The George Bennie Airspeed Railway

Last Easter I gave a talk entitled “Steamin'”—a look at things based around Glasgow that ought to be Steampunk fantasies, but which really existed. Inevitably, the lecture turned to monorails, specifically the Bennie Railplane, its antecedents and its legacy. I’ve posted footage of this before, and a photograph of a commemorative plaque, but never gone into much detail. What follows is from that talk, with added links and extra images.

The first patent for a propeller driven monorail was granted to Anders Anderson of Montana in 1892 – and was well ahead of its time.

As heavier than air flight began to actually work, more inventors saw propellers as a way to make trains go faster.

The first propeller-driven monorail known to have been built was J. W. Fawkes “Aerial Swallow”, in Burbank California around 1907. It was better known as Fawkes’ Folly.

During the late 19th century, Francis Laur was a racist politician, spending much of his tenure as a deputy ranting against Jews and foreigners. After that, he settled down to writing about mining, engineering, and the evils of trade unions. And he started inventing things, including his “Vehicle for use in high-speed locomotion”, which was never built. (I’ve already written about Laur and his Aerial Monoflyer in some depth.)

The idea persisted, though. This 1918 Electical Experimentor cover shows a (presumably) gyroscopic version of Laur’s concept.

We can’t know for sure how many of these ideas George Bennie was aware of when, in 1921, he was granted his first UK patent for “Aerial Tracks for Guiding Aircraft”. A couple of years later, he was granted a US patent for a System of Aerial Transport. The version shown here differs from the one eventually built in that it only has a single bogie. The aerofoils on the roof were intended to lighten the weight on the track by providing lift.

Bennie’s first proposal was to build a mile long railplane line in London connecting Stonebridge Park station with the Empire Exhibition grounds at Wembley. All the permissions were obtained, and the plan was well advanced when it just petered out. This picture is of a later Central London proposal, showing a railplane line along Oxford Street.

Bennie continued to promote his invention, and set up a company to build it. He applied to build lines connecting Brighton and Eastbourne, Brighton and London, Dover and London, and Blackpool and Southport. All were knocked back.

Here’s Bennie showing off a much larger model.

Finally, in 1929, he was able to build a test track over a goods siding at Milngavie.  It was a massive 426 ft, or 130m, long. It was a good, solid, impressive structure, supported on concrete footings.

The photo above shows almost the entire length of it, the sleek, streamlined Railplane here contrasted with a steam locomotive. The Railplane was not intended to replace conventional rail, but to supplement it, providing high speed passenger service that did not get in the way of slower traffic. Building it over existing lines was part of the plan.

The line opened in July 1930, with a big celebration and 140 visiting dignitaries who got to ride in a plus, but cramped, carriage. After that, the line was open to public and anyone with a spare shilling could experience the future and help him test the vehicle. It only stayed open two months, being quite a way out of town and a long walk from Milngavie railway station.

Here’s a map showing the test track. Milngavie is to the north, the railway line to the east.

A lack of income was causing problems for Bennie’s company, Inter-Counties, and he stepped back in 1936, leaving the rights to the Railplane patents with the company. Bennie himself was declare bankrupt soon after, mostly due to a liquidity problem. He continued to develop his ideas though, as did his former company.

In 1946, Bennie founded George Bennie Railspeed Limited and got permission to build a four mile test track on the outskirts of Glasgow. The council then changed their mind.

In 1950, he visited Syria, and Iraq, and a company was formed to build systems in the Middle East and came up with proposals to build a 700 mile system connecting various cities there.

In Milngavie, the test track survived the war, but was eventually demolished in 1956. The building at one end is now a builder’s yard.

Very little remains, as the yard has been expanded along the length of the track. But at the far end you can find what appears to be the remains of the concrete footings that original supported it.

A plaque, with an inaccurate birthdate, has been placed on a wall near the site.

But it was not a complete dead end. After Bennie’s departure from Inter-counties, his engineer Hugh Fraser continued to develop the system. In 1948, he completely redesigned it, with angled wheels running on either side of an inverted T-shaped beam. The propeller was still there though.

A co-operation deal was then signed with a French firm, SAFEGE, to build a line of this type between Earl’s Court and the new London airport at Heathrow. A test track was built in Chateauneuf sur Loire, which featured in the film Fahrenheit 451. 

They had no luck in Europe, but Mitsubishi Heavy Industries took on development in Japan, building a line between a zoo and botanic gardens in Nagoya. This line no longer operates, but part of it is preserved. Their lines at Shōnan and Chiba continue to be successful.

The H-Bahn systems at Dusseldorf Airport and Dortmund University are also direct descendants of the Bennie Railplane. That system continues to be developed in China.

#1930s #France #georgeBennie #germany #Japan #milngavie #monorail #propellers #scotland #unitedStates

boston, massachusetts
october 1959

on the tarmac, logan airport

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dboo/51881848743
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dboo/32499346150/

part of an archival project, featuring the photographs of nick dewolf

© the Nick DeWolf Foundation
Image-use requests are welcome via nickdewolfphotoarchive [at] gmail [dot] com

#photography #film #blackandwhite #bw #boston #massachusetts #airport #loganairport #tarmac #people #pilots #plane #airplane #propellers #lockheed #l188 #luggagecart #1950s

#Scientists make ‘rare advance’ in tackling the oldest #unsolved #problem in #physics.

❛❛ understanding the #pattern & #structure of #turbulence … many practical applications in #science and #engineering, potentially improving the design of #airplanes, #cars, #propellers, artificial #hearts and making #weather prediction more accurate ❜❜

🔗 https://www.CNN.com/2025/02/06/science/turbulence-physics-oldest-unsolved-problem/index.html 2025 Feb 06
🔗 https://www.Science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ads5990 2025 Jan 29

#Community #TimeTravel #Research #quantum #computing #chaos #fluids #Kronodon