Patiala State Monorail Train
Built by Les Chatfield in May 2021
This is a model of the Indian Patiala State steam monorail train which ran for 60 years between Patiala and Sunam and still exists today in running order. The single rail was laid alongside roadways so that the wheel could run on it; however, the rail wheels take 90% of the locomotive’s weight.
The full sized locomotive is an Orenstein & Koppel 0–4–0T built in Germany to monorail specification with its drive wheels mounted centrally beneath the locomotive and a single cart wheel fitted to one side. The driver stands on a platform on the ‘wheel’ side and in operation the rail wheels take 90% of the trains weight with the road wheel taking the rest.
The line was laid alongside existing roads so the train could ‘borrow’ the road for some of its wheels to run on. Laying the track was straightforward with no gauging issues at all of course. Originally the trains were animal-hauled but the steam locomotives sped transit up considerably.