Thursday, 6 December 2012

# 16 Bournemouth - West Cliff Lift


West Cliff Lift
http://bit.ly/Zmb32J   Link to audio commentary


The West Cliff Lift opened four months after its East Cliff counterpart on 1st August 1908. It is slightly shorter in length at 145ft (44m) and doesn’t rise quite as high to only 102ft (31m) as that on the East Cliff, but the track gauge is identical at 5ft 6in (1676mm). However, the original cars were slightly bigger and could accommodate 16 passengers, four more than at the East Cliff.

After closure for the duration of World War 2, in 1962 the original cars were replaced by new Council-built ones. The tracks were renewed in 1986 with the rails set on pre-cast concrete units replacing the original timber baulks.

Peter Kazmierczak, Senior Heritage Librarian, Bournemouth Libraries

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