Funival

When Mankind has gone and the planet is ruled by cockroaches, these monuments to our imagination and industry will still remain. How will the cockroaches explain this hole in the side of the mountain?

The funival is a train that delivers skiers from La Daille at 1797m to almost the top of the Bellevarde at 2689m. It was designed by architect Marc Albert, produced in 1987, and cost sixty million francs. The tunnel through the mountain runs for 1720m and the steepest gradient is 53% (not to be confused with 53 degrees, which is very, very steep). A cable runs from the front of the lower train, via a construction of electric powered pulleys in the mountain station to the back of the descending train. The mass of the descending train helps pull the climbing train and electric motors provide the power to overcome the weight difference between the climbing and descending trains plus any friction.

Clever stuff.