View of one of the funicular cars that run up and down the Ascensor da Bica. The little railway travels the steep slope between Rua da Bica de Duarte Belo, near Largo de Camões, and Rua de São Paulo, near Cais do Sodre.
There are two cars in operation at any one time, and they are connected by means of a cable and pulley. This means the cars act as a counterweight to each other. If, like me, you were thinking the track isn't wide enough to get the two trams past each other - it doesn't have to be, except at the point were they pass - which is always the same.
Inaugurated in 1892, the Elevador da Bica was initially powered by steam. However, it was converted to electricity in the 1920s.
