Bradford and Foster Brook Railway
The Bradford & Foster Brook Railway was an 8 km monorail railway between Bradford and Gilmore in Pennsylvania . It was one of the first monorails in the USA.
history
After building and demonstrating the Centennial Monorail at the Centennial International Exhibition in 1876 , General LeRoy Stones thought a monorail was the solution to transportation problems in the Bradford Marshes. The concept was similar to that of the Lartigue monorail : the support track was mounted on A-shaped frames made of 300 mm × 300 mm square timber, on which upright double flange wheels ran. There were also two side guide rails 3 feet (914 mm ) below the mounting rail to help balance the vehicle. At the level crossings and switches, the support rails were moved around a hinge like a garden gate.
In 1876 Bradford was a rapidly developing oil town, with machinery and oil worth thousands of dollars ready to be shipped. Because of the muddy road conditions, the transport to the oil fields was delayed. The construction of the monorail therefore began before the railway company was founded on October 31, 1877. It was put into operation in January 1878.
Several steam locomotives were built. The first had a twin boiler below the mounting rail. It was quickly worn out and replaced by a larger locomotive with a single conventional boiler. This locomotive only had two support wheels and this overloaded the support rail of a bridge so much that it derailed on the fourth run. No one was injured in the accident, but several people had to be dragged out of the river. It is not known whether the locomotive continued to operate after the accident. In any case, the third locomotive was purchased the following year, this time again with a twin boiler that was acquired second-hand. The boilers had been tested against the specification, but on the first test drive in January 1878, the boiler ran dry. After an inexperienced stoker poured in too much water, the boiler exploded, killing 6 people. After that, operations did not resume. The monorail was dismantled for scrapping and replaced by a narrow-gauge railway.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lawrence W. Kilmer: Bradford & Foster Brook, Peg Leg Railroad , p. 36.
