![Lartigue Lokomotive](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Lartigue_Lokomotive.png)
The Lartigue Monorail system was developed by the French engineer Charles Lartigue (1834–1907). He further developed a horse drawn
monorail
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
system, which had been invented by
Henry Robinson Palmer
Henry Robinson Palmer (1795–1844) was a British civil engineer who designed the world's second monorail and the first elevated railway. He is also credited as the inventor of corrugated metal roofing, still one of the world's major building m ...
in 1821.
Lartigue had seen
camels in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
carrying heavy loads balanced in
pannier
A pannier is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from a Middle English borrowing of the Old French '' ...
s on their backs. This inspired him to design a new type of railway. Instead of the conventional two parallel rails on the ground, it had a single rail sitting above the sand and held at waist height on A-shaped trestles. The carriages sat astride the trestles like panniers.
A line long was built in 1895 between Feurs and Panissières, in the French
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
of
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...
. However this line never opened after it failed certification testing in both 1895 and 1896. The track and equipment were scrapped in 1902.
The most famous Lartigue
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
was the Listowel and Ballybunion Railway in Ireland which ran for 36 years from 1888.
By 1881 Lartigue had also built a
monorail
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
to transport
esparto grass
Esparto, halfah grass, or esparto grass is a fiber produced from two species of perennial grasses of north Africa, Spain and Portugal. It is used for crafts, such as cords, basketry, and espadrilles. '' Stipa tenacissima'' and '' Lygeum spart ...
across the Algerian desert, with
mules pulling trains of panniers that straddled the elevated rail.
However the Lartigue system as built was not truly a monorail, since it was necessary to add two further rails, one on each side, lower down the A frames. These did not carry any weight, but unpowered stabilising wheels fitted to all the engines and wagons contacted these extra rails to prevent the vehicles from overbalancing.
Listowel and Ballybunion Railway
![Lartigue Monorail (5903843291)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Lartigue_Monorail_%285903843291%29.jpg)
This was a
monorail
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
built on the Lartigue principle in
County Kerry in Ireland. It linked
Ballybunion
Ballybunion or Ballybunnion () is a coastal town and seaside resort in County Kerry, Ireland, on the Wild Atlantic Way, from the town of Listowel.
Tourism
Ballybunion has two main beaches, divided by the Castle Green. The Ladies Beach is to ...
with the
North Kerry line
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
at
Listowel
Listowel ( ; , IPA: ˆlʲɪsË ËˆtÌªË uÉ™hÉ™lʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the CSO Census 2016.
Desc ...
. It had one intermediate station and a
passing loop
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...
at
Lisselton. The line ran beside the main Listowel/Ballybunion road (
R553). It officially opened on 29 February 1888, public services beginning on 5 March. The track was prefabricated and easily erected, and the capital cost was £33,000, far lower than a conventional railway. No
baronial
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
guarantees were sought. However, the system had significant operating drawbacks.
Loads had to be evenly balanced. If a farmer wanted to send a cow to market, he would have to send two
calves to balance it, which would travel back on opposite sides of the same freight wagon, thereby balancing each other.
Another problem with using the Lartigue system in populated areas was that, due to the track's design, it was not possible to build conventional
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
s. In order for a road to cross the track, a kind of double-sided
drawbridge had to be constructed, which required an attendant to operate it. Where farmers' tracks crossed the line there were level crossings based on the principle of a
turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
. These were locked and the farmer in question provided with a key. Once unlocked, the track could be swivelled to one side to allow the crossing to be used. Both the swivelling and drawbridge type crossings were automatically linked to signals, which stopped any approaching trains; road traffic was always given priority under this system.
Passengers could not pass from one side of a carriage to another while in motion. A kind of footbridge was built into one end of some of the passenger coaches, while at least one such bridge was carried on a separate wagon. This allowed passengers to cross from one side of the train to the other when stopped at a station.
Conventional railway
points could not be used, so a similar function was fulfilled by a large number of curved movable pieces of track which, when rotated one way, would connect the main and one other track. When turned end-for-end, the curve went in the opposite direction, and so connected the main and a different track. The devices could not be called
turntables
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
because they could only be moved when there was no rolling stock on them. There was, however, a turntable at each terminus.
The three
locomotives were of the
0-3-0 type, constructed by the
Hunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & So ...
