Funicular route
Fenelon Place Elevator
Dubuque (Fourth Street) → Fenelon Place · United States
- Distance
- 0.09 km
- Fastest time
- 1 min
- Operator
- Fenelon Place Elevator Company
- Train
- Two counterbalanced house-shaped cars, winched at 41 degrees
- Countries
- United States
- In service since
- 1882
Page last updated 2026-07-23 · figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
Built in 1882 so banker J.K. Graves could ride the bluff home for lunch — billed as the world’s shortest, steepest scenic railway.
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