Post by Steven Dale
Midorizaka Skyrail. Image from Wikipedia.
They called it the Skyrail. It operates at 18 km/hr, has three stations and is 1.3 km long.
For all intents and purposes, the Skyrail is nothing remarkable. Every technique on display – at least from a layman’s perspective – has been accomplished before:
- Cable Propulsion.
- Detachable grips.
- Acceleration and deceleration in the stations.
- Support from above via steel truss.
- Acceleration and deceleration via linear motors.
Midorizaka Skyrail gondola. Image from wikipedia.
What was unique is how the various components were brought together. Never has such a bizarre combination of transport technologies been slammed together and I don’t think such a combination has been built since.
As with so many of these “one-off” installations, they’re often in far off places in languages I don’t understand. Beyond the cursory information one can find on wikipedia, most information about the Midorizaka Skyrail is in Japanese. The most important piece of information I (of course) cannot find: are the linear motors located on-vehicle or in-station?
This would have a major impact on vehicle weight and cost: Rather than have a heavy linear motor on every vehicle, one would only require a motor at every station. As linear motors are relatively common in train-based installations, one could then speculate/imagine a train of detachable gondolas, which would dramatically increasing the upper limits of cable’s capacity.
(Note: As far as I understand, a train of detachable gondolas has never been designed due to concerns about acceleration and deceleration. Pulsed systems are “train-based”, but due to their lack of detachability they suffer from extremely poor capacity levels.)
Leaving aside the linear motor issue, what we do know is this:
The combination of cable propulsion and support from above via steel trusses means this system can ascend and descend virtually any incline plus it can navigate complex turns without need of any angle stations. It really is the best of both worlds.
Unfortunately, it’s not particularly attractive:
The steel truss guideway. Image from u-netsurf.ne.jp.
Descending the Midorizaka line. Image via u-netsurf.ne.jp.
More info about this system clearly needs to be generated. The potential this system holds could be enormous.
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