Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Wellington's Cable Car Museum

I enjoyed meeting with other sketchers at the Cable Car Museum on Wellington Anniversary day.

The cable car was built to transport people from the city centre to the proposed residential subdivision in Kelburn.  It started operation in 1902 and still runs today.  The line is 785m long, rises 119m and passes through three tunnels.

The museum is located in the old winding house, the original winding gear is in the basement.  This gear became redundant when a new cable car system was installed in 1979.

An engineer (mannequin) working on the winding gear.

Grip Car No 1.  One of the original 'Red Rattlers'.  I like how it has seats on the sides facing outwards.  It reminded me of the cable cars in San Francisco.  These were replaced by bigger (and safer) carriages in 1979.


The view of Wellington city and harbour from the lookout at the Kelburn terminus.  The terminus is a short walk from Wellington Botanic Garden and the Carter Observatory.

3 comments:

  1. Great winding gear depiction. I'm enjoying the illustration course Dave.

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  2. Great to see your sketches, thanks for organising it. I had a great time and only got a little bit sunburnt

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