The Epsom Garts Monorail or Magnesium Monorail is a short-lived Monorail Lartigue in San Bernardino County, California, in the United States. Built to carry epsomite (hydrated magnesium sulfate) from a deposit in the Owlshead Mountains to siding on Trona Railway. It ran almost to the east of Trona, for a distance of about 28 mi (45 km).
Video Epsom Salts Monorail
Histori
Thomas Wright, florist from Los Angeles, founded a camp at Crystal Hills Wash in 1918 and set up an area for salt mining, where he had previously discovered several minerals. He and his surveillance team need to transport their supplies by truck from Randsburg on inadequate tracks with a distance of 40 miles (63 km). Building a narrow gauge railway line is considered too expensive, so they decided to build a monorail on a wooden trestle. They founded the American Magnesium Company to build a monorail line from the newly cut Douglas fir, which was sent to San Pedro and then transported by Trona Railway to the outlet in Magnesia near Searles. Construction began in 1922 and by September they had passed a halfway point with 15 of 28 miles (25 of 45 km).
The monorail was completed and inaugurated in 1924. It is known as the 'world's fastest monorail', as it can pass through 28 miles (45 km) of full length trails in an hour. However, it transports less salt than originally thought in the first two years of its use.
The mine employs 12-15 workers in 1924/25. Epsomite can initially be dredged from the surface by a gardener, but high-quality minerals quickly run out, and the rest mixed with 50% contaminate sand, debris and other salts. Return on investment is hampered by high transportation costs to the American Magnesium Company's plant in Wilmington, mainly due to the high maintenance costs for timber lines, which are distorted when the beam is drained, by locally incorrect locomotives and by damaged landslides. The streets. The mine closed in 1926. Since no buyer could be found for a complete installation, only a fraction of the initial investment could be saved during the company's liquidation.
Maps Epsom Salts Monorail
Route
The monorail starts at the sides of Magnesia, crossing the dry base of Searles Lake and climbing up the hill through Canyon Layton at a profit of 1,800 feet (550 m) in 5 miles (8 km), which is 7% gradient. It passes through the Layton Pass, which peaks 3,500 feet (1067 m) above sea level, and follows a steep canyain down into a Panamint Valley bed with only one road crossing in its path. On the other side of the valley it goes up with a 10-12% gradient to the Wingate Pass, followed by Wingate Wash and Crystal Hills Wash and eventually turns eastward to camp and mine.
Track
Before construction began, prototypes were built and patents were taken on June 23, 1923. : 810
A conventional steel rail with 50 to 80 lb/yd (25-40 kg/m) is mounted on a 4 × 6 inch (15ÃÆ' â € "20 × cm) wooden block. This is supported by a separate 8 foot (2.5m) trestles. The balance board 2ÃÆ' â € "6 inch (5ÃÆ'â €" 15Ã, cm) attached to the sides of the bridge.
Rolling stock
Locomotives and carriages have a rectangular steel frame, in which a double-wheeled steel wheel runs at both ends. To balance the vehicle, it has an 8 inch (20 cm) and 8 inch (20 cm) tall steel steering wheel. The coupling between the carriages was reused from the dislodged Los Angeles tram.
The load is stored in two containers on both sides of the vehicle, to keep the center of gravity as low as possible, similar to loading a saddle bag of a donkey. Locomotives have a design similar to a car. The first locomotive was battery operated, but it was not strong enough to pull the loaded carriage. Therefore, seven Fordson conventional tractors and one Buda tractor were modified to build an articulated monorail locomotive.
The brakes are only installed in the locomotive, which causes recurring problems. Each locomotive can carry a maximum of 3,400 pounds (1.5t) while the train can carry 8,500 pounds (3.9t) each. The maximum decreasing speed is 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) and in flat areas 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) can be achieved. Normal operating speed is 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) on a hill and up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) on flat areas.
Stay
The monorail was dismantled for scrap in the late 1930s. Only a few A frames are left. The largest part of the monorail is now in the restricted area of ​​the North Lake China Arms Center, B, "Range.The mine is inside the Death Valley National Park and accessible via the Fort Irwin Army Base near Tecopa from Trona Railway can be reached by a track not determined from California Highway 178. If the car is parked on the side of the road, it is easily recognizable. There are several foundations of concrete and ruins of houses in the area.
References
Further reading
- Ford, John Anson (July 1923). "Tap Wealth of Death Valley with the Monorail". Popular Mechanics . Hearst Magazines. 40 (1). ISSNÃ, 0032-4558.
- Jahns, Richard H. "Epsom Salt Line - Monorail to Everywhere" (PDF) .
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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