A is a small automated

monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

, or a fusion between monorail,

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...

inclined elevator An inclined elevator or inclined lift is a form of cable railway that hauls rail cars up a steep gradient. Introduction An inclined elevator consists of one or two inclined tracks on a slope with a single car on each carrying payload. In ...

and rack railway. It is a brand name of . Since this mode of transportation is relatively unknown, it lacks widely accepted generic name, other than the simple "monorail". The system is different from normal modern monorails in many ways. It is a development from industrial monorails used in 1960s

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s. Slope cars are installed in more than 80 places in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Overview

The system is introduced generally when there are steep

slopes In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a Line (mathematics), line is a number that describes the direction (geometry), direction of the line on a plane (geometry), plane. Often denoted by the letter ''m'', slope is calculated as the ratio of t ...

or stairs between entrance gates and buildings. Slope cars generally function as amenities that provide accessibilities for elderly or handicapped people visiting particular places, such as

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s, or

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s. As most lines move fairly slowly, people without disabilities often find it faster to walk the same routes on foot, rather than to use slope cars. However, there are also places where slope cars climb very steep slopes which people without disabilities can not climb unless there are

stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

. In Japan, slope cars are not legally considered as

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

System

There is a type that is long, having a 4 to 8 passengers capacity, and another type that is long, having around 30 passengers capacity. Some slope cars are "trainsets" consisting of two cars. Most slope cars are straddle-beam monorails, but there are suspended monorail slope cars as well. Normal monorails generally use

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

tyres running on a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

beam, while slope cars use a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

beam with a rack rail on one side. As such, slope cars can climb 100 % (45°)

at maximum speed. The system is powered by a "

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

" on the other side of the beam. The system does not require a driver. A car starts when a user pushes a button, and it automatically stops at the selected destination.

History

In 1966, Yoneyama Industory, an

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the machine (mechanical), mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are list of agricultural machinery, many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractor ...

maker in

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

, invented , a freight-only rack monorail system. It soon became widespread in mikan citrus orchards in the prefecture, and in other parts of Japan. Other makers also started to build similar systems. Later in 1990, a company called Chigusa developed a passenger rack monorail system. These rack monorails were first used to transport workers in construction sites or forests. However, from 1990s, public facilities such as parks also started to use the system. started to sell their "slope cars" in 1990. Similar systems were designed for vineyards in Switzerland and Germany in the 1960s. These were also transporting workers from the start. The brand name Monorack is used here for the Garaventa Monorackbahn since 1976. The main difference is the type of rail being used - the Japanese systems use and the European systems use square tubing. The cooperation between Nikkari in Japan and Habegger in Switzerland started in 1975, so the Monorack tractors are mostly identical.

Other names

As "slope car" is the brand name of Kaho Manufacturing, similar, if not the same, concepts are called differently by different manufacturers. *Ansaku makes . *Chigusa makes . *Monorail Industry makes . *Senyō Kōgyō makes . *EMTC of Korea makes the Mountain Type (which has two rails) and the monorail Inclined Type and Locomotive Type * Doppelmayr Garaventa makes the Monorack for agricultural use. They say they have installed 650 systems worldwide. Slope cars are similar in some ways to

personal rapid transit Personal rapid transit (PRT), also referred to as podcars or guided/railed taxis, is a public transport mode featuring a network of specially built guideways on which ride small automated vehicles that carry few (generally less than 6) passenge ...

systems in that they offer on-demand service for individuals or small numbers of passengers.

Overview

System

History

Other names

List of slope cars

Japan

South Korea

See also

References

External links