The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway
If you visit Lynmouth or Lynton in North Devon, take a trip on this delightful cliff railway as well as being an experience not to miss, it is the easiest way to travel between these two picturesque towns.
If you are driving in the area, you should be aware that your Sat Nav could take you up, and more scarily down, an extremely steep hill.
Work on the railway started in 1887 and was completed within three years in 1890.
There is a rail-car on both of the tracks, when one is travelling down to Lynmouth the other is travelling up to Lynton.
The way the railway is powered is both simple and ingenious. Both cars have a water tank filled with water that has been pumped over a mile from the West Lynn River.
When one car is at the top, and one is at the bottom the weight is balanced. When water is released from the bottom car it becomes lighter, and the heavier car at the top of the cliff travels down the track pulling the lighter car to the top.
The tracks rise 500 feet from the lower station to the top station and the rails are 862 feet long.
