I found this in a random web search and couldn’t believe my eyes. It SO belongs in Babbage.
It’s still there, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Suspension_Railway
Wuppertaler Monorail – 1900
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i had imagined that over one of the east-west canals in the canal district. its been on the oiling festival tickler for a while now, but it wasn’t possible pre-mesh.
Immmm-pressive; it’s functional, actually exists, and is an excellent expression of what I think we might call retro futurism — when I look at this, I can’t help but wonder why there weren’t more monorails? This seems like something that would have decorated a penny-dreadful adventure story; it lacks only an airship or two in the upper background, and possibly a horseless carriage on the ground, in the foreground, to complete the atmosphere. It’s a given that the operators of all three types of vehicle would be wearing brass goggles.
In the photo, the line straddles a canal/waterway, and well done, but… this’d still be a great way to facilitate cross city travel, by making use of space just above building height. Where such a line crosses over unused ground, or ground already occupied by a public park, that park could be glassed in, reusing the support offered by the monorail struts. If this is feasible, then an exit platform and spiral staircase could take one down into a glassed-in public park, where there might be benches and a wiggywurst (or something onna stick) vending stand nearby; just some idle notions….