S PLUS - TCD6 'Essert' Abondance, France

Built in 1983, the Essert gondola in Abondance is one of the oldest in the Portes du Soleil. However, it continues to run strong even though it uses a seperate, much different system to the other 'similar' lifts. Unlike other lifts with SP77 cabins, which have newer TB clamps, the Essert gondola uses the older S clamps, the first type of clamp developed by Poma and used in a double formation on the Essert gondola (Hence, S "Plus"). The clamps use Belleville washers rather than springs, and are bistable - aka they remain open in the station and close only on the line (like the newer Doppelmayr D-Line clamps). Though there have been (and likely still are) several lifts using S clamps in the form of a gravity clamp, the Essert gondola instead uses tyres to accelerate and decelerate the cabins, a more modern convention which allows the gondola to travel at 5m/s. The gondola also has the much more noticable particularity of reusing several of the pylons of the original 2-seater gondola, built 20 years prior to the current one. This is the exact same format as can be found on the Signal gondola in Les Contamines-Montjoie (Video:    • TCD6 'Signal' Les Contamines, France  ) Pylons 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 & 19 are the originals from the newer construction (1983) Pylons 14 & 15 were replaced in 2017 after a storm. For further reading, the RM.net report: https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/...