the Montmartre funicular

Only 108 metres in length, the Montmartre funicular in Paris is effectively an open air inclined elevator, but is well-known because of its location at the base of the Sacré-Cœur basilica. Operated by the RATP, the Paris transport authority, it was opened on 13 July 1900 and was entirely rebuilt in 1935 and again in 1991.

Since 1935 it has been operated by electricity, but at the time of the postcard views, the funicular system was water-powered, using a system of cisterns of five cubic metres each that were filled or emptied to move the cars and to compensate for passenger load. 

The funicular climbs and drops the 36 metres (118 ft) in under a minute and a half and carries two million passengers a year.