Today, driving in driving rain, I found my tyres losing traction as I drove up a mountain.

A fifth wheel, central to the vehicle and toothed to engage a gear rack set into the road surface, would allow much better traction up such daunting slopes, safely.

When retracted it could double as a regenerative energy storage device, seeing as how it would be a large, heavy flywheel most of the time.
-- UnaBubba, Nov 01 2013

A true furnicular uses two cars linked by a cable, which balance one another.

This is actually a rack-and-pinion system.

The wheel wouldn't need to be heavy per se; there just needs to be enough downforce from the mass of the vehicle to keep it engaged.

There would need to be a way of keeping the vehicle exactly central on the rack. On cog raiways, that's not a problem as the rack is simply centred between the rails.

Could be done on a 4x4 with a gearbox rear power takeoff port i.e. a Land Rover.
-- 8th of 7, Nov 01 2013


A narrow-gauge-to-cog railway once ran within a few dozen yards of my house (pre-existing appeal);

and I generally love things that involve maximizing traction while going up mountains and such;

and I love regenerative motors and flywheels and large heavy mechanical devices;

and it seems like the sort of thing that would make a unique and interesting noise...

So, bun.
-- Alterother, Nov 01 2013


It could be lighter, [8th], but that would detract from the steampunk overkill factor I intended.
-- UnaBubba, Nov 01 2013


[Ubie]!!
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 01 2013


There was a Panhard armored car that had four rubber- tired road wheels and four more cleated steel wheels that dropped down between them for enhanced traction. I've seen one somewhere. Bovington, maybe?
-- Alterother, Nov 01 2013



random, halfbakery