The Quinn's Awesome Journey: 10/15/07 Sandia Peak Tram Ride

Today was a day we'll always remember. Today we took a ride on the Sandia Peak Tram.

We'll start with a picture of me standing at the base of the tram complex.

There is no doubt about it the scenery stole the show on this ride. The Tram, as it is known, has taken more than 8.5 million passengers to the top of Sandia Peak and back again, and celebrated its 41st anniversary this past May.

The world’s longest passenger aerial tramway, and an engineering marvel, visitors come mainly for the spectacular view - 11,000 square miles of the Land of Enchantment. Yes, you read that right, 11,000 square mile view! Passengers ascend 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes, gliding along the western face of the rugged Sandia Mountains.

Installing the tram posed considerable problems because of the steep, rocky terrain. Bell Engineering of Lucerne, Switzerland, the company contracted to do the work, had built more than 50 tramways throughout the world beginning in Switzerland with their first passenger tramway in 1888. Their engineers readily admitted that the Sandia Peak project was their most challenging. Just stringing all of the cables up the mountain the 2.7 miles alone took five months.

The tram cables are supported by only two towers between the terminals. Tower One is located at an elevation of 7,010 feet is 232 feet tall. Tower Two located at a breathtaking 8,750 feet, is 80 feet tall. Helicopters were used to construct this tower as the terrain was too difficult to build a construction road to ascend the rocky land to the required tower location.

Holes were drilled and steel rods were anchored in the granite, many over 30 feet deep, to anchor each of the footings for the towers and terminals of the tram. Keeping the towers in alignment was of major concern. When construction was finished, the line from the bottom to top including the towers was within 3/8 of an inch.

Construction took 24 months, then the tram underwent 60 days of strenuous testing. Only then did it take its first riders up Sandia Peak on May 7, 1966.
With a total diagonal length of 2.7 miles, Sandia Peak Tram is the longest aerial tram of its type in the world. Officially, it is a bi-cable double reversible aerial passenger tramway. Both tramcars are attached to the hauling cables and the weight of the downhill tramcar helps to pull the uphill tramcar to the top. When the tramcars pass at midway, they are almost 1,000 feet above the ground. Here comes the tram we'll pass midway.

Top speed of the tramway is 24 feet per second, averaging 12 mph. The main drive is a 600 horse power dc electric winch motor and in case of a power failure, the tramcars can be returned to the terminals with an auxiliary Ford industrial engine.
Each tramcar is capable of carrying 50 passengers or 10,000 pounds up the mountain at a maximum rate of 200 passengers per hour On the average, the tram makes 10,500 trips per year. I'm glad we weren't jam packed with 50 passengers, we had a very comfortable ride with only about 20. It doesn't look like it could hold 50 people does it? Especially with layers of clothes to ski in and carrying equipment.

When we got on the tram it was a comfortable 72 degrees. We knew the temperature would drop so we did dress for it. In addition to jeans and a sweatshirt I did bring a winter jacket. I brought Bob's leather but he opted for his windbreaker. When we reached the peak it was a cold 31 degrees! Though he didn't say so I bet he wish he'd worn that leather jacket! There were some poor souls that had shorts on! I guess they didn't think about the higher elevation.

Here's a picture of our shadow as the tram we're in travels up the mountain.

Our view as we travel up the mountain.

Starting out...

Higher still. Look at the rock formation in the center of the picture. It's seven stories tall so you can imagine how high up we are.

Getting close to the top now.

We made it!

As we exited the tramcar the cold air smacked us right in the face! Think about it, we lost 41 degrees in a matter of 15 minutes. And windy? Oh my gosh it was so windy. Here's picture proof.

He had to be freezing, the cold wind got up under his shirt.

To say the view was beautiful would be an understatement. I never really gave an 11,000 square mile view a thought before. Never wondered just how big an area that would be. Well, let me tell you, its freakin' BIG! And breathtaking.

By now our tummies were rumblin' and it was time for lunch. We had lunch at the mountain top High Finance Restaurant. And high finance it was! First time I was ever charged $9.50 +tax for a hamburger! It was good though.

A tramcar making its way down the mountain side.

After lunch and some more time taking in the view we decided it was time to get back to ground level. A tramcar was on the way back up so we made our way to the tram station. Do you see anything unusual about this tramcar? (double click on pic to see if it will enlarge)