New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1910-01-19
TEST OF GERMAN
GYROSCOPE CAR
Model at Work Shown 10 Rail-
road Men In Brooklyn.
PERFECT BALANCE MAINTAINED

Spinning Tops, Making 5000 RevoIu-
tons Minute, Kept the Machine on
It's Single RaiI-No TiIting and No
Reduction Of Speed at the Curves
With a Whirring Of motors that
sounded like the hum Of a buZzsaW, a
gyroscope monorail car Of the German
type was piloted around an oval track
in the ClermOnt rink, Brooklyn, the
other morning before a crowd that in
cluded several engineers and railroad
men. It was the first exhibition Of the
car in the United States, and the group
Of experts who viewed it appeared to
be greatly interested in the working of
the white, boat shaped contrivance as
1t circled the rink, supported on one
small rail.
The noise was made by two steel
tops lodged at either end of the car,
which revolved at the rate of 5000
turns minute. They were incased in
a steel covering and could not be SEEM
but 1t was these two spinning tops
which kept the car from topping over
Had they stopped suddenly-which, it
was said, was next to impossible-the
car would have lost it's balance. Ac-
cording to those in charge of the dem
onstration, nothing could make the
wheels stop except cutting off the cleo
trio current, and even then they would
go on revolving for nearly an hour at
sufficient speed to hold the car in an
upright position.
Richard Scherl, the German inventor
who designed the car, was not on hand
when the demonstration began, but a
squad of assistants and mechanics set
the gyroscope going SO that the visitors
could see the latest wrinkle in car
building in operation. 1t was the same
car which had been exhibited in Ber-
lin, but it differed in many respects
from the Brennan or English type of
monorail car recently shown in Eng
land.
No Passengers Carried
No passengers were taken on board
during the preliminary trials, although
the car was built to accommodate from
six to ten persons. The only man who
actually rode in it was the mechani-
clan, who operated the levers. Some
times he dismounted and allowed the
car to go it's way with no one at the
helm. 1t never made very high speed,
however, and as the operating levers
were all within reach Of any one stand
ing near the track, the motorman could
bring the car to stop simply by touch
ing the right lever as the car rolled by.
What seemed to interest spectators
the most was the way the car took the
turns. The track was oval, and the
turns were ,sharp-sharper by a good
deal than the general run Of curves in
the subway in New York, for instance
But the single track car took them
with only the slightest tilt and with
out reducing it's speed. It Travelled at
about eight miles an hour most of the
time. Whether stationary OF moving
along the rail, the car kept it's balance
perfectly.
a Queer Feat.
One of the queer feats Of the gyro-
scope was shown when five men
climbed up on one side Of the car
while it was standing still. The car,
instead Of tipping toward them, leaned
in the opposite direction. The tend
ency Of the gyroscope, it was ex-
planned, was to preserve equilibrium
under all conditions, and, no matter
how the passengers might be seated,
the car would always preserve it's own
balance.
1t was a small car that was used in
the demonstration, built only for ex-
perimental purposes. Its dimensions
were eighteen feet in length and four
feet in width. It rested upon four
wheels set in 4 straight line, each hay
ing f1anges On both Sides
The track stood about three inches