Vari-speed on the Nevis Range cable car

 We took the cable car up to the ski station on Aonach Mor. The car accelerated noticeably on leaving the lower station after having crept round slowly to allow us to get in. I wondered how they did that because the cars all seemed to be be joined to the same cable which was moving at a steady speed. On the way back down I inspected the apparatus above our heads. There were wheels on the hanger but they were not touching the cable.

 When we got off I noticed that the cable went round the lower wheel at the bottom of the photograph but the car was picked up onto a higher cog using the trundle wheels on its support. The cable wheel and the cog had very different angular velocities which allows the car to move slowly for loading and faster when going up the cable. It also explains why the cars are closer together in the loading station and more spaced out on the cable.