Maglevs differ from other monorails in that they do not (normally) physically contact the beam. ==History== ===Early years=== The first monorail prototype was made in Russia in 1820 by Ivan Elmanov.
Attempts at creating monorail alternatives to conventional railways have been made since the early part of the 19th century. The Centennial Monorail was featured at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Around 1879 a "one-rail" system was proposed independently by Haddon and by Stringfellow, which used an inverted "V" rail (and thus shaped like "Λ" in cross-section).
Attempts at creating monorail alternatives to conventional railways have been made since the early part of the 19th century. The Centennial Monorail was featured at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Around 1879 a "one-rail" system was proposed independently by Haddon and by Stringfellow, which used an inverted "V" rail (and thus shaped like "Λ" in cross-section).
There is also a historical type of suspension monorail developed by German inventors Nicolaus Otto and Eugen Langen in the 1880s.
One of the first systems put into practical use was that of French engineer Charles Lartigue, who built a line between Ballybunion and Listowel in Ireland, opened in 1888 and closed in 1924 (due to damage from Ireland's Civil War).
The railway operated for only two years beginning in 1890. The Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad was a monorail on which a matching pedal bicycle could be ridden.
The first example was built between Smithville and Mount Holly, New Jersey, in 1892.
Other examples were built in Norfolk from 1895 to 1909, Great Yarmouth, and Blackpool, UK from 1896. ===1900s–1950s=== Early designs used a double-flanged single metal rail alternative to the double rail of conventional railways, both guiding and supporting the monorail car.
Other examples were built in Norfolk from 1895 to 1909, Great Yarmouth, and Blackpool, UK from 1896. ===1900s–1950s=== Early designs used a double-flanged single metal rail alternative to the double rail of conventional railways, both guiding and supporting the monorail car.
The term originates from joining "mono" (meaning one) and "rail" (meaning rail) from 1897, possibly from German engineer Eugen Langen, who called an elevated railway system with wagons suspended the Eugen Langen One-railed Suspension Tramway (Einschieniges Hängebahnsystem Eugen Langen). Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover.
Also in the early 1900s, Gyro monorails with cars gyroscopically balanced on top of a single rail were tested, but never developed beyond the prototype stage.
It uses a load-bearing single rail and two lower, external rails for balance, the three carried on triangular supports. Possibly the first monorail locomotive was a 0-3-0 steam locomotive. A highspeed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester. In 1910, the Brennan gyroscopic monorail was considered for use to a coal mine in Alaska.
It was built in the twin cities of Barmen and Elberfeld in Wuppertal, Germany, opened in 1901, and is still in operation.
Other examples were built in Norfolk from 1895 to 1909, Great Yarmouth, and Blackpool, UK from 1896. ===1900s–1950s=== Early designs used a double-flanged single metal rail alternative to the double rail of conventional railways, both guiding and supporting the monorail car.
It uses a load-bearing single rail and two lower, external rails for balance, the three carried on triangular supports. Possibly the first monorail locomotive was a 0-3-0 steam locomotive. A highspeed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester. In 1910, the Brennan gyroscopic monorail was considered for use to a coal mine in Alaska.
In June 1920, the French Patent Office published FR 503782, by Henri Coanda, on a 'Transporteur Aérien' -Air Carrier. In the northern Mojave desert, the Epsom Salts Monorail was built in 1924.
One of the first systems put into practical use was that of French engineer Charles Lartigue, who built a line between Ballybunion and Listowel in Ireland, opened in 1888 and closed in 1924 (due to damage from Ireland's Civil War).
In June 1920, the French Patent Office published FR 503782, by Henri Coanda, on a 'Transporteur Aérien' -Air Carrier. In the northern Mojave desert, the Epsom Salts Monorail was built in 1924.
It only operated until June 1926, when the mineral deposits become uneconomic, and was dismantled for scrap in the late 1930s. The first half of the 20th century saw many further proposed designs that either never left the drawing board or remained short-lived prototypes.
It only operated until June 1926, when the mineral deposits become uneconomic, and was dismantled for scrap in the late 1930s. The first half of the 20th century saw many further proposed designs that either never left the drawing board or remained short-lived prototypes.
