The Sugarloaf Cable Car is a cableway system in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The first part runs between Praia Vermelha and Morro da Urca (at 722 feet (220 m)), from where the second rises to the summit of the 1,299-foot (396 m) Sugarloaf Mountain.
The cableway was envisioned by the engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos in 1908 who sought support from well-known figures of Rio's high society to promote its construction. Opened in 1912,[2] it was only the third cableway to be built in the world. In 1972 the cars were updated, growing from a capacity of 22 to 75, and in 1979 it featured in an action scene for the James Bond film Moonraker. Today it is used by approximately 2,500 visitors every day. The cable cars run every 30 minutes, between 8 am and 10 pm.
The development of technical and engineering achievement of the National Exhibition in Commemoration of the First Centenary of the Opening of the Ports of Brazil to the International Trade in 1908 motivated engineer Augusto Ramos to imagine a cable car system in Rio de Janeiro. Ramos had to resort to well-known personages of Rio's high society. These included Eduardo Guinles and Raymundo Ottoni de Castro Maya, who were powerful figures with a range of developmental interests in the city, to promote the idea of an electric cable system. When the cable car was built, there were only two others in the world: the chairlift at Mount Ulia, in Spain, with a length of 280 metres (920 ft), built in 1907,and the lift at Wetterhorn, in Switzerland, with a length of 560 metres (1,840 ft), built in 1908.
The Sugarloaf Cable Car was opened on 27 October 1912. Its Portuguese-language name comes from the similarities between the cablecars, and the city trams (bondinhos). Envisioned by Augusto Ramos, it is managed by Companhia Caminho Aéreo Pão de Açúcar, a company created by Ramos.
Function
The cable cars run every 30 minutes, between 8 am and 10 pm. They are glassed in for safety and have a capacity of about 65 people.
The first part of the line, from the starting station to the stop off station at Morro da Urca, has a length of 600 metres (2,000 ft), with the maximum speed of 6 metres (20 ft) per second (21.6 kilometres per hour (13.4 mph)). Morro da Urca is situated at an altitude of 722 feet (220 m).It contains a cafe, snack bar, restaurant, souvenir stands, and a children's play area. The second part of the line, Morro da Urca to Sugarloaf, has a length of 850 metres (2,790 ft), with a maximum speed of 10 metres (33 ft) per second (36 kilometres per hour (22 mph)). The latter part of the trip up to 1,299 feet (396 m) on Sugarloaf, particularly towards the top, is very steep.
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