News from The Monorail Society

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News from The Monorail Society

Post by kamnet »

For a few months now I've been elevated to an admin of The Monorail Society's group page on Facebook, I've gotten into the habit of spending a little bit of time every week actually looking for monorail news from around the globe, since it usually doesn't make global headlines. Figure I'll start posting some of this stuff here as well.

2020 News Archive
August 2020 News:
08/09: Stunning 4K Video of Wuppertal Schwebebahn from 1902
08/10: BeemCar Ready to Tackle Dubai Gridlock


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Stunning 4K Video of Wuppertal Schwebebahn from 1902

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Stunning 4K Video of Wuppertal Schwebebahn from 1902

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and video editor Denis Suryavev have released new video taken from a short 1902 video known as "The Flying Train, Germany". The video has been upscaled to 4k, 60fps, and colorized. The video is posted below but you may enjoy visiting YouTube to experience the video in a larger full-screen format, or even using VR glasses. Take a short ride on the Wuppertal Schwebebahn suspension monorail as it was experienced 118 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQs5VxNPhzk


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Post by Chrill »

What a spectacular video, and a view back into the past.

I wonder how people 200 years from now will feel viewing videos from the Space Shuttle launch, or from just videos people recorded on their Instagram profiles. Perhaps not with as much amazement, but still.
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Post by kamnet »

Indeed. And it feels a little strange, because none of the people in this video are alive today, but they are as alive as ever here. How many of them would have ever even guessed that we would be watching them in amazement, and them in return watching this fairly new train technology in amazement.

I keep re-watching it to look at all the ordinary things happening off to the sides. In one scene you can see what appears to be a boilermaker building parts for small steam engines. You see the system pass over dirt roads with the concrete footings for the beam supports crudely sticking out of the ground, and then it transitions to parts of the road with overhead wiring and tram racks below it, and then to an urban center where the sides of the river bank have been built up with stone and cement so that wide, paved streets can run on either side. You watch the various horse-drawn wagons making their way through the streets. I saw a couple of soldiers standing inside one of the stations, as well as a couple of railway employees monitoring the trains from an observation deck under the platform. I even noticed the waters of the river moving fairly swiftly.

BTW, at the end of the month, the system is being partially shut down for a year to repair some extensive damage caused by the new trains. There will only be weekend service until next summer.
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Re: Stunning 4K Video of Wuppertal Schwebebahn from 1902

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kamnet wrote: 09 Aug 2020 20:17 Stunning 4K Video of Wuppertal Schwebebahn from 1902
What a great video!

Next year I shall be in Cologne for a Counter Strike tournament, and fully intend to make the fairly short trip from there to Wuppertal just to go on this suspension railway. I would have done it already, however the pandemic cancelled my main reason for going to Germany to start with. So fingers crossed when the event is, in middle of July, they have sorted out any maintenance. Will either arrive a few days earlier or leave a few days after the event to facilitate some tourist stuff.
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Re: News from The Monorail Society

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kamnet wrote: 09 Aug 2020 22:08BTW, at the end of the month, the system is being partially shut down for a year to repair some extensive damage caused by the new trains. There will only be weekend service until next summer.
The Schwebebahn is notoriously unreliable, is it not? I feel like they close it down for massive repairs at least every five or so years! I understand that this unique system is a tourist attraction in itself, but at some point you must ask whether they should build trams on the ground and perhaps keep the Schwebebahn for limited tourist journeys.
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Re: News from The Monorail Society

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Chrill wrote: 10 Aug 2020 07:45
kamnet wrote: 09 Aug 2020 22:08BTW, at the end of the month, the system is being partially shut down for a year to repair some extensive damage caused by the new trains. There will only be weekend service until next summer.
The Schwebebahn is notoriously unreliable, is it not? I feel like they close it down for massive repairs at least every five or so years! I understand that this unique system is a tourist attraction in itself, but at some point you must ask whether they should build trams on the ground and perhaps keep the Schwebebahn for limited tourist journeys.
It's only been recently. The system had a major overhaul several years ago after some long-delayed maintenance in order to prepare for the new GTW-15 trains. However, those new trains have had some performance issues, and the current shut down is because the train's new wheels have been causing damage to the track. WSW is now taking the manufacturer to court over all the damages.

The system is a tourist attraction, but it is of primary importance for workers in the Wupper Valley. Having to lease diesel buses for the next year is going to hurt WSW's finances, and neither workers nor tourists are going to enjoy the increased air pollution.
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BeemCar Ready to Tackle Dubai Gridlock

Post by kamnet »

BeemCar Ready to Tackle Dubai Gridlock

The personal rapid transit (PRT) system is working to be the connector between Dubai's busiest parts of the city and the greater metro network. It expects to be ready five years before Dubai's 2030 "city of the future" plans.

https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transpo ... s-says-ceo


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Re: News from The Monorail Society

Post by Auge »

kamnet wrote: 09 Aug 2020 22:08 I keep re-watching it to look at all the ordinary things happening off to the sides. In one scene you can see what appears to be a boilermaker building parts for small steam engines. You see the system pass over dirt roads with the concrete footings for the beam supports crudely sticking out of the ground, and then it transitions to parts of the road with overhead wiring and tram racks below it, and then to an urban center where the sides of the river bank have been built up with stone and cement so that wide, paved streets can run on either side. You watch the various horse-drawn wagons making their way through the streets. I saw a couple of soldiers standing inside one of the stations, as well as a couple of railway employees monitoring the trains from an observation deck under the platform. I even noticed the waters of the river moving fairly swiftly.
In one scene you can see a child on a swing in the garden right hand beside the road. :-)

I found a recognisable place, Kaiserstraße corner to Goethestraße (left hand). At least it is more urban 106 years later (Google stretview image was taken 2008). The pillar on the corner has the same number on both images (#42) even it was replaced with a newer, more modern version of itself like it was done with the rest of the contruction.

Wuppertal-Kaiserstrasse.jpg
Wuppertal-Kaiserstrasse.jpg (49.87 KiB) Viewed 9711 times
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Re: News from The Monorail Society

Post by 2TallTyler »

I loved the monorail video. It was interesting to see how rural some of the lineside scenes were, despite being next to a rapid transit line.
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Re: News from The Monorail Society

Post by Pilot »

I see no one has posted the obvious, so I guess I must...
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Re: News from The Monorail Society

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Pilot wrote: 11 Aug 2020 18:27 I see no one has posted the obvious, so I guess I must...
*thwaps you with a thousand burning suns*
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Re: News from The Monorail Society

Post by 2TallTyler »

Cargo monorails, anyone?

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Re: News from The Monorail Society

Post by Drury »

haha that reminds me of the Irish desert monorail

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