Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1909-12-16
lies OF
MONORAIL. WAY
no.
a% %" 'fnGSSes Say It May
Z NiGnize Traffic.
'"Isg0 MjAOTEL POSSIBLE.

Economy Seen In Louis Brennan's In
vention. That Seems to Defy Laws of
Gravitation-Speed Of One Hundred
and Fifty Miles an Hour Predicted.
Chicago railroad officials who have
Inclined to believe that In the mono
railway, or gyroscope railroad, Louis
Brennan. Is. c.. has an Invention which
bids fair to revoutionize some of the
fields. AT least. of transportation.
What they saw at the public demon
Strations at Chatham. England, of the
possibilities of the mouorailway was
Il railroad ear forty feet long. ten feet
wide and thirteen feet high. weighing
twenty-five tons. mounted on single
rail aud running freely around curves
while safely carrying forty passengers,
who experienced less vibration than
would have been the case in al. ordi-
nary passenger couch
The principle upon which the mono
railway operates is that of the spin
ming top. which maintains its equilibri-
um by means of it's rapid revolutions
or EyratiOnS The characteristic fea-
ture of this system of transportation
Is that each vehicle is capable of main
thinning its balance upon an ordinary
raii laid upon sIeepers on the ground.
whether il is standing still or moving
Ia either direction ut any rate of speed.
This is done Notwithstanding the fact
that the center of gravity is several
feet above the rail aud that wind pres
sure. shifting of load. centrifugal ac-
tiou or any combination OF these forces
may tend to upset it, Automatic sta
hility mechanism of extreme simplicity
carried by the vehicle itself endows
it with this power.
Principle of Mechanism.
The mechanism consists essentially
Of two tywhpels rotated directly by
electric motors in opposite directions
AT very high velocity and mounted
so that their gyrOstatic action and
stored up energy can be utilized. The
hywheelS are mounted on high class
bearings and are placed in vacuum,
so that the air and friction are reduced
TO Il minimum and consequently the
power required to keep them in rapid
motion Is very small The stored up
! energy iu the hywheels when revolv-
ing AT full speed is 10 great and the
friction so small thar if the driving
current is cut off altogether they will
run at sufficient velocity to impart
stability to the vehicle for several
7 h,,,t gt
three days before they come to rest.
The stability mechanism, whose weight
is small. occupies but little space in the
cab at one end of the vehicle.
The wheels OF the car are placed in
a single row beneath the center OF
the vehicle and are carried on bogy
trucks which are so pivoted as to pro-
vide for horizontal curves on the track
and also for vertical ones. This en-
| ables the vehicle to run upon curves of
even less radius than the length of the
vehicles itself or to run on crooked
rails or on rails laid over unt zen
ground without danger OF derailment
| The motive power of the monoraIlway
may be either steam, petrol, OIL gas
or electricity. In the experiments
made thus far petrol has been used as
an electric generator. he power OF
each vehicle being self contained and
ready for immediate use. Use of II
anS moment is made possible by keep
! Ing the gyro wheels In constant rota.
ton 10y current from a small accu-
,uulator, the engine being at rest. In
order that tue vehicle may be able to
ascend steep inclines the wheels arc
all power driven, and change gears are
provided for use In billy country.
Large Coach Made Possible.
Great economy is obtained by max
ing the vehicles much wider than the
ordinary passenger coach. On this
point Mr.. Brennan claims that he has
plans for q passenger car 100 feet In
length and % feet wide. He also de
clares that such coach may be driven
safely at q speed of,Ib0 miles an hour
while travellers are making q trans
| continental journey in rooms rs largo
and as luxuriousiy furnished n. tosr
Of modern city hotel.
The rail upon which the ear runs has
n curved top, ard its weight is that OF
the ordinary rail-, but the sleepers, or
ties. are only one-half the usual size
OF railroad ties 1t Is stated that flying
lines Of monorailway can be built
with great rapidity over uneven ground
with but slight expenditure of labor.
The bridges required fer the use OF
the monorailway are OF the simplest
possible construction.
hotei on Rails Predicted.
The expenditure Of fuel necessary TO
operate the monorailway IS very much
less than it is with an ordinary rail
road. This fact is due to the absence