slightly higher altitude. The main difference between a railway and a cable car is the engine. Powered by a railway engine, the cable car does not have its own engine, the outside engine pulls its rope to make it travel.

The cable car or cable railway, which slides on the ground like a tram, was started by Andrew Smith Heldy, a researcher in the 19th century. Andrew, who studied engineering, started producing ropes and from that he came up with the idea of ​​pulling a cart with a rope! The sloping streets of San Francisco had to run this idea of ​​his and got the slope! The ropes of the car or compartment stayed under the ground and kept moving. Based on this, the trolley kept moving on the ground. There is controversy over whether he was the first to launch the cable car. But the patent of the first railway car is registered in his name. That is why his name is more popular as the inventor of cable car.

San Francisco, on the other hand, is the world's last manually operated cable car. The facility, which started two hundred and fifty years ago, has now become a means of tourism. Passengers use this cable car to climb the hill in the hill town of Francisco. There is also a museum that presents the history of the cable car.

On the 18th, a ropeway began on a hill near Vienna, Austria. Which was probably the first ropeway for tourism. There was no baggage. The ropeway was designed just for the convenience of people coming and going. Then, in the 20th century, various European countries started small and big ropeways in their own way. The first ropeway with a large cabin for tourists started in 190 in Ferinburg, Germany and then in Davos, Switzerland, known for the World Economic Forum.

The construction of ropeways also varied according to different geographies. Today, most ropeways have closed cabins. This is because maintaining the safety of the tourists passing through the heights is the main issue. But there were also open ropeways known as chairlifts or ski lifts with chairs hanging in the air.

It is used in ice skating rides. The laser has to come down from high on the ice. But for that, don't reach high first! This means that the players are escorted in an open chair lift-ski lift. Ski lifts were started by American engineer James Curran in the 19th century.

During the First World War, Italy, Austria, Hungary and other countries started using ropeways to deliver weapons to the troops stationed in the mountainous areas. Realizing the importance of ropeway in time, Italy had set up a ropeway department in the army.

With that began a new chapter in the military ropeway. The ropeway was also very useful in bringing down soldiers who were wounded at the top.

The ropeway arrived in India on the 19th. The ropeway was started in Darjeeling, a popular tourist destination. It was started, however, to make it easier to get to the tea garden, as there was no other way. Now those tourists use it.

Today ropeways have become synonymous with tourism. Ropeway ropes are hung where it is difficult to get around in mountaineering or religious places. On the other hand, in many parts of the world, ropeways have become a means of development, not travel. Because of the ropeway in the hilly or valley area where the road is not possible, the facilities could be reached.

The purpose behind the Girnar ropeway project in Junagadh, which has been stalled for years, is also to provide relief to the passengers. Because not all tourists can climb the three thousand feet high Girnar with religious significance. Some tourists return after climbing a few steps, unable to climb further. Now that the ropeway has started, all those questions are gone. The ropeway from Girnar will run from the foothills to Ambaji, the main temple.

Ambaji, however, is the most popular temple in Girnar. Baki is one of the many temples of Girnar. In Girnar, even beyond Ambaji, there is a unique mountain splendor. The ropeway has made the journey easier for all of them. With a length of over two and a half kilometers, this ropeway is currently the longest in Asia. Its pillars are seven to nine storeys high. It usually takes three hours to reach Ambaji. The ropeway will do the job in eight to ten minutes.