An a rail course is the passenger or goods transport serving course, which drives on or under an individual narrow drive ("rail", "driving bars"). This can take different forms and be manufactured from different materials. In addition, it is mostly can run ebenerdig or in tunnels. The drive of a rail courses takes place usually by electric motors, although also with the Dampfantrieb and combustion engines one experimented. The suspension railway Dresden is propelled as aerial ropeway by a rope of a stationary machine.

All a rail courses, which attained a meaning, drive in stable equilibrium on or under their rail. This is reached for example with the fact that a set of dual tires on the top side of the driving bar and on the sides per a high and a deep row run from guidance tires.

Early developments

In the year 1821 Henry Robinson Palmer could a patent be issued on an a rail course. After this patent in Cheshunt, England, a course for brick transport was built and taken on 25 June 1825 in enterprise. The cars hung underneath a rail and by a horse were pulled.

Around 1880 in Algeria by French engineer Charles Lartigue an early a rail course was established over a distance by 90 kilometers. The cars of this course had a chassis, to which on both sides carrying containers to the transport of Espartogras were fastened. Further distances of these Lartigue Einschienenbahn were established on an exhibition 1886 in London and 1888 between Listowel and Ballybunion in southeast Ireland with special steam engines. This course was 36 years until 1924 in enterprise and since 2001 after the old collecting mains again to the new enterprise is developed.

1907 developed English engineer Louis Brennan (1852 - 1932) an a rail course, which drove on steel wheels with twin-track rings on an individual Vignolschiene and was stabilized actively over gyroscope systems. Of it there was a model in the reduced yardstick as well as 1910 also a demonstration unit in full size in Whitecity/London. There was also an attempt to introduce this course to Germany for which the well-known citizen of Berlin publisher August Scherl and the land advice of the Obertaunuskreises, knight of Marx exerted themselves. The project a rail course at the Taunusrand was broken off however still before a decision and further projects gave it not. Bernhard Kellermann perpetuated such a course in its Science Fiction novel "the tunnel" (1913).

Advantages

As main advantage for a rail courses it is generally stated that the vehicles operate normally and with it completely flat-free. This prevents accidents with the traffic completely, permits strong automation and makes a reliability possible, as she is reached otherwise only with undergrounds, however to a fraction of the price and with the certain futuristic fascination and the prospect effect, as them are only a rail courses to own.

Building projects can be carried out, since the drives from prefabricated finished units are installed, quite fast and unproblematically; the driving bars are integrated relatively well into urban scenes and the courses can even into buildings be inserted. The construction costses of a rail courses lie between 25 and over 60 million euro per distance kilometer. This is however relatively cheap in relation to the costs of u or rapid-transit railways. The shade throw is smaller by the narrow, quite far stretching carriers than courses conventional with the or mehrspuriger not-conventional trace vehicle systems.

The drive assemblies are, particularly with the SAFEGE system, in addition, with saddle courses, comparatively with conventional railways very well against influences of the weather protected. The snow clearing expenditure is very low with saddle courses, with SAFEGE escapes that snow areas completely (therefore it also the sample applications in colder areas of Japan). Acceleration and slowing down power usually of the electrically operated and vehicles supplied with pneumatic tires are particularly good during quite small noise quite (comparably with light undergrounds supplied with pneumatic tires etc.); the good by large adhesion of the rubber tires and the small turning radii by uncomplicatedly possible, strong superelevating of elbows permit drawings in very difficult environments.

Disadvantages

Hauptnachteil of the a rail course is the incompatibility. Apart from the standardisation lacking of the systems among themselves no transition possibility is given by and to the conventional rail (as with the two-system metropolitan railway) or to the road (as with the track-bound bus).

Besides a serious goods traffic is with the really implemented systems not possibly, since these air or vollgummibereiften because of the numerous, mostly wheels an exclusive enterprise with motor coaches require, particularly, if large upward gradients and/or increased heights are present.

Switches are relatively complex and expensive. There are different, differently practicable flexible and change switch designs; first bend the driving bar, the latter exchange by shifting or rotating a platform a rigid straight driving strand against a rigid curved strand. Drive-cash switches are possible in no case.

The maximum speeds are relatively limited with the gummibereiften designs.

The shade throw, although not as largely as with conventional overhead railways to neglect is not.

Meaning

A rail courses were established particularly for world exhibitions and fairs or in entertainment parks and torn off mostly again. Nevertheless the prejudice, which stamps the a rail course as prospect car course, is unauthorized. Beside the countless more or less complicated I-beam courses, with which in handicraft and industrial companies of each order of magnitude goods of all kinds are transported, there are numerous well introduced public a rail courses in the world (park courses are not mentioned); many further are planned. The longest planned system in Tama, Japan, is to reach once a net network of approximately 100 km.

Although with the then Alweg course since 1957 the entrance was aimed at into fast long-distance traffic, so far no considerable a rail course main line was built. Even the longest realized a rail course systems present themselves thereby as isolated solutions in the traffic sector.

Articles in category "A rail course"

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