The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1909-12-02
ONE RAIL ROAD AMAZEs.
English Invention May Revolution
ize Railroad Building.

recently returned from London are |
inclined to believe that in the mono
rail, or gyroscope railroad, Louis |
| Brennan, B. c., has an invention !
which bids fair to revolutionize some
| of the fields, at least, of transporta-
| ton notwithstanding the fact the |
gyroscopic monorailway apparently |
| defies the laws Of navigation and does |
| things which are wonderful, if not |
miraculous, railway men declare that |
a man who has stampeded the Brit |
ish government on two occasions is |
not to be scoffed at, but is to be reck-
oned with, no matter how seemingly |
extravagant his claims may be. How |
ever this may be, railway and mechan-
ical experts throughout the civilized |
world are watching the developments |
of gyroscopic railroad with intense
interest.
The public demonstration of the
possibilities of the monorailway,
which were made at Chatham, before
the Royal Society on Nov 9th are
Regarded by railway men as decidedly
revolutionary. What they saw was
a railroad car forty feet long, ten feet
wide, and thirteen feet high, weigh
ing twenty-five tons, mounted on a
single rail and running freely around
curves while safely carrying forty
passengers, who experienced less vi
bration than would have been ex-
perienced in an ordinary passenger
coach.
This successful experiment takes
on added interest when it is under
stood that Mr.. Brennan was given
100000 by the war council of the
British government and $4,000 by
V<l =
about. Interest is still further en-
HANGED in this mans statement that
the monorailway is to be the future
method of transportation by the fact
that in 1880 he sold to the British
government his new torpedo in which
the gyroscope principle is used OBJ
tanning for it $550,OOO, which is four
times as much as was ever paid be-
fore by any government for an inven-
| ton. Having paid this large sum,
the British government erected a fac
tory at Chatham for it's manufacture
and gave Mr.. Brennan an exceedingly
large salary to run it. Then when
. Mr.. Brennan quit the government
closed the factory rather than to have
the secrets of the torpedo revealed to
another superintendent. For this
contribution to the safety of the ma
lions" Mr. Brennan was made a
Companion Of the Bath.
The principle on which the mono
railway operates is that of the spin
ming top, which maintains it's equili-
brum by means of it's rapid revolu-
tions or gyrations. The characteristic
features of this system of transporta-
ton is that each vehicle is capable
of maintaining it's balance upon an
LOTT cir
the ground whether it is standing
still or moving in either direction at
any rate of speed. This is done not
withstanding the fact that the center
Of gravity is several feet above the
rail and that wind pressure, shift
ing of load, centrifugal action or
any combination of these forces may
tend to upset it. Automatic stability
mechanism of extreme simplicity
carried by the vehicle itself endows it
with this power.
The mechanism consists essentially
!. of two fly-wheels rotated directly by
electric motors in opposite directions
q at very high velocity and mounted
4 SO that their gyrostatic action and
stored up energy can be utilized. The
fy-wheels are mounted on frst-class
bearings and are placed in vacuum.
SO that the air and friction are re-
duCed to minimum, and conse-
quently the power required to keep
them in rapid motion is very small
The stored up energy in the fly
: wheels when revolving at full speed
is so great and the friction so small
4 that if the driving current is cut of
altogether they will run at sufficient
velocity to impart stability to the
1 vnhip1a for several uhi1p Il
would take from two to three days
before they come to rest. The sta
bility mechanism occupies but little
. space, and is conveniently placed il
& the cab at one end Of the vehicle 1t
= weight is also small, being about
2 per cent Of the total load.
& The wheels of the car are PLACED
: in single row beneath the cente
2 of the vehicle and are carried Of
{ bogy trucks which are SO pivoted a
3 to provide for horizontal curves O.
2 the track, and also for vertical ones
q This enables the vehicle to run upo
o. curves of even less radius than tn
U length of the vehicle itself, or to ru
- on crooked rails or on rails laid owe
uneven ground, without danger {
} derailment The motive power of tn
monorailway may be either steam
\ petrOl OIL, gas or electricity. In tn
experiments made thus far petrol he
been used as an electric generate
: the power of each vehicle being Sc
contained and ready for immediat
use. Use Of it at any moment Is mad
: possible by keeping the gyro-whee
in constant rotation by a currel
from small accumulation, the engir
: being at rest In order that the "
hicle may be able to ascend steep il
clines, the wheels are all pow'
, driven and change gears are provide
) for use in hilly country.
Great economy is obtained in nal
: ing the vehicles much wider than tt
ordinary passenger coach. On tn
point Mr.. Brennan claims that l
= has plans for passenger car 100 fe
! in length and twenty feet wide, whit
he says is not an accepted estima
! of the size of the railway coach
ha p,Sk,, 01~