Recommended Reading From Our Senior Engineering Student
Want to learn more about Ropeways? Their technology, history, uses? Below are resources by topic from the Information Center for Ropeway Studies for FAQ's.
Remember--The best way to find specific items or go deeper into your research is the Ropeway Database.
What's a Ropeway?
Doppelmayr World WidePublication Date: SeriesBrochures; include photos of Doppelmayr ropeway installations internationally.
We can do it : the construction of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway by Call Number: TJ1386 .L35 2012Publication Date: 2012Construction of the Palm Springs Aerial Tram in California, the second largest vertical rise single span lift in the world.- 75 Jahre CWA byCall Number: TJ1386 .C92 2014Publication Date: 2014Gondola and tram cabin manufacturer book with pictures of various systems over the years.
- Sandia Peak byCall Number: GV854.5.N6 S35 1998ISBN: 9780965405416Publication Date: 1998Pictorial history of New Mexico’s Sandia Peak Tram and Ski Area. Includes photos of tram construction and track rope replacement.
Sempre sulle corde le funivie connettono by Call Number: TJ1385 .M588 2019ISBN: 9788868394219Publication Date: 2018Although written completely in Italian, this book has some stunning pictures of a variety of old and new ropeways.- Snowbird Tram byCall Number: TJ1385 .M33 2001ISBN: 0971465711Publication Date: 2001Images, technical descriptions, and other information about the legendary Snowbird Aerial Tram in Salt Lake County, Utah.
History of Ropeways?
- Milestones in Ropeway HistoryPublication Date: 1984In: ISR - Internationale Seilbahnrundschau (Online), 4/1984 pg. 184. Extremely detailed article about the history of ropeway for both military and passenger transport applications from ancient origins to today.
- Aerial or wire-rope tramways : their construction and management by Call Number: TJ1385 .W36 1898Publication Date: 1898Book published in 1898 containing details of tramways systems of the era. Includes photos and engineering diagrams.
- Colorado’s First Aerial Passenger Tramway byCall Number: Ropeway Reprint #1041History of the Sunrise Tram at Silver Plume, Colorado with ropeway history section included. Written by Chuck Dwyer, who made many generous donations to the Ropeway Center.
A Salute to the ChairliftCall Number: Ropeway CenterPublication Date: 1991In: Ski Area Management 5/1991 pg. 76. A history of the chairlift, from early origins to modern developments, with a focus on Americans contributions to the invention.
Sun Valley Singles: History MadeCall Number: Ropeway CenterPublication Date: 1991Ski Area Management 5/1991 pg. 78. History of the development of the world’s first chairlift in Sun Valley, Idaho and the civil engineer who devised it. Includes several great pictures of the original Sun Valley Singles.- American Pioneer Aerial Ski Lift Engineers/Manufacturers byCall Number: TJ1385 .I57 2013Publication Date: 2013In: OITAF-NACS Proceedings 2013, Pages 4.1-4.30. An account of various influential figures in the American ropeway industry with descriptions and illustrations. Written by industry pioneer Jan Leonard.
- Aerial Ropeways: Automatic cargo transport for a bargainCall Number: Ropeway Reprint #0004Publication Date: 2011?Detailed history of ropeways for material transport and application in a variety of fields. Commentary on the future of material tramways.
History of Wire RopeCall Number: TJ1385 .V34 1981Publication Date: 1981In: Proceedings :Vail aerial tramway & ski safety seminar, Vail, Colorado, 1981, p. 166. Overview of the history of the general wire rope industry (not specific to just ropeway systems) in North America.
How are Ropeways Used in Mining?
Riding the High Wire by Call Number: TN332 .T74 2001ISBN: 0870816306Publication Date: 2001The premier source on mine trams. Details the rise and fall of mines trams in American mining including descriptions of the Hallidie and Bleichert systems, system profiles with diagrams and images of significant trams, and history of the technology into the modern age.
Mining the Hard Rock in the Silverton San Juans by Call Number: TN24.C6 M27 1998ISBN: 9780963202826Publication Date: 1996Details the Shenandoah-Dives Aerial Tram in Silverton, Colorado, one of the last major mine trams built and one of the few built with steel towers. Contains pictures of the tram in operation and stories from those who worked on it.
Tramway Titan by Call Number: TN332 .W44 2005ISBN: 9781412050937Publication Date: 2005-01-01Biography of Byron Riblet, an engineer who built many mine tramways starting in British Columbia. Riblet’s namesake company would go on to build trams around the world and be a pioneer in fixed grip chairlifts.
What is Wire Rope?
Wire Ropes: Tension, Endurance, Reliability by Call Number: A492.W8 F49 2007 (2007 edition in print)ISBN: 9783642549953Publication Date: 20142014 ed. available online (Mines community only). Textbook covering many important wire rope concepts with engineering equations describing rope behavior.
