The Bradford & Foster Brook Railway was one of the earliest, if not the first, monorails in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Inspired by a working demonstration of the

Centennial Monorail General Roy Stone's Centennial Monorail was demonstrated at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the U.S., which was held in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Dec ...

at the Philadelphia

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

of 1876, Col. Roy Stone thought it would solve transportation problems near

Bradford, Pennsylvania Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania, McKean County, Pennsylvania. It is located close to the border with New York (state), New York state and approximately south of Buffalo, New York. Bradford is the principal city in the Bradford, ...

. In 1876, Bradford was a booming oil town with much machinery and oil supplies awaiting delivery. Because of muddy road conditions, deliveries to the oil fields were delayed. Construction of the railroad was already started by October 31, 1877, when the Railway Corporation was founded. The railway was constructed similar to the

Lartigue Monorail The Lartigue Monorail system was developed by the French engineer Charles Lartigue (1834–1907). He further developed a horse drawn monorail system, which had been invented by Henry Robinson Palmer in 1821. Lartigue had seen camels in Algeri ...

design, and consisted of a series of piles driven into the ground connected by 12" square timbers upon which set a single rail. Three feet below the railhead was a stringer on each side. This stringer bore a wear strip upon which the rail cars pressed a wheel for balance. Road crossings operated like a fence gate, as did switches. A variety of engines were constructed for the railway. The first engine had twin boilers and sat low on the rail. It wore out quickly, and was replaced by a heavier engine of more conventional single-boiler design. This engine had only two drivers and bore heavily on the rail, crashing through on its fourth trip along the railway. No one was hurt in the accident, although several people had to be rescued from the stream. By the beginning of the next year, a third locomotive had been constructed, again using twin boilers. This third locomotive had second-hand boilers. They were tested to their specifications; however, on the engine's trial run, one boiler ran dry, and when too much water was introduced by an inexperienced fireman, the resulting explosion killed six people, and put an end to the railroad.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Bradford and Foster Brook Monorail
The Bradford Monorail

Route of the B&FB

* ttp://bradfordlandmark.org/album/Postcards/Transportation/slides/Peg%20Leg%20Railroad.html Postcard Monorails Monorails in the United States Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Railway companies established in 1877 Railway companies disestablished in 1879 1877 establishments in Pennsylvania 1879 disestablishments in Pennsylvania