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I guess it depends where you live as to how you determine the definition of Gondola. In the Providence/Boston area and Italy it's a boat. In Portland, Or. I never heard the term Gondola, but I heard Cable Car for the one that goes from the riverfront to OHSU.
Yes there has been some confusion on the use of the word Gondola on this forum.
Actually, here in Portland we don't call it a Cable Car ... we call it the Aerial Tram. After all, we are on the coast where the real Cable Cars are ... in San Francisco. So, no, it's not, and never has been, a Cable Car to us.
But then, what do we know, we're just a bunch of dumb hicks, descended from lumberjacks, who wear tie-dye t-shirts.
I guess it depends where you live as to how you determine the definition of Gondola. In the Providence/Boston area and Italy it's a boat. In Portland, Or. I never heard the term Gondola, but I heard Cable Car for the one that goes from the riverfront to OHSU.
Yes there has been some confusion on the use of the word Gondola on this forum.
I think that technically, the term gondola refers to the car itself, while the whole system is referred to as a tram or tramway. For example, the "car" that's attached to a ferris wheel, or something like the London Eye, is called a gondola.
I guess it depends where you live as to how you determine the definition of Gondola. In the Providence/Boston area and Italy it's a boat. In Portland, Or. I never heard the term Gondola, but I heard Cable Car for the one that goes from the riverfront to OHSU.
Yes there has been some confusion on the use of the word Gondola on this forum.
I mostly grew up in the Boston\Providence area and when I hear gondola I think of what you are referring to as a cable car. I ski a lot, so that's probably why. Many New England ski resorts have them and call them "gondolas." I do refer to Providence's venetian river boat as a gondola too though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
Actually, here in Portland we don't call it a Cable Car ... we call it the Aerial Tram. After all, we are on the coast where the real Cable Cars are ... in San Francisco. So, no, it's not, and never has been, a Cable Car to us.
I think theres a big difference between a cable car/gondola and an aerial tram. The former are usually smaller (hold two to 8 people) and there are many of them on a continuing circuit on the cable. The trams are much bigger and hold anywhere from 30 to over 80 people. Usually there are only two tram vehicles on a line and they travel in opposite directions. We have both in New England and there's a definite distinction.
Google Cannon Aerial Tram and Killington Gondola to see New England examples of each.
It doesn't matter the size, the car (or vehicle) itself is still a gondola. And a tram is the system on which it runs, whether it's cars/trolleys on the ground or gondolas in the air.
In Albuquerque we have the Sandia Peak Tramway connecting the city with the top of the Sandia Mountains. It was built because the only other way to easily access the ski area at the top was to take the back road on the other side of the mountains, which is a much longer (and slightly treacherous at times) journey from the city than simply driving up to the foothills of the mountains on the edge of the city where the base station for the tram is now located.
Tramway to me has always meant systems like those in New York City for Roosevelt Island, the one in Palm Springs and the one here in Albuquerque - the ones with the bigger cars.
When I first read the title of this thread I understood a gondola to be those smaller cars that ride on a cable suspended in the air. The ones I'm most familiar with are the ones you see at amusement parks and ski areas.
When I hear the term cable car I think only of the ones in San Francisco.
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