It was something new in the way of rapid transitan elevated railway of the type we would call a monorail, various forms of which had been tried during the nineteenth century by inventors such as palmer in great britain, lartique in. The result of my investigations may be summed up as follows. Meigs also known as joe vincent meigs of lowell, massachusetts. Just a reminder futility closet books make great gifts for people who are impossible to buy gifts for. It was formerly known as the west end street railway the rapid transit lines have evolved into the red, blue and orange lines. The meigs elevated railway would arguably have been cheaper, safer, and less. The steampowered straddlebeam monorail named meigs elevated railway, invented by josiah v.
Merrill 19202009 was a lifelong collector of streamline railroad materials. He wrote an extensive explanation of how the railway worked, complete with diagrams and statistics, which was published in 1887. Offered is a set of 5 five ektachrome 35mm transparency slides made directly from official photographic prints of the mei. But in 1884, the address was 225 bridge street, headquarters for the meigs elevated railway company. Futility closet page 21 of 14 an idlers miscellany.
It was the third steampowered elevated in the world. In failing health from his civil war injuries, meigs died from a stroke on november 14, 1907, in charlestown, massachusetts. Meigs patented a surprisingly advanced steampowered monorail that he hoped could serve boston. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages. During the heyday of railway travel, people believed trains would be with us for centuries. This photo shows the extensive fire damage to a meigs elevated train car. The reason for its departures from the ordinary practice. Meigs experimental railway cambridge office of tourism.
Bonds are issued, not only by businesses, but also by national, state or city governments, or other public bodies, or sometimes by individuals. The books homepage helps you explore earths biggest bookstore without ever leaving the comfort of your couch. Engineers floated many futuristic train ideas, and some were even realized, before automobiles took over. The meigs elevated railway was a steampowered elevated monorail meaning each track had one rail to support a train. The meigs elevated railway was an experimental steampowered monorail invented by joe v.
Joe vincent meigs, sixth from the right in the second row, is as completely forgotten as is his invention. Rollsign magazine of new england transit news 1973 march. His interest began at age 14, when the new pioneer zephyr streamliner train passed through his hometown of syracuse, new york, in 1934. John meigs, the son of the man who created arlington. The story of new yorks elevated rail rapid transit system is a critical juncture in the history of the city. Incredibly strange railway systemsthe steampowered straddlebeam monorail named meigs elevated railway, invented by josiah v. Inner belt scrapbook, godinho family photograph collection, cambridge manual training school rindge manual training school. The boston elevated railway broke ground in 1899 for a new transit service that opened in 1901, providing a sevenmile elevated railway that connected dudley street station in roxbury and sullivan square station in charlestown, two huge multilevel terminals. Offered is a set of 3 three ektachrome 35mm transparency slides made directly from official photographic prints of the meigs elevated railway test operation at east cambridge, mass in 1888. Fletcher takes students to boston to visit the boston bridge works, meigs elevated railway construction co. The committee on street railways of the legislature voted unanimously in favor of giving the mayall, reilly, and hinckley elevated systems leave to withdraw, and to extend. Both contain hundreds of handpicked favorites from our archive of curiosities. Incredibly strange railway systems retro pictures, retro. In the year i824, five years before the open ing of the liverpool and manchester railway, henry r.
Meigs elevated railway steam monorail 1888 official record image set. Meigs elevated train meigs elevated railway wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. While the first elevated railway in new york would not appear until 1868, ideas for urban rapid transit were. The correspondence contains an extended series of letters from his father, return jonathan meigs, written between 1858 and 1888, as well as substantial genealogical correspondence. Meigs elevated train meigs elevated railway wikipedia. Here youll find current best sellers in books, new releases in books, deals in books, kindle ebooks, audible audiobooks, and so much more. Rindge technical school the cambridge historical commission. Collectible railroad bonds, antique railroad bond certificates. The manhattan railway company was an elevated railway company in manhattan and the bronx, new york city, united states. Scroll down for descriptions and samples of images from the following collections.
