Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-05-25
CROSS RIVER ON A WIRE,
ENGLISH INVENTOR HAS RAILWAY
CAR THAT RUNS ON BUT
ONE RAIL.
BRITISH BUILDING 3 LINE,
Louis Brennam's Outfit Can Run $50 Mrss
an Hour and Nothing Can
Upset 1t.

night to the leaders of theh~scient6c
world at the Royal society.
The new railroad, it is declared. Will
revolutionize the railroad system of til,
world. 1t is declared to be the greatest
invention of the present age.
Nothing that ever has been presented
to the Royal society, which usually IT.
ceiyes the first announcement OF scientific
discoveries in Great Britain aroused
such enthusiasm as last nights demon
stratiOn. The great assembly remained
until long after midnight watching a
marvellous vehicle circling about the hail
Strangest Car Ever Seen.
What they saw was this: A miniature
railway car or locomotive standing en-
tirely above a single ran, with apparently
nothing to balance it. ran about the han.
turned sharp corners at high speed.
crossed a single strand of wire cable M
lieu of a bridge, climbed heavy inclines-
all with perfect stability.
Sometimes the car was loaded, some
times empty. No attempt was made to
balance the load. The vehicle itself did
that instantly and automatically. Every
attempt to unbalance it resulted in a
paradox. If the load was piled up all Oh
one side it seemed inevitable that the We
hicle would sag, if, indeed, it did not
topple over. But the overloaded side
automatically rose in proportion to the
burden as the empty side was depressed
TO the uninitiated the thing was IN
canny.
The creator of this new system of lo-
comotion is Louis Brennan, c. f., the
we'll known inventor of the Brennan tor
pedo. He told his audience briefly last
night about his long search for an ideal
method of traction, and his success in
finding it. He Regan studying sSl9 the prob
duce friction was his chief task. 1t is
well known that only about II per cent.
of the power generated by a locomotive
is actually used in drawing a train.
Only a GyroscOpe Toy.
Early in his Investigations Mr.. Brennan
began experimenting with the gyroscope
in other words, he began to study the
ordinary spinning top with which any
schoolboy is familiar The principle Of
the spinning top is the secret of the
seeming miracle of his new railroad
which he showed last evening.
The inventors own description of the
result of his labors is simple enough for
any ones comprehension. lie said
The characteristic feature of this sys-
tenn of transportation is that each We
hicle is capable of maintaining its bal
ance upon an ordinary rail laid upon ties
on the ground, whether it be standing
rate of speed, Notwithstanding the cen
ter of gravity is several feet above the
rail and the wind pressure, shifting
load, centrifugal action. or any comb
nation of these forces may tend TO up
set it.
Automatic stability mechanism of ex-
IRENE simplicity, carried by the vehicle
itself, endows it with this power The
mechanism consists essentially of two
flywheels rotated directly by electric me-
tors in opposite directions at high We
locity, mounted so that by their gyro-
static action their stored up energy can
be utilized. These hywheels mounted Oh
high class bearings are placed iii air
exhausted cases. so both air and journal
friction is reduced to a minimum, conSe-
quently the power required to keep them
in rapid motion is extremely small.
Can Round Sharp Curves.
1.-THE wheels are placed in Il single
row beneath the center of the car and
are carried on bOgies or compound ho-
gies, which are not only pivoted to pro
vide for horizontal curves in the track
but for vertical ones also. By this means
the cars can run upon curves even Of
less radius than the length of the vehicle
itself, or ON crooked rails, or on rails
laid over uneven ground without danger
of derailment.
'"Ehe motive power may be either
steam. petrol, oil, gas. or electricity, a.
considered most suitable for local condl-
tions. III the first instance, however, II
had been decided to use petrol and an
electric generating set carried by the
vehicle itself to supply the current TO
the motors stability mechanism.
Cars Twelve Feet Wide.
Everything points to great economy
resulting from making the cars wider in
proportion to their length than on oTdln-
airy railways. Therefore it has been de
II feet wide. For civil work in the
colonies the vehicles probably will he
two or three times as wide if not more.
Brakes capable of being operated hy
pneumatic or manual power are proy.d-
ed for all wheels.
THE rail only requires to be of the
same weight as one of the rails OF an
ordinary line in order to carry the same
load on the same number of wheels in
each case. The ties also only require 70
be one-half the usual length.
The bridges would be of the simplest
possible construction, q single wire haW-
ser stretched across a ravine or river
being all that is necessary for tempo
rary work. Strange to say, the latera.
Swaying of the hawser does not disturb
the balance of the cars, and the Stronge>-
winds will fail to blow them off. In o-h-
err cases for bridge building single rosy
of piles with the rail top suffices. or
single girder carrying the rail may se
conveniently used.
The speed can be from twice TO thr.
that of ordinary railways, owing to q.
smoothness in running and the total a.-
sence of lateral oscillation"
England Building a Line
Two or three years ago Mr.. Brennau'~
experiments had attained such a deg
of success that they attracted the a.
tention Of the war department and tie
government has paid the larger share -
the expense of the latter developmtH-
The government was voted $4,000 Z r
the construction of a full sized car.
war department will construct the neee>.
sary rail upon land at Chatham. near
the inventors home.
The present model. which is upon
scale of one-eighth. has been privately eS-
amined and tested during the last few
weeks by the most eminent English az
perts, and their reports to the govern
ment have been uniformly euloEls-
Some months must, of course, elapSe t-
fore the line is equipped for a car .i
much larger dimensions than the ordi.-
airy railway carriage. Mr.. Brennan
confident dream is n franSrDutlnpnf