Gryroscopically-balanced monorail - photos

**Altair** · May 16, 2019, 08:35 AM

Gryroscopically-balanced monorail train by Irish-Australian mechanical engineer and inventor Louis Brennan. The vehicle was stabilized by two 3.5 ft (1.07 m) diameter gyroscopes spinning in opposite directions at 3,000 rpm.

More:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyro_m...#39;s_monorail
The Brennan Gyro-Monorail.

Previously:

Monorail track switching - GIF
Steam cog locomotive - GIF
Train pulls out of a turn - GIF

**Frank S** · May 16, 2019, 07:49 PM

I can see this in a movie where 2 of these trans are traveling in opposite directions on a conventional rail, when one driver notices the dilemma quickly slams a track switch to guide his tram onto the mating rail then both drivers skew their gyroscopes to cause their trams to lean outward passing each other safely

**sossol** · May 16, 2019, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by Frank S

I can see this in a movie where 2 of these trans are traveling in opposite directions on a conventional rail, when one driver notices the dilemma quickly slams a track switch to guide his tram onto the mating rail then both drivers skew their gyroscopes to cause their trams to lean outward passing each other safely

I couldn't help imagining your story as I read it and all I can say is that I'd pay to see that movie.

Neil

**Frank S** · May 16, 2019, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by sossol

I couldn't help imagining your story as I read it and all I can say is that I'd pay to see that movie.

Neil

The trick would be to film it without CGI, green or blue screen enhancements

**Drew1966** · May 16, 2019, 10:15 PM

Aussie ingenuity. Pretty hard to beat.

**Fast Fergie** · May 17, 2019, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by Drew1966

Aussie ingenuity. Pretty hard to beat.

Aussie ingenuity? The man was born in Castlebar in County Mayo, Ireland and married an Irish woman. How does that make him Australian?

One of his most famous inventions was a wire guided torpedo for coastal defence.
You can still see the Brennan Torpedo room in Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven, Co Cork. The Brennan torpedo was the first guided missle in the world and was installed at the fort to protect the entrance to Cork Harbour.

https://goo.gl/maps/jKQx6nD79eDoKfyN7

Interestingly there was a commercial monorail system here in Ireland but not by Brennan but a by a French designer called Lartigue.

Lartigue Monorail | Experience a unique form of rail travel located in Listowel, Co. Kerry
They now have a museum and you can take a trip on the Monorail.

**Drew1966** · May 17, 2019, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by Fast Fergie

Aussie ingenuity? The man was born in Castlebar in County Mayo, Ireland and married an Irish woman. How does that make him Australian?

One of his most famous inventions was a wire guided torpedo for coastal defence.
You can still see the Brennan Torpedo room in Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven, Co Cork. The Brennan torpedo was the first guided missle in the world and was installed at the fort to protect the entrance to Cork Harbour.

https://goo.gl/maps/jKQx6nD79eDoKfyN7

Interestingly there was a commercial monorail system here in Ireland but not by Brennan but a by a French designer called Lartigue.

Lartigue Monorail | Experience a unique form of rail travel located in Listowel, Co. Kerry
They now have a museum and you can take a trip on the Monorail.

Read the original post as it states that he was Irish-Australian.

**Fast Fergie** · May 18, 2019, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by Drew1966

Read the original post as it states that he was Irish-Australian.

I read your post that said "Aussie ingenuity" so i considered by saying that, you were claiming he was an Australian. Apoligizes if i was incorrect.
However he was Irish and considered himself Irish, although i think 3/4 of Australia could clam to be Irish as well.

What irks me is countries claiming someone as their own when they are not. The Brits are paticuarly good at claiming us Irish as theirs when an Irishman or Irishwomen does something noteworthy. we hate that.

Slán.

**Dry Creek Smithing** · Jan 1, 2024, 08:00 AM

Frank, Count me in too for the new movie idea. I pay to see that movie as well. What a great idea! Do you really think it could be done? Physics are sooo awesome!

Doug. Dry Creek Smithing

**mklotz** · Jan 1, 2024, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by Fast Fergie

...

One of his most famous inventions was a wire guided torpedo for coastal defence.
You can still see the Brennan Torpedo room in Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven, Co Cork. The Brennan torpedo was the first guided missle in the world and was installed at the fort to protect the entrance to Cork Harbour.

https://goo.gl/maps/jKQx6nD79eDoKfyN7

...

This from Wikipedia...

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The Brennan torpedo was a torpedo patented by Irish-born Australian inventor Louis Brennan in 1877.

The Brennan torpedo is often claimed as the world's first guided missile, but guided torpedoes invented by John Ericsson, John Louis Lay, and Victor von Scheliha all predate it; however, Brennan's torpedo was much simpler in its concept and worked over an acceptable range at a satisfactory speed so it might be more accurate to call it the world's first practical guided missile.

Lay's first design, the Lay Torpedo or Lay Dirigible (1872) was a surface-running cylindrical vessel with conical ends, powered by a reciprocating engine fuelled by compressed carbon dioxide gas. Two cables were paid out from the torpedo to the controlling ship or shore station which allowed the operator to steer it by means of electrical signals.

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The modern torpedo with an onboard engine and an autonomous guidance system evolved from Whitehead's 1868 design. More from Wikipedia...

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Whitehead developed what he called the Minenschiff (mine ship): an 11-foot (3.4 m)-long, 14-inch (36 cm)-diameter torpedo propelled by compressed air and carrying an explosive warhead, with a speed of 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) and the ability to hit a target up to 700 yards (640 m) away. In 1868, Whitehead introduced a solution to the stability problem for his torpedo: Pendulum-and-hydrostat control, contained in its Immersion Chamber. The Austrian Navy bought the manufacturing rights to the Whitehead torpedo in 1869. By 1870 Whitehead's torpedoes were running at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph). Still, there remained the problem of course correction: returning the torpedo to its correct course after it had deviated due to wind or wave action. The solution was in the form of the gyroscope gear, which was patented by Ludwig Obry, the rights to which was bought by Whitehead in 1896.

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