Sydney Monorail (2)

Most readers will be familiar with how a model railway “point” (a k a “turnout”) ensures that a train can move from one line to another. Essentially the two blades slide across creating (in the above example) a curved route instead of a straight route.

But it is not so easy with a monorail where there is only one girder to support the train.

In this case a whole girder has to move. Here is an example of such a contrivance on a Japanese monorail

A chunk of track has to move to connect with the turnout route. Here it is in video.

The Sydney system was just one “circle” of track but with no junctions. Nevertheless it was necessary to remove trains from the “circle” for maintenance or to tuck them up for the night.

Here is a train passing the depot …

… and a view out of the back window having passed the depot.

The complex engineering beneath the “rail” is a traverser.

That stretch of trackway, one train in length (apologies for the foreshortening), can trundle sideways …

… and the train posed thereupon can then park in a siding alongside all the others.

Clever, eh?

To allow for maintainance when trains were asleep in their sidings, the monorail operated a couple of special vehicles.

No doubt they did their job well despite their crude appearance.

Another problem is what to do if a train conks out. Failing in a station would be not too bad, but failing whilst out on plain line would be a tad troublesome. If the rail is reasonably low …

… then a ladder would do. But some of the sections were higher to pass over road junctions. Here a so-called “cherry picker” was called in.

It does appear that the reliability of the system was less than would have been expected.

Expectations?

Also less than expected was the number of passengers. Some accounts say only half the projected totals were ever carried and certainly not enough to make the monorail commercially viable.

After 25 years of operation, the challenge of stock renewal loomed.

To add to all this gloom and doom, there were plans for further development of the Darling Quays area which would have entailed major (and expensive) rebuilding of the track.

Sadly it always was a commercial failure!

Steelwork was cut up using oxyacetylene torches …

… then the metalwork was lowered to the ground.

This left some stunning and obscure street art in place until the last bits were removed.

Some looked quite spooky!

Stations were left suspended in mid air and served by nothingness.

Indeed, the stations were the last to go!

Soon, Sydney’s splendid above the floor but fatally flawed monorail was no more.

But not quite.

Parts of it live on.

Remember those girders, removed by flame and crane? Above we see them in a warehouse ready for recycling.

A road junction was being widened …

… and the monorail girders formed an ideal basis for an extended bridge.

The bridge, appropriately, is over part of the Sydney Metro!

Should you be touring New South Wales, you might visit the Inverell Transport Museum. It is a smidgen over 300 miles from Sydney (remember Australia is, to use an important geographical term, BIG!

Here you will find just one third of a Monorail car serving, ignominiously, as a welcome icon outside the museum.

Sigh!

The content of tomorrow’s blog will depend entirely on the progress of preparation for our Fellowship Meetings due on 2nd and 3rd September. This progress hadn’t started yesterday because of the weekend visit by No 1 and No 3 sons.

 Next Undecided blog : Weds 28th August