Our definitive history of Montreal's Mount Royal Funicular

The lazy way used to be the best way up the mountain: From 1884 to 1918, the Mount Royal Funicular Railway—known also as the Mountain Park Incline Railway or simply the Mount Royal Elevator—was Montreal's original shortcut to the summit.

This steam-powered cable railway system worked in two parts. First, riders boarded a horizontal tramway near what's now the George-Étienne Cartier Monument, which rolled them along a flat stretch toward the base of the mountain, roughly in line with where Duluth Street runs today. From there, they transferred to the actual funicular—two cars connected by cables, counterbalancing each other as one climbed while the other descended.

Incline Railway station, Mount Royal Park, Montreal, QC, about 1907. | Photograph: Neurdein Frères / McCord Stewart Museum

Vous devez être connecté

Inscrivez-vous gratuitement à The Main et continuez à lire.

Créez un compte gratuit.

Créez un compte gratuit pour débloquer cet article et obtenir 3 articles gratuits par mois, ainsi que notre Bulletin hebdomadaire.

3 articles gratuits par mois
Sauvegardez vos adresses et guides
Infolettre hebdo The Main Brief
Restez branché sur la culture montréalaise

Allez plus loin. Devenez Insider.

Bénéficiez d'un accès illimité, de guides exclusifs et d'avantages réservés aux membres, tout en soutenant les récits indépendants sur Montréal que nous publions chaque semaine.