Aberystwyth Cliff Railway

The Aberystwyth Cliff Railway opened on 1 August 1896. It is a funicular railway in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales, having a length of. It was the longest funicular railway in the British Isles until 2001, when the Cairngorm Mountain Railway opened.DevelopmentThe railway is part of Constitution Hill, a Victorian development on the hill of the same name built by the Aberystwyth Improvement Company, and form of early theme park. It consisted of arcades and a restaurant at the foot of the hill, the railway, and at the top of the hill a camera obscura and park. Constitution Hill was designed and engineered by George Croydon Marks, who later became a Labour peer, who at the same time designed the new pavilion for the Royal Pier.As part of Constitution Hill, Croydon-Marks designed into the development a meandering footpath as an alternative route. To allow this to pass over the railway on a footbridge, in the midsection 12,000 tonnes of rock were excavated to provide the railway with a lower path.OperationsOriginally operated on a water balance system, it was electrified in 1921. The Standard Gauge railway climbs in — a gradient steeper than 1:2 (50%). Its twin carriages, which both take 30 passengers, are named the Lord Geraint and the Lord Marks.Appearance in music and literatureThe railway makes appearances in the work of Malcolm Pryce.