Editor,

There are two successful funicular projects on the West Coast: Dana Point, Calif. and Ketchikan, Alaska. The Ketchikan Cape Fox Tram is 24 years old and was developed to connect Creek Street/downtown with the Cape Fox Hotel/Conference Center and City Civic Center 130 feet above Creek Street.

Powered by a 5 horsepower motor/cable system, maintenance is low. It undergoes a daily inspection (cleaning), and a half-hour per week inspection of rollers. One cable roller may be replaced per year, and the primary cable is replaced every five years due to weather (standard is 10 years) at a cost of about $10,000. Again, that’s “ …because of our weather conditions” (up to 200 inches precipitation per year), according to a former maintenance manager at Cape Fox. The car is graphically tuned every five years with maintenance costs approximately $5,000-6,000 per year (costs for interior elevator/manager).

The tram was developed for conference center/civic center connections after the Creek Street Historic District Facilities Plan (1984) identified connection need through planning process. The tram experiences high-volume use due to the cruise ship industry in Alaska since mid-1990s. The tram did not attract cruise ships nor were they associated with its original purpose. Tourist season visitors pay $2-3 per trip, generating up to $70,000 in revenue (not applicable to Langley).

I have ridden and operated the tram many times since 1991 — it is an elevator. Initial purchase costs were higher than expected due to Swiss construction, redundant safety features and shipping costs to Alaska.

The Dana Point project was described in a letter to the Langley City Council (Tim Callison, March 2015) wherein his research indicated cab replacement due to higher than expected usage and salt water damage from surfers — not system failure (see council minutes for more detail).

Sources: former planning director Ketchikan Gateway Borough, director Historic Ketchikan, former maintenance manager Cape Fox, tram economist/developer (Winslow Wharf Bainbridge) and marine transportation (ferries).

RON KASPRISIN

Langley