There is a semi-famous video from 1902 recording a ride on the then new Schwebebahn. MoMa digitised it and someone on Youtube did a side-by-side-recording of 1902 vs. 2015:
There are two other suspended monorails in the Ruhr are, both driver-less and shorter, built in the 80s and 90s by Siemens, the H-Bahn at Dortmund University and the Skytrain at Düsseldorf Airport. I drove the H-Bahn daily, because computer science back then was distributed all about the campus. Still have fond memories about it. (Less so about the degree.) The Tim Traveller on Youtube recently did a video about it:
Last xmas my kids and I stayed over in Wuppertal on the way back home from family just to check out the Schwebebahn and it didn't disappoint! It makes what would otherwise be a relatively ordinary Ruhrgebiet-style German city (ie mostly ugly), a uniquely beautiful walk. It's also awesome that the Schwebebahn is just regular public transport. You can get up into one of the stops, buy an obscenely cheap ticket (like 1 euro per person or something, I forgot), and ride it out.
I liked being under it even more than being on it - the combination of the post-WWII buildings with the nature around the river and the early industrial Schwebebahn heavy metal design gives the riverside a very unique, slightly dieselpunk, atmosphere.
I wouldn't say it's worth a trip on its own but it was definitely worth a detour for us!
A lot of people are very against "gadgetbahns" which are unorthodox means of transportation that are often quite expensive. But I love these unique vehicles! And it is very satisfying when one of them actually works out in an economical sense.
I've studied in Wuppertal and have very fond memories of the Schwebebahn.
Some people get very sick while riding it, which is probably due to the train slightly swinging in its stations. That's rather unsual and some bodies can't handle it that well.
It was always funny to "test" who is affected by that with new students during their first week.
If you have the chance: Ride the Schwebebahn from end station to end station and have a look at the city from above. Wuppertal is probably a good example of and old industrial city struggling to find its way into modern times.
Notably the system works for substantially larger swinging angles (the structure gets somewhat heavier to leave that much more free space), and one could bank the track in turns, too.
Together some impressive g forces could be archived; 1 horizontal g for a total of sqrt(2) would be barely beyond the wuppertal geometry's capabilities; 2 horizontal g for sqrt(3) total are still fairly realistic if the passengers/cargo tolerate.
You basically save having to go through mountains to keep speed, as you can go through a curvy valley.
Passengers have fairly low tolerance for forces on a daily traveling mode of transport. Your average commuter wants to be able to hold a hot coffee without scalding themselves.
Genuine question: wouldn’t we still be able to do that? Im imagining similar behavior to swinging cup of water around on a string. The liquid experiences the same acceleration and “settles” within the new orientation of the container.
My grandfather emigrated from Vohwinkel in 1921. I imagine he rode it quite a bit while training as a locksmith. I've always wanted to see it in person.
I found the address he used to live at... it's an empty lot on a corner. 8(
Wuppertal is an unusually elongated, "linear" city, isn't it? Along the Wupper valley. I could see that being appropriate for a monorail; does it extend along the long axis?
I think the main problem with suspended monorails is that they're more expensive to build unless the tracks are already going to have to be elevated for 100% of their length due to other constraints.
As long as that's the case, it doesn't seem like they really have any significant disadvantages compared to normal trains.
But otherwise, by choosing a monorail you're going from being able to run some parts of the tracks on the ground with very little cost/effort to not being able to run any of them directly on the ground for very little benefit aside from looking cool.
Monorails are only really beautiful in jurisdictions that don’t require emergency walkways along the length. If a place requires that, then the visual bulk is no different from a normal railway.
I think they are good in limits. I love the occasional one, but as a very common solution I'd prefer elevated walkway systems like in Hong Kong which leaves the sun and view to pedestrians. Of course the occasional monorail is a huge win and, add you say, beautiful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TqqdOcX4dc
There are two other suspended monorails in the Ruhr are, both driver-less and shorter, built in the 80s and 90s by Siemens, the H-Bahn at Dortmund University and the Skytrain at Düsseldorf Airport. I drove the H-Bahn daily, because computer science back then was distributed all about the campus. Still have fond memories about it. (Less so about the degree.) The Tim Traveller on Youtube recently did a video about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kwpj1UOrhs
I liked being under it even more than being on it - the combination of the post-WWII buildings with the nature around the river and the early industrial Schwebebahn heavy metal design gives the riverside a very unique, slightly dieselpunk, atmosphere.
I wouldn't say it's worth a trip on its own but it was definitely worth a detour for us!
Some people get very sick while riding it, which is probably due to the train slightly swinging in its stations. That's rather unsual and some bodies can't handle it that well.
It was always funny to "test" who is affected by that with new students during their first week.
If you have the chance: Ride the Schwebebahn from end station to end station and have a look at the city from above. Wuppertal is probably a good example of and old industrial city struggling to find its way into modern times.
You basically save having to go through mountains to keep speed, as you can go through a curvy valley.
We rode it to the Engels museum and the sculpture park, Wuppertal was worth the day trip from Cologne.
I found the address he used to live at... it's an empty lot on a corner. 8(
As long as that's the case, it doesn't seem like they really have any significant disadvantages compared to normal trains.
But otherwise, by choosing a monorail you're going from being able to run some parts of the tracks on the ground with very little cost/effort to not being able to run any of them directly on the ground for very little benefit aside from looking cool.