The Fenelon Place Elevator is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gaugefunicular railway located in Dubuque, Iowa. Also known as the Fourth Street Elevator, it is claimed to be the shortest and steepest railroad in the world (although several other funiculars also make this claim). It was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It was included as a contributing property in the Cathedral Historic District in 1985, and in the Fenelon Place Residential Historic District in 2015.
A predecessor to the Fourth Street Elevator was built in 1882 for the private use of local banker and former state senator J.K. Graves. The funicular was opened to the public in 1884, charging 5 cents per ride. After several fires, the current funicular was built in 1893 on the footprint of the 1882 incline; the 1893 funicular inaugurated the use of the cable car technology that continues in use today.
The upper station of the elevator is located at 512 Fenelon Place, whilst the lower station is located at the western end of Fourth Street. At the top there are two observation decks, which offer a commanding view of the downtown Dubuque area. The states of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin can all be seen from the observation decks.
The funicular is 296 feet (90 m) long, and angles up at 41 degrees with a vertical elevation of 189 feet (57.6 m). The two cars start at opposite ends, passing each other at the midpoint of the elevator. The two cars counterbalance each other, drawing motive power from an engine in the station house at the top of the hill. The engine only needs to overcome inertia and friction and compensate for the varying weight of the passengers in the cars.
The Fourth Street Elevator is run from April 1 to November 30. The hours are from 8 am to 10 pm.
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