Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-22
"

~. lcal progress Ss'io N''il'i
Berliner TO 4 reporter o. The
Star who had called on him to get MS
ideas about possible application OF the
gyroscope To rapid transit in Washington.
las for single-track Gyroscope rail-
ways in Washington said Mr.. Bcrl.ner'
they would be practical of course. and
could he built and operated at an eX-
pense far less than that required by the
present double-track trolley system. Per
sonaIly, 1 am more interested at present
in having lines of doube-dcck motor
busses nut on Massachusetts avenue ard
10th street and OF convenient cross-toWn
streets. To my mind this would solve
the present transit question in Washing
ton and would lie balm to the souls Of
travellers stranded high and dry at the
Union station. These Goutla-d"ck motor
buSsrs have been an immense success IN
Ioudon and Berlin. and in the latter city
when all other t-af.c was tied up by
heavy srowstorm last winter ne moor
buses Dloughe1 through the drlttS WITH
out any trouble and Kept communication
open.
But. to return 20 the syroscope. Louis
Rrennan's demonstrations in London nave
shown that the SSroScope rs appllei 10
RAILWAYS is commercial possibility.
There remain certain gu 'stions OF me
charles and manufacture to overcome be
fore such lines can be put into aCtuai
use but these are comparatively trivial
ard off-r no d faculties. The main prin-
c{oIe is established and the rest can be
safely and confidently left in the lands of
practical electricians and railway men
As YOU know. thc principle of the
eyrosccpe as applied to a single track
railway is to balance the car on its sole
support, enabling il to cross chasms or
rivers on a cable and compromising auto
natically for any shift in the cars load.
NJ one
vided that the gyroscope run in vacuum
thus reducing friction to a eligible
quantity and requiring less power to drive
the apparatus. II has been objected that
when anything happens to the power I'M
pelIing the gyroscopc the car and its con-
tents will topple and fall. But Mr. Ber-
liner says that the momentum or the
gyroseope will be so great tsat ITS rota-
ton In vacuo will continue for long time
after power is shut off giving ample time
for repairs or forA precaution against
injury to any passengers.
Principle of the Horoscope.
The principle of the gyroscope is already
familiar to almost all readers. The gyro-
scope is a circular disc, loaded at the rim,
S1ppa1ted, in gimhals. Pike the box of a
compassAk1nd rotatingj in its own plane.
Y, len roA,inE rapidly the direction Of its
axis will STXa!n fixed \ gyroscope Will.
i 1t is found. Support in the position of its
It tn may az se' Ned, Thus, the gyroscope
in a car. Cutating rhpidly at right angles
tosthe vertical axis of the car. will hold
mat car upright. even when the vehicle
is talanced only on "A slender cable.
When weight 1ttached to the gyroscope
is Shifted iS-CYas the effect of making
the GSroscope spin about an Intermediate
axis which in this case would be inter
mediate only relative to the car. while
it held the car Itself still upright. To
side TO Jbide OF the car. and the -gyro-
scope would Immediately shift it's axis
just enough to keep the floor of the car
level.
as to application of the gyroscope prln-
ciple to rapid transit IN Washington. Mr..
Berliner said that single tracks might
be laid in the streets. flush with the sur
face Of tie roadbed, while cars with
wheels inAsirgie file could be run upon
them with the floors close to the street.
The advantage in building the road and
the ease and cheapness of operation
are easily seen. The gyroscope car cares
nothing for rough country and needs no
elaborate iron bridge to carry II over a
gulch or stream. \ single cable suff1ces
for bridge.
Mr.. Berliner points out, however, that
the greatest present application of the
gyroscope is to the transportation of
armies. A road for a gyroscope railway
can be built over the toughest country.
Troops can be carried swiftly across
stream in a time shorter than pom
toon bridge could be planned. All that
is necessary is to carry a cable across
the river, fasten it firmly at both ends
and then start carloads of troops, sup
plies. guns and ammunition across. Rail-
ways can be laid rapidly ahead of an
advancing army for gyroscope cars. and
taken up as the army progresses, leaving
hardly trace behind.
Applied to Aeroplanes
+ba
scope interests Mr.. Berliner intensely. 1t
Is its use IN assisting mechanical flight
Mr.. Berlinger, says that hitherto the chief
difficulty with the aeroplane has been
that it could not be balanced. Lifting
and propelling power had been obtained
but the direction and sustaining of flight
even with the horizontal rudder at the
bow of the machine, have not been at
tanned. With a gyroscope at each end
of the aeroplane. however. Mr.. Berliner
thinks that experiments in mechanical
flight will be more satisfactory. that the
plunging Of the aeroplane will be elm
mated and sustained flight Of the "hea-
v!er-than-air" machines brought nearer
realization. No sooner would the aero
plane tip in one direction than the gyro-
scope would correct its inclination. retain
ing the machine at the level originally
given TO II by the operator.
Mr.. Berl!nerS own experiments with the
aeroplane lead him to believe that this
confidence in the gyroscope as applied to
flying machines. Is not illusory.
The history OF the gyroscope is extra
ordinary. considering the remarkable util-
itarian light in which il now presents
itself. For years ii was considered as q
mechanical toy. useful only as means
OF demonstrating the rotation OF the
earth. and the way our humble planet
stays put " The greater mum er of the
encyclopedias dismiss it curly. one OF
them giving IT only a line or two II is
discussed with dignity and fcornDrehen-
sion in the Britannica, but elsewhere per-
functory little articles seem TO have been
enough to please and satisfy the editors
Why should more space than that they
probably thought. be given TO a toy sold
on the street corners TO please the passing
urchin?
II is not known who invented the instru-
ment, but il is credited TO either France
or Germany at some time near the end
of the eighteenth century. For more than
"A hundred years. then. the gyroseope and
its principles have been the property of
the world at large, but up 10 the time of
MIR Brennan's experiments on its applica-
tin to railway travel the uses to which
IL has been put were for scientific demon