Lartigue Monorail
These did not carry any weight, but unpowered stabilising wheels fitted to all the engines and wagons contacted these extra rails to prevent the vehicles from overbalancing.
[4] Another problem with using the Lartigue system in populated areas was that, due to the track's design, it was not possible to build conventional level crossings.
In order for a road to cross the track, a kind of double-sided drawbridge had to be provided, which required an attendant to operate it.
Both the swivelling and drawbridge-type crossings were automatically linked to signals, which stopped any approaching trains, and road traffic was always given priority.
A kind of footbridge was built into one end of some of the passenger coaches, while at least one such bridge was carried on a separate wagon.
A smaller engine, nicknamed the "coffee pot", was used in the construction of the railway, having been used previously on a demonstration line at Tothill Fields in London.
The rolling stock, both wagons and carriages, were made by the Falcon Engine & Car Works of Loughborough.
[5] On 28 November 1907, a double-headed train on a busy race day collided with some sleepers on a trestle and derailed.
[6] On 14 October 1914, a train heading towards Listowel reached Moybella at 18.00 and hit James Lynch, a milesman, who died from his injuries.
The locomotive and its train of replica coaches were built by Alan Keef Ltd.[8] By 1875 Lartigue had built a 90 km (56 mi) monorail to transport esparto grass from Oran to Damesne across the Algerian desert, with mules pulling trains of panniers that straddled the elevated rail.
It showed off the features and advantages of the system, including steep gradients, sharp curves, points and level crossings.
This was a development of the Lartigue system which enabled higher speeds using electric power, articulated chassis and two guide rails on either side of the trestle.
It ran for 45 km (28 mi) from a connection on the Trona Railway, eastward to harvest epsomite deposits in the Owlshead Mountains.
It would have run between Deansgate in Manchester and Church Street in Liverpool with no intermediate stops, covering the distance in 20 minutes.
In 1901, the railway was approved by an act of parliament, however it included a clause which enabled the Board of Trade to require testing of the design at the company's expense to certify the system's safety.
The company agreed to build 7 miles (11 km) of the route for this purpose, however the substantial cost of this scared away most investors, who did not want to finance the construction of a railway which might never be allowed to open.
