Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 212, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 September 1911 — Mono-Railways. [ARTICLE]

Mono-Railways.

Railways with only one rail have been amongst the dreams of science for a good many years and appear to be feasible owing to the utilization of the gyroscope, which, on the principle of a boy’s humming top, maintains its equilibrium by its speedy revolutions. A modification of the original design is just now comirfg into use, which gives a tolerably effective light railway at a very cheap rate, and may revolutionize country transportation entirely. It consists of a six inch rail of hard wood, or metal, supported on posts, five or six feet apart, with a subsidiary rail a couple of feet below it. The car sits astride, the track, its bottom just above the snowline, one wheel running vertically along the top rail, and two horizontal wheels running, one each side of the subsidiary rail. The propulsion Is by a gasoline, or if preferred, any other engine, set for convenience above the upper rail on the car. The horizontal wheels preserve the balance on which principle the system depends. Grades and curves are said to be easily negotiable. The average expense of building the track is said to be about $2,000 a mile. Two counties in Nova Scotia have voted bonuses of SI,OOO a mile to companies which are about to build lines. There are short lines already in operation at Ottawa, and at Sherbrooke, Que.