. They were specially built with two
boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...
s to balance on the track, and consequently two
fireboxes, one of which had to be stoked by the driver. They were also fitted with powered
tenders for auxiliary use on hills. The tender wheels were driven by two cylinders via
spur gears. Two small chimneys were fitted to each tender to discharge the exhaust steam from these cylinders. A smaller engine, nicknamed the "coffee pot", was used in the construction of the railway, having been used previously on a demonstration line at
Tothill Fields
Tothill Fields was an area of Westminster in the county of Middlesex that lay south of St James's Park on the north bank of the river Thames. One of its main features was the Tothill Fields Bridewell penitentiary.
Between 1735 and 1752, it was t ...
in London. It can be seen on an early photo of 1888. The rolling stock, both wagons and carriages, were made by the
Falcon Engine & Car Works
Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec.
History
Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works
Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since ...
of
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...
.
The track, installations and rolling stock were damaged during the
Irish Civil War of 1922/23, but services continued. However, the failure to include the railway in the
Great Southern Railways, the company created by the Irish Government to run the railways in the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
, left the financially struggling operation no choice but to close. The last train ran on 14 October 1924 and everything was scrapped, except a short section of the track.
Accidents
On 29 September 1889, a passenger train was derailed near Galey bridge, probably as a result of sabotage to the line. Several bolts were found to have been removed from the track and discarded some distance away. Fortunately no-one was injured.
On 28 November 1907, a double-headed train on a busy race day collided with some sleepers on a trestle and derailed.
Restoration
![The Lartigue Monorail at Listowel - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/The_Lartigue_Monorail_at_Listowel_-_geograph.org.uk_-_331699.jpg)
In 2003 the ''Lartigue Monorailway Restoration Committee'', a voluntary organisation from
Listowel
Listowel ( ; , IPA: ˆlʲɪsË ËˆtÌªË uÉ™hÉ™lʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the CSO Census 2016.
Desc ...
, opened a section of Lartigue monorail on the trackbed of the former North Kerry line in Listowel. Visitors to the sit
Lartigue Monorail and Museumcan take a demonstration monorail trip and learn about the history of the Lartigue Monorail. The line is worked by a
diesel locomotive built to resemble the original 0-3-0 steam engines. The locomotive and its train of replica coaches were built by
Alan Keef Ltd.
Other examples
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
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 in Philadelphia was a full-sized, but short (155m. long track) demonstration of a steam-powered, passenger-carrying Lartigue monorail.
The
Bradford and Foster Brook Railway
The Bradford & Foster Brook Railway was one of the earliest, if not the first, monorails in America. Inspired by a working demonstration of the Centennial Monorail at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, Col. Roy Stone thought it would ...
in
McKean County, Pennsylvania
McKean County is a rural county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,432. Its county seat is Smethport. The county was created in 1804 and organized in 1826. It was named in honor of former Pennsyl ...
, inspired by the Centennial Monorail, was built in 1878 to serve the Pennsylvania oil boom, but operated for less than a year.
In the northern
Mojave desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...
of California, the
Epsom Salts Monorail was built in 1924. It ran for from a connection on the
Trona Railway
The Trona Railway is a short-line railroad owned by Searles Valley Minerals. The TRC interchanges with the Lone Pine Subdivision of the Union Pacific Railroad (former Southern Pacific Transportation Company) at Searles, California.
History
The ...
, eastward to harvest
epsomite
Epsomite, Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, is a hydrous magnesium sulfate mineral with formula MgSO4·7H2O.
Epsomite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system as rarely found acicular or fibrous crystals, the normal form is as massiv ...
deposits in the
Owlshead Mountains
The Owlshead Mountains are located at the southern end of Death Valley National Park near the border of the Fort Irwin Military Reservation in San Bernardino County, California, US.
Geography
The range lies in the Mojave Desert, north of the Gr ...
. This non-passenger monorail achieved
gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gr ...
s of more than ten percent. It only operated until June 1926, and was dismantled for scrap in the late 1930s.
[ (Republished in '' Trains and Travel'', October 1951)]
See also
*
History of rail transport in Ireland
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland had 3,500 route miles (5,630 km). The current status is less than half that amount, with a large unserviced area arou ...
*
Aldershot Narrow Gauge Suspension Railway
The Aldershot narrow-gauge suspension railway was built in 1872 as an innovative experimental railway at Aldershot Camp, Hampshire, England. It had a gauge of and incorporated the suspension principle, invented and patented by John Barraclough Fe ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
The Rebuilt Lartigue Monorailway website*
The Lartigue Monorailway PhotosArticle in the Scientific American Supplement No. 584 (12 March 1887) pages 9325-27British Pathe film
{{Coord missing, County Kerry
Heritage railways in the Republic of Ireland
Rail transport in Ireland
Monorails