science · 25 June 1825 · 199 years ago
In 1825, Britain's second freight monorail held its grand opening and became the first monorail to carry passengers (an exception for this event). The ¾-mile line in Cheshunt, Herts, England, carried bricks from the clay-pit works over the marshes to River Lea barges. A train of pannier cars hanging each side of the elevated rail was hauled by a single horse on the ground. The wooden rail for double-flanged wheels was an iron-topped beam between strong wooden supports. It was based on a design patented in 1821 (No. 4618) by Henry Robinson Palmer, engineer to the London Dock Company. He built the first monorail in 1824, running between the Royal Victualling Yard and the Thames.
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