Has anyone tried to build a building site monorail ?

[phil gollin]

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Has anyone tried to build a building site monorail ?

 

The type I am thinking of is the one made by Road Machines (Drayton) Ltd., of Horton Parade, West Drayton, Middlesex   -  see this link ;

 

http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/16/Monorail.htm

 

I can't envisage in getting a working model going in anything less than about 1:22.5 ("G Scale").

 

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Has anyone got either some more picture links, or any examples of any previous models ?

 

Thanks.

 

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[Fat Controller]

If you think a building site is a bit prosaic, how about this one:-

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Monorail-+Cinque+terre&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=785&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=2_KSVLrQK438aMPpgaAL&ved=0CCAQsAQ

It's on the Ligurian coast, and joins the (very steep) vineyards with a road-head, whence the grapes go to the winery. The bottom bit ends on the main road; we found it by accident.

[Arthur]

 

What an amazing contraption Brian, and a stunning backdrop. What price a ride on that?

[Pacific231G]

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Has anyone tried to build a building site monorail ?

 

The type I am thinking of is the one made by Road Machines (Drayton) Ltd., of Horton Parade, West Drayton, Middlesex   -  see this link ;

 

http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/16/Monorail.htm

 

I can't envisage in getting a working model going in anything less than about 1:22.5 ("G Scale").

 

------------

 

Has anyone got either some more picture links, or any examples of any previous models ?

 

Thanks.

I've got some of my own photos of the working example preserved at Amberley that I took in 2009 . Would it be that hard to model in a small scale? The key part would I suppose be the motor (for want of a better term) bogie that is free to rotate relative to the unit as a whole.

 

[Fat Controller]

What an amazing contraption Brian, and a stunning backdrop. What price a ride on that?

What's the Italian for 'bicycle clips'? It's a bit like the 'man-rider' systems that used to be used in pits, though the view's better. Here's a bit of historical gen on the systems:-

http://www.ilvigneto5terre.com/blog/en/our-monorail-trains/ Having done the job of porter on harvests around France, mainly the Beaujolais, many times over the last 38 years, I have the utmost respect for those Ligurian 'dockers'- their knees must be in worse shape than mine.

It's  a very interesting bit of coast from a railway angle- over the years, FS have doubled most of the main line, either by adding a second track, or by constructing a new double-track route, so there are lots of sections in 'galleries', and other, completely abandoned sections. Some of the latter form part of the coastal footpath.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Fat Controller

[pete_mcfarlane]

The Italian one reminds me of some of these things: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_coaster

[jamie92208]

These were used in a wide variety of construction sites.  I remember one being used in the very early 60's to build a footbridge across the river Ribble at Settle when they enlarged the old girls High School into a comprehensive.  The builot a temproary bridge with a monorail on it and then cast the various bits in situ.  I used to see proegress every Sunday as we walked down to chapel from Giggleswick to Settle.

 

Jamie

[bécasse]

Remarkably, between 1977 and 1988 there was a passenger-carrying Monorail à crémaillère as the final means of access to the Barrage d'Emosson in western Switzerland. It has since been replaced by a "minifunic", but when I rode on it in 1983 one sat astride the monorail on one of a series of stepped seats, it was powered by a petrol motor.

 

The whole excursion was quite remarkable - metre gauge electric, then a single-car (and VERY steep) funicular, then a 60cm gauge train and then finally this thing. All but the last offered reduced fares if one was a professional railwayman.

Edited December 19, 2014 by bécasse

[The Stationmaster]

What an amazing contraption Brian, and a stunning backdrop. What price a ride on that?

I wouldn't like to waste its important primary purpose on giving rides.  But on second thoughts i suppose a trip on a return empty working wouldn't be a waste and you could walk back?

[Arthur]

 

Oh, I dunno MIke, it'd be like skiing without ski lifts, I'm not sure that the downhill thrill would compensate for the climb back !!

[Fat Controller]

I wouldn't like to waste its important primary purpose on giving rides.  But on second thoughts i suppose a trip on a return empty working wouldn't be a waste and you could walk back?

Outside the grape harvest (mid- September onwards), the thing probably serves only to carry personnel, and the occasional container of spray, so you could probably get a lift  in both directions. However, unlike the driver, you wouldn't have a seat that was pivotted to keep you level..