Theory of Wire Rope by Call Number: TA492.W8 C67 (print version)ISBN: 9781461219705Publication Date: 1997Online ed. available (Mines community only). A broader work, this has a wider range of covered topics.
The Book of Wire and Cable Terms by Call Number: TJ1385 .B56 2003ISBN: 9781877836251Publication Date: 2003Glossary of terms related to wire and cable. Not specific to wire rope, but helpful to understand complex terminology.- Wire Rope Users Manual byCall Number: S1787 .W55 2005Publication Date: 2005Guide to different types of wire ropes, bending and sheave analysis. Includes wire rope tables and guide to wire rope damage.
- Some Observations on the Long Splice by Publication Date: 2006Notes, ISR (internationale Seilbahn-Rundschau), June 2006 p. 25-27. Outstanding article from Dr. Gabor Oplatka on wire rope splicing, including an excellent diagram and discussion of engineering concepts related to splices.
Fatzer files; Redaelli files, Manufacturers Catalogs collection [cabinets]. Contain many diagrams and descriptions of wire rope as used in ropeway applications.
What's the Technology?
- Ropeway Technology: Analytical Review of Ropeways byCall Number: TJ1386 .H63Publication Date: NAOutstanding textbook from famed industry engineering Gottfried Hoffman covering many important concepts and calculations related to ropeway systems and components of all types.
- Conceptual Inputs for Optimizing the Functional Efficiency of Circulating Monocable Ropeways by Call Number: TJ1385 .D663 1998Publication Date: 1998Based on Artur Doppelmayr’s doctoral thesis, this work covers important aspects of monocable lifts, concepts of ropeway design, and important insights from industry accidents.
Cableway Terminology by Call Number: TJ1385 .T47 1993ISBN: 843932460XPublication Date: 1993Glossary of important terminology. Contains terms in Catalonian, Spanish, French, English and German (helpful for translation)
Want to Learn More About Ropway Accidents?
- Biggest Disaster in Ropeway HistoryPublication Date: 2000In: ISR - Internationale Seilbahnrundschau (Online) 8/2000 pg. 20. Account of the deadly fire on the Kaprun underground funicular in Austria in which 155 people lost their lives.
- The Tragedy on Gondola IICall Number: Ropeway Reprint #0270Publication Date: 1976Detailed article from Sports Illustrated about the deadly accident in 1976 on Gondola II at Vail in which 4 people were killed. This tragic accident led to many safety changes in the industry. Many photographs of this incident, taken by Charles Dwyer, are in the Images collection of the Ropeway Library.
- Quicksilver Chairlift Incident Report by Call Number: TJ1385 .B72 1996ISBN: 077263016XPublication Date: 1996Engineering report of the accident on Whistler’s Quicksilver Lift, in which grip failure caused two deaths. This was part of a series of deadly accidents involving Yan lifts. The report contains excellent drawings of the infamous Yan Type 11 grips.
- Military Aircraft Severs Cableway Rope(s)Call Number: Ropeway CenterPublication Date: 1998in: ISR - Internationale Seilbahnrundschau (Online)/1998 pg. 32. Account and short engineering study of the 1998 incident where a U.S. fighter jet clipped the haul rope and track rope of an Italian tram, sending a loaded cabin plunging to the ground. 20 people lost their lives.
Vail’s Amazing TurnaroundCall Number: Ropeway CenterPublication Date: 1999In: Ski Area Management March 1999 pg 61. Article about the process to rebuild the drive terminal of Vail’s Chair 5, which was burned down in an act of environmental terrorism. The Vail maintenance staff rebuilt essentially the entire drive terminal in just over two months.
Treasures the Ropeway Center
Ropeway Display (northeast corner of Floor 1, Library). This display features a working model of a ropeway system designed and constructed by William Beasley, Class of 2021. The display also includes visually striking objects from the Ropeway Center, from images of ropeway systems around the world to an original section of the Albert Rope, believed to be one of the first wire ropes ever made.
- Mines Repository This link opens in a new window
The Mines Institutional Repository is a database designed to store, index, distribute, and preserve the scholarship of faculty, researchers, staff, and students of the School in digital form. It provides free, worldwide open access to scholarly and administrative works produced by or about the Colorado School of Mines.
Ropeway Image Collection (online in the Mines Institutional Repository) contains outstanding images of ropeway systems new and old alike. Examples: The original Yan River Run Gondola at Keystone, the Saline Valley Salt Tram in Death Valley, and images from Charles Dwyer over his decades of industry experience.
Roosevelt Island Tramway Collection. This unique collection represents the entire set of engineering diagrams and prints fro
m the original VonRoll tram in New York City. This tram was the first significant urban ropeway in the United States, and operated from 1976 to 2010. Highlights: Drawings 5.3-1 (Box 1), 5.4-1 (Box 2), and 5.5-3 (Box 2) for prints of the drive terminal, tension terminal, and tram carriage respectively.