What would people want from a suspended railway set

[Greenstar]

What would people like to see if LEGO did a suspended railway set?  This could be anything that would work with the system 

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

Maybe something similar to the monorail at Disneyworld. 

[Greenstar]

Just now, Brandon Pea said:

Maybe something similar to the monorail at Disneyworld. 

That would be fair, except, the system at Disneyworld is a straddle beam system.  Unless your thinking of Peter pans flight, which is an I-Beam suspended monorail

ive been on both so I can say I like the rides

Edited April 20, 2020 by Greenstar

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

@Greenstar Japan has them all over the place as well. 

[Greenstar]

True, mainly straddle beam but there are three suspended monorails that I know of there

[Pdaitabird]

I'd like to see an elevated train set that includes a Forney-type locomotive similar to those used on New York's elevated railway in the late 19th century.

[Greenstar]

https://www.jnto.go.jp/scenic-railways/list/flying-train-suspended-monorail/

I mean something more like this when a day suspended railway, but the old forneys would be cool to see

[slide_potentiometer]

The trick with a suspended railway is the limitations that you have. A loop is simple enough if you want curved or straight sections, but the points/switches would need to be new designs. The existing track options (regular L-gauge rails, monorail, roller coaster track) are all designed to have the train above the tracks and don't make way to have a train suspended below.

I could see if you designed a new car for the roller coaster track that would cling to the sides/bottom of the rails, using the existing rail pieces upside-down.

Otherwise, would want to see a box-section track, something that could easily be connected to supports that would be clear of the suspended trains. Points/switches would be a very nice thing to have, to build beyond a very basic layout.

If LEGO makes new parts or the community here designs a new system it would be great to have an option to motorize it. Train sets are more fun if you have the option to run them on a motor.

[Greenstar]

11 minutes ago, slide_potentiometer said:

The trick with a suspended railway is the limitations that you have. A loop is simple enough if you want curved or straight sections, but the points/switches would need to be new designs. The existing track options (regular L-gauge rails, monorail, roller coaster track) are all designed to have the train above the tracks and don't make way to have a train suspended below.

I could see if you designed a new car for the roller coaster track that would cling to the sides/bottom of the rails, using the existing rail pieces upside-down.

Otherwise, would want to see a box-section track, something that could easily be connected to supports that would be clear of the suspended trains. Points/switches would be a very nice thing to have, to build beyond a very basic layout.

If LEGO makes new parts or the community here designs a new system it would be great to have an option to motorize it. Train sets are more fun if you have the option to run them on a motor.

Junctions are interesting, if an I-Beam system was designed, junctions would be somewhat simpler, same with a Schwebebahn style system using the older LEGO rails that are not permanently stuck to the track base

a traverser style track design could be used that the end of the lines for vehicles to run the opposite direction on another track for a dual track system.  This could be the case for SAFEGE style monorails

and as for the regular track, a Schwebebahn style system can be built with regular L gauge track,  but you can’t easily do turn around loops at the end of the line and turntables are required to turn trains around, a combination of standard L Gauge track and the separate rails could make for a good system though as it would take less pieces for a straight length of track or curved sections.  Junctions and 180 degree turnaround loops would use the separated rail pieces from the 12 volt era or modern 3D printed ones

Edited April 21, 2020 by Greenstar

[doug72]

1. I have two books on Monorails of the 19th & 20th Centurys by Adrian S. Garner, which show many types of monorails  including several suspended ones and some very weird & failed examples.

The town where I live in NE England is twinned Wuppertal in Germany where the Wuppertal Schwebebahn still runs

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monorails-19th-Century-Adrian-Garner/dp/1899889574

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monorails-Early-Century-Adrian-Garner/dp/1911038125

Edited April 21, 2020 by Doug72

[Rijkvv]

It seems you placed the same link twice. Here's the 20th Century book: link

And thanks, I've bookmarked them. A bit too many orders for my liking in the last few weeks, but maybe I'll order them later or ask them for my birthday.

 

A suspended monorail is a cool concept, but I do wonder if it's plausible. For a technical point, but also from a financial point. LEGO only lost money with the original system, so I doubt they'll invest in anything similar if it contains too many specialized pieces. And as far as available pieces go: barely any monorail MOC I've seen is a suspended one.

That being said they could develop rollercoaster track as well. Besides, production technology has improved in the last 33 years.

[doug72]

28 minutes ago, Rijkvv said:

It seems you placed the same link twice. Here's the 20th Century book: link

Thanks for spotting my error and putting the correct link in your post

I got mine as Xmas gifts.

[Greenstar]

I didn’t realize there were more monorail books out there

i have one by Kim A Pederson myself

also, Wuppertals system is one that I have made variations of using conventional track before to support bi-directional travel

[zephyr1934]

19 hours ago, Greenstar said:

What would people like to see if LEGO did a suspended railway set?

Not likely to happen at a large scale, there would have to be a lot of infrastructure (non-play value parts) to support the track. Might see something like this in a set over a short gap between towers or buildings but not likely to see it free-standing. Also, the clutch of lego probably would not hold up for a hanging system to meet their standards

A couple of months ago someone posted a still image of a background from Ninjago that showed a suspended monorail though. I think it used some impossible build techniques (rails floating in air).

Not to say it can't be done, I've seen some great MOCs over the years, I'm just saying that it is not likely to appear in a set.

[SteamSewnEmpire]

I don't want a suspended railway set.

Also, in terms of actual labels, they aren't even railwsys.

[Greenstar]

6 minutes ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

I don't want a suspended railway set.

Also, in terms of actual labels, they aren't even railwsys.

If it runs on rails, it is technically a railway

14 minutes ago, zephyr1934 said:

Not likely to happen at a large scale, there would have to be a lot of infrastructure (non-play value parts) to support the track. Might see something like this in a set over a short gap between towers or buildings but not likely to see it free-standing. Also, the clutch of lego probably would not hold up for a hanging system to meet their standards

A couple of months ago someone posted a still image of a background from Ninjago that showed a suspended monorail though. I think it used some impossible build techniques (rails floating in air).

Not to say it can't be done, I've seen some great MOCs over the years, I'm just saying that it is not likely to appear in a set.

The system could be supported by buildings when there are no stations in the area

and the supports could be brick built or modular to allow integration into buildings 

also, there was a suspended monorail in Ninjago?

[dr_spock]

I think you can make your own if so inclined with parts LEGO currently has available.  You can use Technic parts for a stronger connection.   It might be a very long wait if you're hoping LEGO would do it for you.

 

[Greenstar]

9 hours ago, dr_spock said:

I think you can make your own if so inclined with parts LEGO currently has available.  You can use Technic parts for a stronger connection.   It might be a very long wait if you're hoping LEGO would do it for you.

 

I do using regular LEGO track and other pieces as well as a certain type of wheel.  It’s not official LEGO train wheels but they work on the track.  They were the wheels that the tires went on in one of the Knight bus sets that LEGO did 

[Greenstar]

Here’s an I-Beam suspension railway I built as part of a proposal for my cities zoo

[zephyr1934]

On 4/21/2020 at 10:24 AM, zephyr1934 said:

A couple of months ago someone posted a still image of a background from Ninjago that showed a suspended monorail though. I think it used some impossible build techniques (rails floating in air).

Here it is...

 

From this post...

[Greenstar]

7 minutes ago, zephyr1934 said:

Here it is...

 

From this post...

Well, on the direct left of the track, it has support pillars that hold the track from underneath