Suspended in time and place, only eagles dare go where these abandoned cable cars once reached as these glorified zip lines lost their zip long ago.

If you build it, they will come… or not, as was the case of the ill-conceived Okutama Ropeway. Constructed in 1962 at an artificial lake west of Tokyo, the two-car transportation system operated for only four years before shutting down for good. Perhaps the builder/owner was unaware of plans to construct a bridge that would make his pride & joy redundant.

That said, the cars and associated infrastructure have held up remarkably well over the past half-century! Kudos to Lee Chapman of Tokyo Times for visiting this long-forgotten relic and photo-documenting its current (as of July, 2013) status. This video by Riding Japan explores the abandoned and, to quote the videographer “quite eerie” station.

Georgia On My Mind

Lovely “Seaside Park” in Gagra, Abkhazia suffered significant damage during the early-1990s Abkhaz-Georgian Conflict; the still unsettled political situation and a chronic lack of funding has constrained any moves toward restoration. A single yellow gondola remains in place – its red-painted partner was blown up some years ago during the filming of a movie.

High Wire Act

Can a cable car system that’s lost its cars still move you? Yes it can… figuratively speaking. Flickr user philm1205 snapped the spindly remnants of an abandoned Soviet cable-way in August of 2007, fifteen years after the fall of communism. One thing about the commies, at least they made the cable cars run on time – or run, period.

“Top Of Youth”

It’s the “Top of Youth” and the bottom of the barrel in Berlin, courtesy of Flickr user TheSleeping03 and the photo above. Taken on February 6th, 2014 at an old abandoned theme park in the German capital, the image presents the permanently-grounded gondola in a raw yet oddly appealing light.

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Suspended 13 Hung Out To Dry Abandoned Cable Cars

Building on the strategy of the Roosevelt Island Tramway (connecting to Manhattan over the East River), this proposal promises record commuting times, bypassing subways, streets and ferries to use the sky instead.

The East River Skyway project aims to make the jump between Boroughs faster, cleaner, safer and cheaper, all while reducing the load on the subway system, already packed to more than capacity under the ground below.

The design proposal calls for an initial connection between Williamsburg and and Lower Manhattan, followed by extensions deeper into Brooklyn and, ultimately, links to Queens and Long Island City as well.

Beyond the ultra-fast transit time boasted by the system there are some non-financial considerations as well: tourists and locals alike can also take the tram (as they already do to and from Roosevelt Island) in part simply to get a better view of the city from above.

Its designers cite other major international cities deploying and contemplating similar initiatives, from Singapore to London, England and  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.