Did someone here build a Monorail model

[DB_epoch_III]

Dear fellows,

Some of my club members got the inspiration, to build a running Monorail model in1:87. This Monorail is believed to run in the background of our club layout. Just in front of the backdrops.
The prototype is the ALWEGBAHN, wich was in the mid 50th of the last century located in the north of Cologne. The length of the test line was 1,6 km. It looked like the Disneyworld's Monorail.

Do someone here have experience with a running Monorail model   

Or are you interested in the progress of this idea? 

[marc_reusser]

I can't recall anyone here that built a running one. IIRC there is/was a guy in england that built a beutiful one...possibly 1/43 scale...and I remember there once was one way back in the Narrow Gauge Gazette.

I would be interested in the progress on this.

M

[fspg2]

Hi Franz,

In the German buntbahn forum you can find this link.
But a working model in 1:87 scale .... I'm curious.
Please report it here in the forum!

[DB_epoch_III]

Hi Marc and Frithjof,

thank's for your replay. Well, our club is located near Cologne and so we carefully considered what is possible to make our 16m layout more attractive. It should be something out of the region and not to be seen at every corner.
We remembered, that a monorail was in the mid 50th in the north of Cologne in Fühlingen. The idea was born and the first things we had to do was hunting and collecting (no not animals) only informations.

Here some pictures from the object of the desire. All pictures are copyrighted by www.wisoveg.de

< concrete pillar with the concrete rail on the top < concrete rail mounting car on the line

+ +
A monorail bus of the Cologne type - and at the end >> an inside view


Now you can imagine what we want to rebuild as running model in 1/87 scale.

[Seattle Dave]

Now that you have shown us pictures, you might be interested in the monorail that runs still today in Seattle, Washington.

The Seattle Center Monorail was built for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair to provide a crucial link between the fairgrounds and the amenities downtown.

Construction began in April of 1961 by Alweg Rapid Transit Systems, who received the bid when it offered to underwrite the entire cost of construction.

The monorail opened to the public on March 24, 1962 nearly one month before the start of the World's Fair. At a cost of $3.5 million, the trains carried more than eight million guests during the six months of the fair, easily paying for themselves. That is, the full initial capitol cost of the system was recovered and a profit was realized by ALWEG before the end of the fair.

Following the Fair, the monorail system was turned over to Century 21 Corporation at no cost. Century 21 sold the system to the City of Seattle in 1965 for $600,000.

Today, the trains carry approximately two million riders every year. The monorail has become an important fixture in Seattle for locals, who use the trains during major festivals and sporting events. Seattle Center Monorail is the nation's only fully self-sufficient public transit system.

Just Google "Seattle Monorail"....

[narrowgauger]

Hi Franz

another monorail that you can look at in Sydney Australia

Like Montreal this one is privately owned, does not receive government subsidies and carries around 3 million passengers per year.  the system traverses downtown Sydney and crosses over a secondary habour to surrounding suburbs.

you will find photos and lots of other details at www.metrotransport.com.au  click on "monorail" for more details.

also of interest is the metro tram system owned by the same company, since this represents one of the worlds most recently constructed tram system in a city that abandoned a very large tramway system in the late 50's.  In fact the present day Sydney Opera House is built on the site that housed the worlds' largest tramway depot.

have fun

Bernard

[marc_reusser]

Franz,

I think this monorail, or one sim to it was in a German movie I saw recently. Unfortunately I do not recall the title of the film.

M

[mad gerald]

G'day all,

sorry, don't want to hijack this thread - just got attracted by it's topic and was surfin' the WWW for monorails ... coming across this private owned one: http://www.monorails.org/tmspages/nmt01.html, made almost entirely from wood, running on a wooden elevated track around the owners real estate ... 

Cheers

[DB_epoch_III]

Thanks guys for your friendly replay, informations are always appreciated.

I think this monorail, or one sim to it was in a German movie I saw recently. Unfortunately I do not recall the title of the film.

Marc you're shure that it was a German movie? I know about two movies:
1. "It Happened At The World's Fair" 1962 (the Seattle Center Monorail serve as backdrops for several scenes in the film)
2. "Fahrenheit 451" 1966 (the monorail exterior scene taken at the French SAFEGE test track a suspension railroad, in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire also dismantled end of the 60th)

A good site is also The ALWEG Archives

BTW: When I start with the modeling progress I think it would be better placed in the "Modellers At Work" section of this forum.

[marc_reusser]

Franz,

Yes, it was a German movie...(I always know, becuse I dont have to read the subtitles...except to point-out/explain mistakes to my wife  )...from sometime after 2000...and it took place in modern day Germany. But thinking back, I think the monorail in that film may have been hung inder the track. It was in some nice town along a river. (which describes most towns in Germany )

M

[Hauk]

Franz,

Yes, it was a German movie...(I always know, becuse I dont have to read the subtitles...except to point-out/explain mistakes to my wife  )...from sometime after 2000...and it took place in modern day Germany. But thinking back, I think the monorail in that film may have been hung inder the track. It was in some nice town along a river. (which describes most towns in Germany )

M

Could it have been Wuppertal? I have attatched an image of the suspended monorail in that city. It is still operating today.
(Image liftet from a webiste that probably have liftet it form another website. Did not manage to find any photographer info)

[mad gerald]

... But thinking back, I think the monorail in that film may have been hung inder the track. It was in some nice town along a river. (which describes most towns in Germany )

... in that case it would have been most certainly the "Wuppertaler Schwebebahn" (levitating "railroad" of the city of Wuppertal) ...

picture: http://www.blog.helladonna.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/wuppertal_schwebebahn_2005.jpg
website: http://www.schwebebahn.de/EN/html/fs_start.htm (english language)

Cheers

EDIT 1: blimey ... Hauk was a second faster than me ...  

EDIT 2: ... unless you have seen a kind of this mining Einschienenhaengebahn (self propelled battery powered monorail): http://www.braeutigam-gruppe.com/en/products/monorail-transport-systems/battery-cats/bk-50/ (english language)

[marc_reusser]

You are correct...it was the Wuppertaler one. I recognize the support structure and the scenery. Though for some reason I thought the cars looked older...more like those in Franz's photo.....but then I am getting old and senile, god only knows what I remember or think I saw.

[Mobilgas]

I would love to go back to Germany again just for The Beer and the Food      I was stationed over there and went into town 2 times a day to eat   at a local guest house.  Loved the Drink & Food   Hardly ever ate on Post

[Design-HSB]

Meanwhile we are quite far from the originally sought monorail strayed.

There were some cars even in mines, here's a link to a video.

MArc, the Wuppertal suspension railway is already longer and earlier cars were older.

Craig, there are also good American food, such as I got the beer tap again until just cooked and wish I could even give you the recipe with photo.