 |
| Le rapide aérien, Maison Ch. Rollet, France, 1933 |
Just like the cars from Leyat 10 years earlier (see
here), propeller-driven vehicles were still all the rage in France in the 1930'ies. This toy is a rendering of a proposition of Francis Laur to install a cable-car between "Porte de la Chapelle" and "Saint-Denis" in Paris. Why a cable car ? Because it had to cross 3 railway bridges at 7m height on a straight of 3300m. So it was designed to hover at 20m above street level.
Read all about it
here.
 |
| The toy came with a cable and instruction leaflet. |
 |
| The cabin is very light, all made out of aluminium. |
 |
And the sticker says it would go all the way from Paris
to NYC ! Big, big cable...
|
 |
A rubber band for propulsion...The real thing would have had
a 40 hp engine, and a propeller that could be inverted
at each end of the line, to avoid expensive roundabouts... |
 |
| Newspaper rendering of the time... |
In need of rolling stock ? The real system might have been "invented" a couple of years before, when Zeppelins were shot down above Paris.
 |
World War One. Nacelle of the Zeppelin L49 captured in Bourbonne-les-Bains
(France) and displayed in the courtyard of the Invalides.
Paris (VIIth arrondissement). 1917. © Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
(Courtesy http://www.parisenimages.fr/) |
 |
| The box has the stamp of Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville Paris... today better known as BHV |
Scotland tried a similar system, with the George Bennie Railplane. Read more on it
here. There was even a small test stretch build at Milngavie, near Glasgow.
 |
| The George Bennie Railplane |
No comments:
Post a Comment