Q: Who runs it?
A. An Act of Parliament formed the Lynmouth & Lynton Lift Company in 1888. A further Act of Parliament gave the company perpetual rights to the water from the Lyn Valley – The railway’s extraordinary power source. It is still run by the same company today.
Q: What is it’s length?
A: The rails are 862 feet long. The top station is 500 feet above the lower station - giving an inclination of 1:1.75.
Q: How does it run?
A: The lift works on a simple balancing principal. The water comes through 5” pipes from the West Lyn River - more than a mile away - and is stored in reservoirs. Each car has a 700 Gallon tank mounted between the wheels (plus a smaller 10 gallon tank as the reservoir for the braking system). As the water is discharged from the lower car, the ‘heavier’ top car descends so pulling the lower car up the cliff.
Q: How are the cars connected
A: The two lift cars are connected via four cables, two of which are hauling cables these carry the weight of both cars. The other two cables are tail balanced cables, which do just that, counteract the weight of the hauling cables. The cables run around 5 foot 6 inch pulley wheels mounted at the top and bottom of the tracks.
Q: What is it’s capacity
A: Each car holds up to 40 passengers and weigh 10 Tons when fully loaded.
