The Mount Graham Aerial Tramway

Geekdom from 1923. Don Lancaster is from Pittsburgh (so am I - we grew up in parallel Universes, did the same stuff at the same time but never met!) and is one of the leading early Microcomputer pioneers. He is also into Arizona history, caving and lots of other cool stuff - his website is at Tinaja. He writes about the Mount Graham Aerial Tramway in this (PDF format) article. The thing was built in 1923 but the route covers: bq. A total length of 7.5 miles and an elevation delta of 5804 feet. Which is well over one vertical mile! He talks about the scope of the project and just how they built it and then offers this analysis: bq. Success and Failure Judging by the few surviving photos, great heaping loads of lumber got delivered on down to Pima Terminal. Sadly, the aerial tram got shut down and was partially dismantled one year after it started operation. Part of the reason might have been underlying economic problems with the sawmill. Or new Forest Service regs. But the tram apparently needed continuous repairs and seemed to have had woefully excessive downtime. At least, that�s what today�s on-ground evidence suggests to me. My guess is that the delivered cost-per-board was too high to make much economic sense. The system design and construction was all done using local help, because an experienced real tram engineering firm was "too expensive". There were several gruesome fatalities and a number of other gory accidents. The transfer terminal literally ate an operator for lunch one day. At least one track cable failed spectacularly. Giving a profound new depth of meaning to the term sprooiinnggg�. In those days, of course, OSHA inspectors were dealt with simply by hooking them onto the next tram car. One series of repeated tower failures required at least five rebuilds. Done without any attempt at improving the design or fixing the problem. Other towers were hastily rebuilt or added without proper footings. Scattered piles of fire bricks in strange places suggest impromptu blacksmithing. Collisions between cars and towers apparently occurred. To the obvious detriment of both. Lost loads and shattered towers still litter some of the more remote canyon bottoms along the route. I guess the final analysis was that the Mt. Graham aerial tram delivered the boards but not the bucks. He closes out with these rules for success: bq. To work hard, you gotta play hard� No matter whether it�s hiking, caving, hang gliding, bike, ski, or scuba, you flat out have to get down and dirty. Study the classics� That�s where all the fundamentals of appropriate technology, elegant simplicity, and workable real world results first come down. It ain�t creative unless it sells� No matter how wonderful your design, iffen it don�t pay for itself in one manner or another, you have a failure. Cheapest is rarely the most cost effective� Solid footers, steel, and real bearings outperform wood, rocks, and low grade iron. Every time. Guaranteed. Budget for maintenance� Design your product from the ground up to be fixable and improvable. Always aim for minimum total life cycle costs. Check his website out -- lots of great stuff!