I was looking at the web-site for the B&B, when Lynne saw it and said 'that looks nice..). I'll keep you posted.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Fat Controller

[Mike Bellamy]

A lot more information in the book by David Voice

 

For Sale here http://www.transportdiversions.com/publicationshow.asp?pubid=9114 (at a discount for Christmas!)

 

Review by Phil Parker here  http://philsworkbench.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/book-review-mono-rail-by-david-voice.html

 

 

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[phil gollin]

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Thank-you Pacific231G  -  that is excellent.   I can easily get to Amberley, so I foresee an early spring visit.

 

Likewise, thank-you Mike Bellamy, I foresee an even earlier purchase as a late Christmas present.

 

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[Pacific231G]

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Thank-you Pacific231G  -  that is excellent.   I can easily get to Amberley, so I foresee an early spring visit.

 

Likewise, thank-you Mike Bellamy, I foresee an even earlier purchase as a late Christmas present.

 

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I don't know how often the group that has preserved it at Amberley run it. I saw it during one of their railway weekends. The unit may be kept under cover at other times so worth checking first.

[Pacific231G]

I've put a short clip of the monorail in action on Youtube titled Amberley Industrial Monorail. I shot it fairly crudely on a cheap digital camera but it does show the articulation of the "bogies". It should be on http://youtu.be/zB4EfeYgOBU

 

There's a much longer sequence of it from the museum here   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSp9xvE_H_Y  This was shot last year before the autumn industrial trains day and they've moved and considerably extended its route.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Pacific231G

[rue_d_etropal]

I think there has been some discussion about industrial monorails on other forums, but don't remember anyone building. a model. I also seem to remember the company who originally produced the T gauge trains as thinking of using it for a pseudo monorail system.

Not offering, but I would not have thought it that difficult to build the gearing to connect a small motor  to two drive wheels. For the Italian vineyard, it might need some additional means of gripping the rail.

 

Looking at those bricks, I hope they are not the ones I helped tidy up 30 years ago!

Edited December 19, 2014 by rue_d_etropal

[Dagworth]

Oh, I dunno MIke, it'd be like skiing without ski lifts, I'm not sure that the downhill thrill would compensate for the climb back !!

[decauville1126]

I don't know how often the group that has preserved it at Amberley run it. I saw it during one of their railway weekends. The unit may be kept under cover at other times so worth checking first.

Tends to see use at Spring and Autumn Industrial Trains days during which wagonloads are transferred, transported, and transferred back again. Might also be in use over the Summer Gala Weekend.

 

As an aside, I think it was some of the Road Machines (Drayton) or Metalair units that were rebodied and used in one the James Bond films - sorry can't remember which one but Britt Ekland springs to mind (often!)

[Sturminster_Newton]

The systems in used up mountain vineyards is made by the same Swiss manufacturers as many cable cars.

 

https://monorack.doppelmayr.com/en/

 

https://www.doppelmayr.com/products/monorack/

 

Enjoy the link (above) to their site.

 

Alternatively:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL3YFbsEuN8

 

 

http://www.funimag.com/photoblog/index.php/20061026/a-do-it-yourself-funicular/

 

http://www.funimag.com/photoblog/index.php/manufacturers/

 

Probably as much as one needs to know. Apart from price. A definite talking point for those with Hanging Gardens that needs a powered wheelbarrow for access to the few level bits.

 

 

IIRC there is a weatherproof version of the stanner stair crawler which uses the same principles of transmission. 

 

There are some videos on Onechewb which show a passenger version in use. Not too bad going up but down? Few would have the bottle to drop backwards over a 1:1 slope and the power unit makes some fearsome sounds on the long overrun certainly not something those with a tender mechanical ear would enjoy.

[pete_mcfarlane]

Presumably this is where the idea for those 'mountain coasters' came from (where you go down a monorail track in an unpowered car with a brake - they have them at ski resorts out of season).  

[Engineer]

Starting points for a Road Machines monorail in 1:32 or 1:24:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/RWYQ7RGEQ/1-32-road-machines-monorail-basic-frame?optionId=59800634&li=shops

https://www.shapeways.com/product/2T886X6E6/monorail-unpowered-basic-frame?optionId=58132081&li=shops

Some track parts also listed.