Surrounded by water on a long, narrow island, the city needed to expand, and it needed a transportation system to enable it to do so. It followed a pair of rails set one above the other, thus requiring only a single line of supports, and it burned anthracite, to reduce smoke in city streets. The weight of the train was carried on a 22 inch gauge track. Rollsign magazine of new england transit news 1973 march meigs elevated railway. Meigs, inventor and entrepreneur, successfully tested here a steam powered elevated monorail train intended for rapid use in boston. The roadbed and rolling stock of the railroad of today have reached their high standard through the labors of countless ingenious and persevering inventors, each of whom has added his link to make the chain more perfect. Meigs designed an extraordinary type of elevated railwaydescribed best in his pamphlet in the folder misc. The meigs elevated railway, a unique experimental steam monorail in built in. The money for the elevated was quickly raised, and construction was planned. The new draft of the meigs elevated railroad bill was presented to the senate judiciary committee today for its consideration. Meigs elevated railway the cambridge historical commission. Cambridges brief experiment with a monorail began at what is now 225 monsignor obrien highway, where a fourstory factory owned by the superior nut company stands today. Details about rollsign magazine of new england transit news 1973 march meigs elevated railway. The meigs elevated railway, a unique experimental steam monorail in built in cambridge, massachusetts, and was operational from 1886 to 1894.
The meigs elevated railway the roadbed and rolling stock of the railroad of today have reached their high standard through the labors of countless ingenious and persevering inventors, each of whom has added his link to make the chain more perfect. If the people of boston only half appreciated the possibilities of rapid travel between their homes in the suburbs and their places of business, as demonstrated by captain meigs at cambridge, they would not long be content to put up with their present poor facilities in. Cartridge co in 1881 developed a monorail railway system, and in 1884 built an experimental onethird mile elevated railway track. Meigs imagined a network of steampowered trains sailing overhead, 15 or 20 feet above the street. In the last years of his life, meigs immersed himself in gathering genealogical information on the meigs family. Meigs elevated train after fire damage historic new england. An unusual and widely unknown transit experiment took place right here in cambridge, known as the meigs elevated railway. He knew that railway companies in new york were already building elevated lines in. The meigs elevated railway was an experimental steampowered monorail invented by josiah v.
The commission is happy to announce the availability of newly digitized images and updates to finding aids for four of our collections. Meigs in during the heyday of railway travel, people believed trains would be with us for centuries. Rapid transit and elevated railroads, with a description. Experimental monorail at cambridge, meigs elevated railway. Josiah vincent meigs papers, 18541884 lemelson center. The meigs elevated railway would arguably have been cheaper, safer, and less imposing than the conventional dualtrack elevated railways being built in other cities at that time, such as new york and later built in boston. The boston elevated railway bery was a precursor first to the metropolitan transit authority in massachusetts, and now to the massachusetts bay transportation authority, operating rapid transit, streetcars and bus es in the boston, massachusetts area. Steampunk poster retro photos originales s bahn old trains vintage trains photo d art. Jf ptak science books quick post this is an interesting image without a story, though its implications are huge and the engineering involved is incredibly. A line of railway, properly constructed on this principle, for passenger or freight traffic, and equipped with such rollingstock and motivepower, on this principle, as the meigs company is now prepared to perfect and build, would, in my opinion, be, at least, as stron and safe for any kind of traffic as the ordinary sur face or elevated. Rapid transit lines in boston elevated railway mta ebay. The railway may be broadgauge, standardgauge or narrowgauge railway, light rail, monorail, or a suspension. The cambridge monorail that wasnt the boston globe.
In 1892, it was changed to electric power and became the first electricpowered elevated railway in the world. Here are some of the craziest trains ever conceived. By 1896 meigs sold his charter rights to the elevated railway line. Born in tennessee in 1840, josiah vincent meigs was an inventor. Meigs elevated railway taken from scientific american july 10.
Its departures, and how and why a safe railway is possible joe vincent meigs on. It was built on land abutting bridge street, now monsignor obrien highway. The city would have been crisscrossed by marvelous tubular trains that looked like they were designed by. Meigs designed and installed his elevated rail system in 1885 and over 400 drawings as well as other materials connected with the enterprise are included in the papers. This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. Meigs elevated railway, experimental steam monorail. Its departures, and how and why a safe railway is possible. When my family visited walt disney world my favorite ride was the interpark and world famous monorail. In the beginning thayer school of engineering at dartmouth. A line of railway, properly constructed on this principle, for passenger or freight traffic, and equipped with such rollingstock and motivepower, on this principle, as the meigs company is now prepared to perfect and build, would, in my opinion, be, at least, as strong and safe for. Men are seen inside the damaged car, possibly investigating the incident.
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