The Spanish Aero Car
This is one of the earliest cable cars. Later models had a roof ; Inscriptionon reverse reads Length of cables 1800 feet, Height over Whirlpool 150 feet, Capacity 36 passengers, driven by 75 h.p. electric motor ; |
The Spanish Areo Car was designed by Leonardo Torres y Quevedo and built by the Naiagara Spanish Aerocar Co. Limited. The ride was originally opened in the summer of 1916 and took passengers over the Whirlpool in the Niagara River.
Since that time the Spanish Aero Car has taken well over 10 million passengers across the whirlpool without ever having a mishap. The Areo Car is suspended on six one inch interlocking steel cables. It is powered by an electric 50 horsepower motor and travels at aproximately 7 km/5 mph.
In the event of a power failure a diesel generator can pull the cars safely back to dock. There is also a rescue car that holds four passengers and an operator. The safety car has never been used except for training exercises.
