Australian Politics Forum - Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail

freediver Gold Member Online www.ozpolitic.com Posts: 52322 At my desk.	Re: Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail Reply #120 - Today at 12:38pm Quote: In the picture above the ‘’monorail’’ train is clearly running on two rails No it isn't.
Back to top	People who can't distinguish between etymology and entomology bug me in ways I cannot put into words. IP Logged

Gnads

Gold Member

Online

Australian Politics

Posts: 32874
Gender: male

Re: Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail
Reply #121 - Today at 12:51pm

Sir Eoin O Fada wrote Today at 10:14am:

freediver wrote Yesterday at 7:49pm:

Quote:

monorail trains have their wheels ln a single row

Yet another random definition of a monorail that has nothing to do with a monorail

Then if they can have their wheels in more than one row they are obviously designed to run on more than one rail therefore, logically, they cannot be monorails.

Bye the way, I truly appreciate your career in railways, very impressive.
My own is somewhat different, having started as a Call Boy on the NSWGR at Enfield Locomotive Depot back ln 1949 when I was 15.
Call Boy should not be confused with Call Girl (entirely different vocations😄😄).
We delivered Job Notices to engine crews during the day and on night shift we woke them up an hour before sign on time.
This was confined to a two mile radius from the Depot and done on heavy ex WW I push bikes, some of which still had their rifle clips.
Then Cleaner and Acting Fireman before joining the Army.
Post the Army lots of experience on Preserved Railways, both here and overseas.

Did all that as a Lad Porter & Porter for the Guards calls - did the Drivers & Fireman too when it involved "catch" jobs when men went off sick after business hours when roster clerks worked. The Station Masters or Asst Station Masters did that job & wrote out the catch job workings or deferments on rostered jobs.

There was no mileage limit for us on push bikes - the whole town limits no matter how far & the condition of the push bikes was shyte.

That's why when we got our drivers licenses we'd use or own motorbikes or cars ..... it saved the dept heaps in time & money .... & we got no thanks for it.

QGR didn't invest in call cars until well into the 80's.

That aside - the driving rubber wheels do not run on a rail other than the flat top of the beam/girder.

They are not designed to run on separate rails either.

Straddle beam technology is still classed as monorail.

Back to top

"When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It's only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid." ~ Ricky Gervais

IP Logged

Gnads Gold Member Online Australian Politics Posts: 32874 Gender:	Re: Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail Reply #122 - Today at 12:53pm greggerypeccary wrote Today at 10:27am: This needed resizing: http://www.ozpolitic.com/album/forum-attachments/Certificate_of_Service_2.jpg Looks like you've done it. Anyways I did resize it/ both of them but obviously not enough. They originally were 3 to 4 mbs each. I reduced them to under 250 kbs.
Back to top	"When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It's only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid." ~ Ricky Gervais IP Logged

Gnads

Gold Member

Online

Australian Politics

Posts: 32874
Gender: male

Re: Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail
Reply #123 - Today at 1:09pm

Sir Eoin O Fada wrote Today at 10:29am:

I noticed this,
‘’And in wet conditions all locomotives are fitted with sand boxes that drop sand onto the track to prevent wheel slip.’’

Except those that were not expected to have to travel much in reverse and were fitted with sand domes/boxes for forward travel only or the rare ones that employ one or two blokes, sitting on the front of the loco, to throw sand onto the rails.

Locomotives unless they had dual cabs/one each end were never meant to work trains travelling long end leading. So sandboxes & pipes were only fitted in front of leading wheels.

Most systems & companies had rules about the circumstances required to allow travel long end leading.

That's why most terminating stations also had turntables.

We would not work locomotive hauled trains over any distance long end leading.

In my 46 years of rail never were there men sitting on the propelling end of a loco, they weren't allowed to nor employed to throw sand onto the rails.

The only time I did something close to that was when we had crossed a train at Benaraby near Gladstone - it was a heavy pull out of Benaraby & with a 25kph restriction exiting a loop it was worse. We ground to halt with because the loco had run out of sand - so I came up from the back(guards van) with my pannikin & myself and the fireman walked in front of the loco/train scooping up sand & ballast and putting it on a rail each until we got the train over the knob of the hill.

