On this project he worked for many years.
The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the emergence of new machinery and many technical innovations. Looking through the timeline and flipping through magazines of those years, you can even find such amazing things like machine with a propeller and even a flying train. More on those later in the review.
Advertising poster train plane, George benny.
In 1920, the Scotsman George Bennie (Bennie George) came up with an unusual idea. Exploring the possibilities of engines of those years, he suggested that the engine can be done much faster if the steam engine, coal-fired, to replace the motor with propeller. And new speed the machine does not interfere with other vehicles, it should move over the surface of the earth.
Train with propeller design George benny.
Nine years later, in the midst of an advertising campaign, benny began to show their brainchild to potential investors. Near Glasgow (Scotland) was built 120-metre section of the railway. Designed machine, called the Railplane was a trailer in a streamlined shape, for 48 passengers, suspended like a cable car, two trucks. The bottom of the train relied on the railway track.
On the tapering front and rear was a propeller-driven electric motors. To stop eurowagon, propellers were reversibility, i.e. rotated in the opposite direction.
Train George benny on the test segment of the road under Glasgow in Scotland.
Passengers unique train George benny.
Passengers George Bennie Railplane was offered comfort, unattainable by ordinary train.
The test stretch of road was too short, but benny has estimated that the maximum train speed is 120 mph (about 190 km/h). Thus, the route between Glasgow and Edinburgh would take only 20 minutes. In our days the trains spend on a similar trip of 50 minutes.
In addition to the speed, the Railplane was offered a high level of comfort. George Bennie Railplane was carpet, plush seats, stained glass Windows.
But the unusual project has not received funding. Apparently, one of the reasons was that railway companies were afraid that the invention of benny was too effective. They also thought about the potential profits you could lose by releasing unusual trains “on the road”.
By 1937 the George Bennie had spent all their money on promotion Railplane and went bankrupt. However, the train-the plane still for a long time agitated the minds of designers from different countries, though the concept, as it turned out, was not new.
The Russian eurowagon Abakanskogo, 1921.
In 1921, the Russian inventor Valerian Bakowski created his own version of high-speed trains. Was taken by the railway trolley, which has established aircraft engine with two-bladed propeller. Due to the streamlined shape of the body at the trials reached a maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour. On the route Moscow-Tula on Board was attended by 22 people, Soviet and foreign Communists. But on the way back easy and fast eurowagon went off the rails on a pothole and crashed. Killing 7 people, which was buried near the Kremlin wall.
Monorail train with a propeller design J. W. Fawkes.
In 1910 the designer, J. W. Fawkes from Burbank, California, introduced its prototype of a train with a propeller. Experimental monorail camera Fawkes’ Folly, as stated by the inventor, was to reach the speed of 95 kilometers per hour. In apricot orchards J. W. Fawkes built a road segment length of 400 meters. Trailer length 12 meters cited by Frankline engine that rotates the propeller. But with passengers on Board, he barely reached 5 km/h.
The cover of the magazine Electrical Experimenter, 1918.
Project monorail Francis Laura, 1919.
The French invention: fast flying electric trolley, 1930.
In the 1930s the French engineer Joseph Archer presented his project. Monorail train, powered by electricity, have to move from the rotor and move with the speed of 240 km/h. This is due to its streamlined shape. For braking the train, the screw rotates in the reverse direction, and braking distance is only 90 meters.
Train Burghardt.
In 1934, the engineer of the German company Telefunken Raymond C. Buchardt has developed the unusual eurowagon. It was assumed that the train will travel along the monorail at a speed more characteristic planes than land transport, reaching 480 kilometers per hour due to air screw. The developer stated that the design is very safe, and the machine can be radio controlled.
Train Burghardt stands upright on a single rail, and its balancing gyroscopes are used. They eliminate side forces on the machine with a capacity of 100 passengers.
At high speed the driver may not see the signals, so control point it must give instructions on the radio. For several reasons the project remained only on paper.
German aerovion – Schienenzeppelin.
A rear view of the “Rail Zeppelin”.
But popularity has received another project from Germany. The name “Rail Zeppelin” (Schienenzeppelin) got the machine, designed by engineer Franz Kruckenberg. In 1931, eurowagon became known throughout the country, reaching a record speed of 230 km/h train length 25,85 meters and a height of 2.8 meters stood a 12-cylinder BMW aircraft engine power 600 HP Motor rotated the propeller at the stern, which moved the whole machine.
Record trip Schienenzeppelin in 1931.
The body of the Schienenzeppelin made of metal and wood, lined with aluminum sheets. The interior consisted of a compartment for Smoking and non-Smoking rooms, lobby, canteen and toilet. The total weight of the train is small – a total of 20.3 tons.
“Rail Zeppelin” at the station.
The German Schienenzeppelin train with the removed paneling.
After passing a series of tests, the Schienenzeppelin was not allowed to operate on the railroad. Its speed was too high and powerful streams of air from the propeller caused the destruction of the railway embankment. In addition, for the “rail Zeppelin” was characterized by another problem all eurowagons. Engine power enough to quickly move only the train itself. If it is hitched to the wagons, the speed of highly fell.
“New alloys bring the future”, 1958.
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