Jubbulpore Gun Carriage Factory Monorail

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“ Caillet system ,” sketch from patent application from 1897
“ Ewing system ,” sketch from patent application from 1895

The Jubbulpore Gun Carriage Factory Monorail consisted of two different monorails that were built in 1901–1902 during the construction of the ammunition factory in Jubbulpore , in order to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the “ Caillet System ” and the “ Ewing System ”.

Caillet system and Ewing system

The caillet system consisted of 16 km (10 miles) of caillet rails, plus six tipping trucks, a log truck, and a flat car that were used in the construction of the factory, which was completed in 1904. The Ewing system ran 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) freight yard to the factory. The rail vehicles were pushed by hand on both routes . As a result, the prices of the carts fell due to the competitive situation, but conventional ox carts were still in use. On the factory site, the railway branched out into a section for incoming goods and a section for moving earth and rock.

The engineers said that under the given circumstances, a monorail could be laid quickly and cheaply without any special knowledge. It could be laid with tight radii without a perfect superstructure . It caused minimal disruption to other road users. The workers did not like the Caillet System trucks because they were difficult to operate. Trained drivers were required and there was at least one serious accident.

The conclusions of the investigation were as follows:

  • The Caillet system carts were easier to keep under control on the inclines, but they required trained operators. Their operation was tiring and therefore dangerous. In addition, the same difficulties were observed as with the operation of the Kundala Valley Railway . In order to use draft animals, the connection frame would have had to be rebuilt and they could not be combined into trains.
  • The trolleys of the Ewing system were easier to operate, especially by untrained personnel, and could easily be coupled together. The effort was higher because of the support wheel. Due to the large support wheel, they could only be loaded from one side. The carts were not used for the earthmoving work, and it was questioned whether they would have performed well on the rough terrain.

As a result of the investigation, the Ewing system was preferred, and more wagons would have been ordered had the GIPR broad-gauge branch line not reached the factory as early as 1903. Major Edgell expressed somewhat misleadingly that a two-line light railway was best, but the monorail was very flexible.

Plans for another monorail or narrow-gauge railway project

In addition, it was proposed to move another 6.4 km (4 mile) monorail to the brick factory, but the owners refused to operate it. The report stated: "Since the brick manufacturer refuses to use the route for his bricks because the wagon workers are already causing more than enough trouble, no route has been laid to the brick fields." At a later date, the construction was probably one Narrow-gauge railway considered, but not implemented.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b " Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia " compiled and edited by Simon Darvill. Published by The Industrial Railway Society 2013. ISBN 978-1-901556-82-7 .
  2. ↑ PEA-2292 (on Fibis) : Jubbulpore Gun Carriage Factory Monorail.
  3. ↑ a b c d e British Library IOR / L / MIL / 7/14846 “Collection 335/13 Report on monorail tramway at Jubbulpore.” Memorandum 11114; 1903

Coordinates: 23 ° 10 ′ 49 ″  N , 79 ° 58 ′ 39 ″  E