THE LATEST RAILWAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12620, 1 October 1901, Page 7

THE LATEST RAILWAY.

(Jlarmsworth Magazine for Jnly.) A few weeks ago there was opened in Germany the first suspended passenger railway in the world, and) one of the few to which the term “mono-rail” can strictly be applied. The : Bannen-Elberfeld Mono-Rail Sus-pended-Railway is the first.passenger line to be built on the Langen. system-, and it£ unique and peculiar, character'merits sonia description in these columns, especially as it seems to point to a possible solution ol the problem of express passenger traffic, both in congested 1 districts and over long routes. Barmen and ECberfeld are two of the most important manufacturing towns in Germany, and are situated on the River Wupper, a tributary of the Rhine. In 1893 the Municipalities of these towns determined to provide better facilities than then existed for inter-communication. They ’ decided) on a suspended railway, • invented by Herr Eugeni Langen, an engineer of much distinction, who died at Cologne in. 1895. ■ The idea of suspended oars was suggested to Langen by the transport difficulties iln the sugar works.which he had! inherited, and he accordingly patented a method for conveying goods by . aerial railway. Later on he adapted the system for passenger traffic, and thus was evolved the very ingenious railway which is now in operation in Germany, and which is,the only one, of .its kind in the world. In choosing a means of Communication, the authorities had to take many points into consideration. The four towns of Barmen, Elberfeld, Sonnhom and Vohwinkel almost join one another. The absence of main streets' did not allow the building of a line on the road level; and, as in the Langen system it was possible) to construct certain portions of the line over the River Wupper (which auns through the valley in which the town lies), this scheme was finally adopted. ■ The Mon'o-Rail Suspended! Railway was commenced at the close of the year 1896, and by the end! of 1898 the first section, was ready, for the trial runs. Some portion of the lino was opened for traffic at the commencement of the year, and a few weeks fc ago the whole -litre was DECLARED OPEN WITH MUCH CEREMONY. The permanent way of the .Langen Suspended Railroad is for the most part suspended from tripod girder sections, placed at intervals of thirty yards, ifbt the supports for the track may be of different design. In the suburbs of Somnbonv-and ‘Vbhwimkei quite - another kind is’used to that which is employed over the river and outlying less densely populated portions of the line. , Instead of A-sbnped frames, we have her© what.is known as “Portal Frames.” These consist -of two uprights and a curved section fitting on to each of these. The advantage of this arrangement is.sufficiently obvious, ...for; it obstructs) the road much’ less than does. tl| e trestle structure. " The ;supports of the-portal frames have . beep ’ placed near the kerb® of the sidewalk, where [they do not occupy more space than tee,; street lamp-posts; in many cases, indeed; they take the place of the lamp-posts, the damps being attached to the supports. . Ih ■ Sonniborn and Vohwinkel, the rail .track and the carriages are to a certain extent 'hidden by tbe foliage and branches ’ of the trees. No one can claim that the railway is an aesthetic) addition to the towns, but at,any rate it is less open to objection than the elevated 1 railroad to be found in the States, from which are -apt to- drop coals, cinders, and water. Yet a third form of support consists of a central single post carrying the rail on each side. It is perhaps • THE MOST PLEASING VARIETY OP THU THREE. When the Suspended Mono-Rail passes over the River Wupper, the inclined struts supporting the track sometimes have their foundations in concrete embedded id the solid ground. The cars, which are suspended beneath the track, run on a single rail, the rail on the other side being used for the return. The train always travels over.the line in the same direction, and is never reversed. The lower edge of the car is about fifteen feet above the road pavement, and so there is but a short stairway up to the platform. •At the terminus at Vohwinkel -are repair

shops, and when necessary the cars .are lowered and raised again by means of lifts. The trains are brought to a standstill -by means of, hand-brakes arid automatic Westinghousc compressed-air brakes, or by reversing the current, qr by cutting off the lime current. Each train is, as a rule, made up of two cars joined together, though more are added as occasion demands. The car used) is thirty-seven feet long hy six feet wide; it cam accommodate fifty passengers, who enter amid leave by the side doors opening inward. The car swings free beneath the track, and is suspended from the bogies, twenty-five feet apart, each running on two wheels of thirty-five inches diameter, driven by -a thirty-six horse-power electric motor, fixed between tbe two wheels and projecting outward. The current is taken up from the conducting rail by a contact shoe, f The weight of a carriage, with its full complement of fifty -passengers, is estimated at fourteen tens. . To travel in a car suspended in mid-air from a single rail may seem to many a risky proceeding, but great precautions have been taken, to prevent the cars from falling, and it is extremely unlikely that such on accident will ever occur. The length of the Barmen-ElberfeM Suspended) Mono-Rail is 13.3 kilometres (8| miles), and ten kilometres (6.2 miles) are .above the . River, Wupper, whose width varies between eighty-five and one hundred amid fifteen feet..