BRENNAN MONO-RAIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 11 June 1907, Page 4

BRENNAN MONO-RAIL.

AN AUSTRALIAN'S INVENTION. DESCRIBEIH3y"a VISITOR. A. eable message published a little vhjle ago announced that Mr Louis Brennan, forniedly of Victoria, the inventor of the torpedo which bears his name, haß successfully exhibited his mo-no-nil invention at a conversazione of the Royal Society. GYROSCOPIC STABILITY. While in England recently (writes the Argus) Mr Alexander McKinley visited Mr Brennan at Brompton and learned the principle of the invention, the details of which the inventor has been engaged in working out during the .past ten years. The essential difference between Mr Brcnnan's scheme and other systems is that the single rail is on the ground, insteaiof being overhead. The balance of the carriages is maintained by an application c»f the gyroscope, which contains two revolving discs, spinning at the extraordinary speed of 7900 revolutions a minute. This invention is practically an adaptation of the principle of the Japanese top, with spinning I rings set at right angles to each other. !A gyroscope is placed in each carriage,' and when spinning, keeps, the carriages .upright and perfectly rigid. The value of the gyroscope has already been de- | monstrated in preventing ships from rolling in a heavy sea. I The working of the mono-rail was demonstrated by Mr Brennan by means of . a model erected in his own grounds. Mr j McKinley gives the following description of the experiment:—■» EXPOSITION ON THE LAWN. '"Mr Brcnnan's mono-rail is certainly a 'wonderful invention. Around his lawns he has a rail half an inch thick, resting jon pieces of wood Gin long by l'/iin wide, with a groove in the centre and about Sir, j apart; a portion of the lawn is a terrace, |3loped 1 in 5; at the far end two hills are raised, which indicate, a ravine 30 feet across, 4ft to 5t high. Over the ravine is a wire rope of the same thickness as the rail. The model is about five feet long, engine and truck combined. In the centre of one of the lawns is made a complete circle of wire rope, about 10 feet in diameter. Another wire j rope is placed in all kinds of shapes and curves. The model is driven by electricity, and runs**at o'/ 2 miles an hour. Standing at a distance of 40 or 50 wards, it looked very pretty running round the track, which was fairly straight on both sides, but curved at the ends. At the end, where the mounds are, is a gradual incline. As the little model ascended this none of us spoke, for we were all intent on how it would take the wire rope and go across. It slowed down a little to about half speed, and crept up the bill and across the wire and then down the other side. The train was made to run the opposite way, to go up the grade of lin s—it can go up a grade of 1 in 3.

TWO HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR. The thjsil experiment was putting a young Tad in the truck, to show first how it could take a load up the 1 in r> gradient. I may say that in the model one-third of a pound is equal to one man—the lx>y being equal to a load of 14 tons. To show how perfectly the invention works the boy next turned slowly round while sitting in the model. and while lie leaned to one side the truck went the opposite way. The next demonstration consisted in sending the train round the circle at full speed, 6'/~ miles an hour. Then it proceeded round the sherp curves and turns at alnin-t half-speed. Then the toy started across the 'ravine' in the c:ir. When half-way he stopped to illustrate the safety of the system, and after a few minutes completed the distance. The whole demonstration was certainly most successful and Interesting. ''The speed Mr Brennan reckons at ! which a train could travel Is 200 miles lan hour. Rcniemlier, this is one rail 'only, without any supports whatever. The train could be stopped going up or down hill and is under perfect control. When at a station loading, and it is desired to stop the machinery, rests are pushed down on each side at both ends of the carriage or truck. When a trai'i pulls up a( n station these supports av-3 not necessary.' CHEAP COXS'ITJTTInX. The idea of a one-rail line occurred to the inventor before he left Australia. He realised the importance of devising some scheme to reduce the cost of railway construction and maintenance, and. though he attempted to banish the monorail idea from bis mind as impracticable. )f. continually recurred, until it took ilpreseiit shape. The invention has arou-•-ed the interest of several War Office experts, and the Indian OHice thought so much of it as to promise .€SOOO for a practical demonstration if the British Government would give another £SOOO. Mr Brennan claims that the great advantage of the invention is that it can be used in rough country. Twenty mil"* of rail can be laid in day. and the cost of construction is about one-third thnt