And for context, consider that the train appears to be superior to the current NYC subway/El system!

(If you change the playback speed to .75, it will seem a bit more normal in terms of pace.)

 

Interesting how people walked faster back in the old days!

 

Awesome! So, now we know where Walt got his idea for the monorail.
Does the Flying Train still exist or long gone?
Amazing, and I must show to my youngest son who loves all things Train.

 

Apparently it still exists, and operates!

 

Located in Wuppertal, really cool bit of engineering

 

That thing is ill-conceived and hideous. Massive legs taking up a ridiculous amount of space. Probably used 1/3 more steel than a normal EL.

How do you get off when it breaks down away from a station?



(Obviously, I'm still on my first cup of coffee...)

 

Thanks... definitely something I’d love to see. I was hoping they still had a few of the original trains left...

 

Thanks for sharing, I've seen pictures of this before but not videos. It's an impressive engineering solution that looks somewhat like a horizontal Eiffel Tower. It would be impossible to build in my part of the world today - between the environmentalists objecting to a river being desecrated and the NIMBYs objecting to their privacy being invaded, it would never (literally) get off the ground,

 

My son finally woke... kids, and I showed him the video and he knew all about the train and it’s history.
1. The engineer, Eugen Langen, who designed it offered system to Berlin, but city planners rejected on practicality.
2. Kaiser Wilhelm 2 rode the monorail before it’s grand opening and the car he rode in still exists today and is rented out for special events.
3. It’s the oldest railway of its kind in the world
4. Severely damaged in WW2, but reopened in 1946.

He was really excited that this was found on a watch forum. He’s seen modern day videos of the train, but never seen this film. He believes there is hope for us all.
He studied history, architecture and city planing at UC Berkeley. Now applying for pHd after masters

 

That's some H.G. Welles stuff right there!

Reminds me of this setup that used to serve the Timberline lodge over on Mt. Hood.

 

Great! My Dad is from Wuppertal, so I knew the Schwebebahn

 

Like this:

 

This deserves a caption contest.

"PT Barnum holding tryouts for pachyderm diving attraction."

 

That's how an elephant gets off, what about a human being?

 

I love this video.

BTW, I rode NYC subways three hours every weekday to go to high school. I’m still a traction freak.

@Tony C. : That’s a great video!

I think this suspension monorail is fabulous. If I lived in Tokyo, I’d spend my days riding back and forth on it.

 

This one’s just for you @Tony C. :

 

Thanks! I live very close to part of that route, and see the 28 tram frequently. The trams certainly do add some charm to Lisbon.

 

I found that video over a year ago and always wanted to take that ride.

I’m very curious about Lisbon. I read Mark Molesky’s book about the November 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Fascinating and deeply disturbing, particularly in today’s context.

I think about it a lot. All those people sitting in their pews on All Saints’ Day, praying piously.

“The earthquake struck on the morning of 1 November 1755, All Saints’ Day. Contemporary reports state that the earthquake lasted between three and a half and six minutes, causing fissures 5 metres (16 ft) wide in the city center. Survivors rushed to the open space of the docks for safety and watched as the sea receded, revealing a plain of mud littered with lost cargo and shipwrecks. Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbor and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river "so fast that several people riding on horseback ... were forced to gallop as fast as possible to the upper grounds for fear of being carried away." It was followed by two more waves. Candles lit in homes and churches all around the city for All Saints' Day were knocked over, starting a fire that developed into a firestorm which burned for hours in the city, asphyxiating people up to 30 metres (98 ft) from the blaze.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake

 

Wow, I had no idea this existed. It looks like a great way to get out to Enoshima and close to some of Japan’s less-crappy beaches (for an island country, Japan is cursed with terrible beaches). Anything that lets you avoid the traffic is certainly good, but Enoshima is particularly blessed with charming mass transit options. Here’s the toy train that commuters living between Kamakura and Fujisawa ride on every day, if you’re into that kind of thing.

 

Such cool videos, thanks for posting them
I think the Wuppertal train is featured in the Wim Wenders
Film about Pina Bausch, the amazing choreographer of Wupperal’s Tanzteater.