This is a follow-up of this previous article - https://www.themistervintage.com/2022/06/skyway-houstons-first-monorail.html
AMERICA'S first monorail train is undergoing tests on a 970-foot pilot line in Houston, Tex. Hailed as one answer to America's urban transportation problem, monorails have proved fast, safe and econom-ical in European use. The 55-foot Houston train is in two parts: power units and engineer's cabin on top of the rail, and passenger coach below. The rail is a steel pipe 30 inches in diameter, supported by inverted-J towers that are 30 feet high and spaced 55 feet apart. The train rides on eight rubber-tired wheels while 16 rubber guide wheels hold it in place on the rail. Two 305-horsepower gasoline en-gines drive the unit, which some-day may achieve a speed of 250 miles per hour. The glass-fiber coach seats 60 and stands 50, is seven feet high and eight feet wide inside. A monorail line, backers say, could be built at the rate of one or two miles per week for $500,000 per mile. That's over twice the cost of a regular railroad but 140 the cost of a subway. A two-track line would cost $700,000. Chief advan-tages: it takes no right-of-way, can operate above a busy street.
0 Comments