Build Your Own Monorail 184
jpatokal writes "Building your own roller coaster may be fun, but how about something a little more practical -- like a monorail in your back yard? Kim Petersen designed his from scratch, building the elevated track from wood, scavenging the engine from a motorized walker and handcrafting the train from sheet metal. Total cost: $4000! See the photo tour and the construction history."
Zoning etc? (Score:3, Interesting)
That guy is pretty brave (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course the guy with a roller coaster was much more brave. His creation would do loops and stuff and looked much less solid.
Building a monorail in Seattle... (Score:4, Interesting)
For info on the campaign (which I'm helping out with--yes, this is a shameless plug), visit Rise Above It All [riseaboveitall.org]
Re:Maglev.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Sideways forces (Score:2, Interesting)
Maybe a mechanical engineer in the audience can enlighten me?
And, on a side note: can somebody explain to me his remark at the last page of the Tour: This picture just screams "only in America," doesn't it? I find his project very beautiful, but what's so American about it? Is it really unimaginable for US citizens that this kind of impressive creative tinkering also happens in other countries?
What I wanna see now.... (Score:2, Interesting)
I wanna see someone build thier own Subway, complete with two stops and a building over each one.