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monorail
A railway with only one rail. The cars may hand beneath it, run on top of it (with a guide rail above or a gyroscope to keep them upright), or straddle it. The first was built in London (1824), the cars being horse-drawn. The first successful system was the Lartigue system: the cars straddled the rail and had horizontal wheels that ran on guide rails beneath. The SAFEGE system has cars hung from a box girder, split at the bottom, inside which the driving and guide wheels run. In the Alweg system the cars straddle a broad rail, on either side of which horizontal wheels run to provide stability. Monorails have been proposed as replacements for city subways.
Related entry
• Disney monorailRelated category
• TECHNOLOGYAlso on this site:
Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia of History