Descoberta a origem do aerotrem do Fidelix. Foi um escocês chamado George Bennie que criou o traiplane em Glasgow, em 1930. A informação é do The Daily Mail online.
It was meant to highlight the best of British invention, to revolutionise modern travel, like the railways had done a century earlier.
These photographs show the test track built on a wave of optimism in Glasgow in 1930, when inventor George Bennie believed the Railplane - best described as a cross between a monorail and plane - would provide glamorous, bump-free, smokeless travel at 120mph to the masses.
But sadly this journey only ended with one destination: The land of failed dreams and bankruptcy for the man who spent nearly 20 years of his life trying to make the Railplane a reality.
George Bennie, 39 years of age when the track was built, dreamed his invention would take on.
He promised plush seating, with the Railplane travelling over the top of traditional rail lines, allowing passengers to move much faster than the slower freight trains, which would be confined to the tracks below and belching their thick smoke into the air.
This was luxury travel at a theoretical top speed of 120mph: A streamlined cigar-shaped carriage with thick carpets and table lamps, and curtained windows providing that luxury feel. Sliding doors - the height of opulence - allowed people on and off the trains at elevated stations.
But 'The George Bennie Airspeed Railway, as it was known, was not destined for greatness. the prototype track never reached further than 120m. The investors never came, and the traditional rail network had such a head-start and reputation that the Railplane could not compete.
sexta-feira, 15 de junho de 2012
Escocês criou o trem-avião em 1930, a avô do aerotrem
Descoberta a origem do aerotrem do Fidelix. Foi um escocês chamado George Bennie que criou o traiplane em Glasgow, em 1930. A informação é do The Daily Mail online.
It was meant to highlight the best of British invention, to revolutionise modern travel, like the railways had done a century earlier.
These photographs show the test track built on a wave of optimism in Glasgow in 1930, when inventor George Bennie believed the Railplane - best described as a cross between a monorail and plane - would provide glamorous, bump-free, smokeless travel at 120mph to the masses.
But sadly this journey only ended with one destination: The land of failed dreams and bankruptcy for the man who spent nearly 20 years of his life trying to make the Railplane a reality.
George Bennie, 39 years of age when the track was built, dreamed his invention would take on.
He promised plush seating, with the Railplane travelling over the top of traditional rail lines, allowing passengers to move much faster than the slower freight trains, which would be confined to the tracks below and belching their thick smoke into the air.
This was luxury travel at a theoretical top speed of 120mph: A streamlined cigar-shaped carriage with thick carpets and table lamps, and curtained windows providing that luxury feel. Sliding doors - the height of opulence - allowed people on and off the trains at elevated stations.
But 'The George Bennie Airspeed Railway, as it was known, was not destined for greatness. the prototype track never reached further than 120m. The investors never came, and the traditional rail network had such a head-start and reputation that the Railplane could not compete.