One of the first monorails planned in the United States was in New York City in the early 1930s, scrubbed for an elevated train system. ===1950s–1980s=== In the latter half of the 20th century, monorails had settled on using larger beam- or girder-based track, with vehicles supported by one set of wheels and guided by another.
In the 1950s, a 40% scale prototype of a system designed for speed of on straight stretches and on curves was built in Germany.
In the 1950s the ALWEG straddle design emerged, followed by an updated suspended type, the SAFEGE system.
In March 1972, Alejandro Goicoechea-Omar had patent DE1755198 published, on a 'Vertebrate Train', build as experimental track in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Niche private enterprise uses for monorails emerged, with the emergence of air travel and shopping malls, with shuttle-type systems being built. ===Perceptions of monorail as public transport=== From 1950 to 1980, the monorail concept may have suffered, as with all public transport systems, from competition with the automobile.
Versions of ALWEG's technology are used by the two largest monorail manufacturers, Hitachi Monorail and Bombardier. In 1956, the first monorail to operate in the US began test operations in Houston, Texas.
Disneyland in Anaheim, California, opened the United States' first daily operating monorail system in 1959.
One notable example of a public monorail is the AMF Monorail that was used as transportation around the 1964-1965 World's Fair. This high-cost perception was challenged most notably in 1963 when the ALWEG consortium proposed to finance the construction of a major system in Los Angeles County, California in return for the right of operation.
One notable example of a public monorail is the AMF Monorail that was used as transportation around the 1964-1965 World's Fair. This high-cost perception was challenged most notably in 1963 when the ALWEG consortium proposed to finance the construction of a major system in Los Angeles County, California in return for the right of operation.
Tokyo Monorail, is one of the world's busiest, averages 127,000 passengers per day and has served over 1.5 billion passengers since 1964.
In March 1972, Alejandro Goicoechea-Omar had patent DE1755198 published, on a 'Vertebrate Train', build as experimental track in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Niche private enterprise uses for monorails emerged, with the emergence of air travel and shopping malls, with shuttle-type systems being built. ===Perceptions of monorail as public transport=== From 1950 to 1980, the monorail concept may have suffered, as with all public transport systems, from competition with the automobile.
In March 1972, Alejandro Goicoechea-Omar had patent DE1755198 published, on a 'Vertebrate Train', build as experimental track in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Niche private enterprise uses for monorails emerged, with the emergence of air travel and shopping malls, with shuttle-type systems being built. ===Perceptions of monorail as public transport=== From 1950 to 1980, the monorail concept may have suffered, as with all public transport systems, from competition with the automobile.
Despite being the most expansive Lego set of its time (due to being massive and including electrical elements), it was very popular, and Lego Space released a modernized monorail in 1994 among the Unitron line. The fourth season of the American animated television show The Simpsons features the episode "Marge vs.
The Monorail Society, an organization with 14,000 members worldwide, has blamed the episode for sullying the reputation of monorails, to which Simpsons creator Matt Groening responded "That's a by-product of our viciousness...Monorails are great, so it makes me sad, but at the same time if something's going to happen in The Simpsons, it's going to go wrong, right?" In 1995 The Movie, a group of kids use the city monorail to rescue their parents, who were brainwashed into suiciding.
China recently started development of monorails in the late 2000s, already home to the world's largest and busiest monorail system and has a number of mass transit monorails under construction in several of cities.
Since the 2000s, with the rise of traffic congestion and urbanization, there has been a resurgence of interest in the technology for public transport with a number of cities, such as Malta and Istanbul, today investigating monorails as a possible mass transit solution. In 2004, Chongqing Rail Transit in China has adopted a unique ALWEG-based design with rolling stock that is much wider than most monorails, with capacity comparable to [rail].
Since the 2000s, with the rise of traffic congestion and urbanization, there has been a resurgence of interest in the technology for public transport with a number of cities, such as Malta and Istanbul, today investigating monorails as a possible mass transit solution. In 2004, Chongqing Rail Transit in China has adopted a unique ALWEG-based design with rolling stock that is much wider than most monorails, with capacity comparable to [rail].
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