Engineering News December 21, 1889
The Dunderberg Mountain Gravity Railway
The railroad shown on the accompanying map was evidently not
laid out in the manner in which the Czar of Russia located the
railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow; nor is it presented as
a sample of the art of locating railways with minimum curvature
as practiced in the United States.
It belongs to a class of railways of which very few examples
exist, but which are destined to become more and more common,
whose purpose is merely to carry pleasure travel, and to do it
without the more or less disagreeable adjuncts which are inseparable
from the use of a locomotive.
Dunderberg Mountain is located in the Hudson Highlands in Rockland
County N Y. about forty miles from New York City. The projected
railway shown on the map will start from a point on the West Shore
Railroad near the river level, and will ascend the mountain by
an inclined plane, worked by cables, having a grade of 29 percent
to an altitude of 1,100 ft. From the summit of this plane the
gravity road runs by a circuitous route, as shown, all around
the flanks and foothills of the mountain, and finally returns
to its starting point. The total length traversed is about fifteen
miles, so located as to give passengers the best opportunity of
enjoying the wild scenery of this region.
The total cost of the railroad and all equipment is estimated
at $500,000. It is believed by the projectors that the proximity
of New York and Brooklyn and other large cities will insure the
road a very profitable traffic. The popular route for excursions
will doubtless be by steamer up the Hudson from New York City,
giving pleasure seekers a two-hours' sail through the Hudson Highlands
in addition to their thirteen-mile trip by rail on the mountain.
The enterprise is projected by Messrs., T. L. and H. J. Mumford
who have managed for some years the Mauch Chunk, Summit Hill &
Switch Back Gravity Railway at Mauch Chunk, Pa. The line has been
located, and is expected to be put under contract early in the
coming year.
From an engineering point of view, the enterprise is a highly
interesting one, and seems perfectly feasible in every way. A
well kept gravity road, by virtue of its easy riding and freedom
from noise, smoke, and dust, is peculiarly suited for pleasure
excursions A road on a similar plan to the above, but on a smaller
scale, has been built the past sea son near Reading Pa; and a
short one with moderate grade has been proposed in Philadelphia
for Fairmount Park.
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