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Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway – a cable railway where a tram like structure on rails is moved on an inclined plane through a cable. This Wellington Cable car starts at Wellington from the Lambton Quay’s main shopping street and ends at Kelburn, which is a suburb in the hills overlooking the main city.
At the end of the 19th century Wellingtons was progressing well, and as its terrain is hilly, in order to provide accessible means of transpiration to the locals, the idea of a cable car was proposed. When City council approved the idea in 1898, James Fulton was hired to design the system; it was finally opened to public in 1902.
The building which now houses the museum was constructed in 1902 as a maintenance depot for the grip cars and to act as the storehouse for the steam engine and winding gear. In the 1970s when new technologies emerged the Winding House was given a new purpose as the Cable Car Museum. However today, the Winding House houses the unique transport system that has seen better days; it is of much importance as it has had transported people between the harbor and the hills for more than a century.
December 2000 witnessed the opening of this ‘Cable Car Museum’ which is now home to the original grip cars 1 and 3. It is interesting to note that these cars are still in perfect working condition; their electric winding gears are still perfect but being heritage these cables no longer leave the building.