Funicular Railway – Interesting Ship Of The Week

We are starting a new feature here on gCaptain titled “Interesting Ship Of The Week” and the first vessel we’d like to share this unusual barge transporter near Krasnoyarskaya Russia.

Unfortunately we don’t have many details but the pictures tell most of the story. Visit EnglishRussia.com for the high resolution images.

UPDATE:

Capdiamont offers the details behind this railed giant;

I can’t find the original source he used, but it is a massive electrically powered rack railway that hauls  ships,  up and over a dam in Russia. At the top it has a turntable  so the locomotive  can be turned to keep it’s load straight, no matter which way it goes. Think of the top of the dam as the crest. In order to keep the downhill side always downhill, you have to turn it. This one is unusual because the top of the turntable is slanted to keep the locomotive slanted, so the load stays level. Add to all this, is the massive size of everything. This has to be the longest, and heaviest turntable in the world.

If you look at some of the pictures, you can see the gears to mesh in to the rails. That is my reasoning for it to be a rack railway, even though it doesn’t have the traditional center rack, like you would think. (Source: Capdiamont)

We are glad to get the facts behind this story. Honest thanks also goes out to NavaGear for the English lesson in the comments.

Subscribe for Daily Maritime Insights

Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update

— trusted by our 109,149 members