Back to top

"When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It's only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid." ~ Ricky Gervais

IP Logged

Gnads

Gold Member

Online

Australian Politics

Posts: 32874
Gender: male

Re: Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail
Reply #124 - Today at 1:20pm

Sir Eoin O Fada wrote Today at 12:37pm:

In the picture above the ‘’monorail’’ train is clearly running on two rails so it ain’t a monorail.

Monorail means one rail.

When the craze for monorails started the catch word was Monorail, however as true monorails could not be licensed as passenger carriers due to possible gyroscopic failures and the horrendous effects on passengers, the idea of using a beam way emerged but the error of calling it a monorail was started and the unthinking masses accepted the error.

Suspended monorails are a different matter entirely and are the only monorails that can be licensed as passenger carriers.

Now say after me ‘’Monorail means one rail’’.

That's obviously not true because straddle beam monorails are the most prolific type of monorail.

And suspended monorails also run on rubber wheels inside the box girder.

Back to top

Screenshot_2026-02-06_131409.jpg (24 KB | 0 )

"When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It's only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid." ~ Ricky Gervais

IP Logged

Gnads Gold Member Online Australian Politics Posts: 32874 Gender:	Re: Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail Reply #125 - Today at 1:22pm Straddle beam bogie Only runs on the flat surface of the beam/girder. So the beam is the rail.
Back to top	Straddle_beam_bogie.jpg (92 KB \| 0 ) "When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It's only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid." ~ Ricky Gervais IP Logged

Sir Eoin O Fada

Gold Member

Online

Australian Politics

Posts: 3473
New England, NSW
Gender: male

Re: Remnants of Sydney’s Monorail
Reply #126 - Today at 1:30pm

Gnads wrote Today at 12:51pm:

Sir Eoin O Fada wrote Today at 10:14am:

freediver wrote Yesterday at 7:49pm:

Quote:

monorail trains have their wheels ln a single row

Yet another random definition of a monorail that has nothing to do with a monorail

Then if they can have their wheels in more than one row they are obviously designed to run on more than one rail therefore, logically, they cannot be monorails.

Bye the way, I truly appreciate your career in railways, very impressive.
My own is somewhat different, having started as a Call Boy on the NSWGR at Enfield Locomotive Depot back ln 1949 when I was 15.
Call Boy should not be confused with Call Girl (entirely different vocations😄😄).
We delivered Job Notices to engine crews during the day and on night shift we woke them up an hour before sign on time.
This was confined to a two mile radius from the Depot and done on heavy ex WW I push bikes, some of which still had their rifle clips.
Then Cleaner and Acting Fireman before joining the Army.
Post the Army lots of experience on Preserved Railways, both here and overseas.

Did all that as a Lad Porter & Porter for the Guards calls - did the Drivers & Fireman too when it involved "catch" jobs when men went off sick after business hours when roster clerks worked. The Station Masters or Asst Station Masters did that job & wrote out the catch job workings or deferments on rostered jobs.

There was no mileage limit for us on push bikes - the whole town limits no matter how far & the condition of the push bikes was shyte.

That's why when we got our drivers licenses we'd use or own motorbikes or cars ..... it saved the dept heaps in time & money .... & we got no thanks for it.

QGR didn't invest in call cars until well into the 80's.

That aside - the driving rubber wheels do not run on a rail other than the flat top of the beam/girder.

They are not designed to run on separate rails either.

Straddle beam technology is still classed as monorail.

Just as an aside, I had to deliver a note to the Breakdown crane driver who was preparing the crane for a job, hopped on the bike, even though it was only a short walk, laid the bike on the rail behind the crane, climbed up and delivered the note, then felt the gentle bump as the loco buffered the crane.
Poor bike😩😩.
Got a bung but the DLE was an understanding bloke and I only got a talking to and didn’t have to pay for the bike.

Back to top

Self defence is a right.

IP Logged