Who knew that beneath the Albert Memorial lies a chamber resembling a church crypt? Or that there are catacombs under Camden? Who would expect to find a lighthouse in East London, sphinxes in South London, dummy houses in West London, or a huge bust of film director Alfred Hitchcock in North London? An artist’s impression of how it might look crossing a river on its overhead rails appeared in Popular Science magazine, with an editorial comment that showed a good deal of scepticism about its practicality.An off-the-beaten-path tour of the city’s hidden highlights, and the stories behind them. The carriage straddled its monorail track, from which it drew an electric current to drive the propellers. The Aerial Monoflyer’s wings, however, were there only to lift it a little, relieving the tracks of some of the vehicle’s weight, while at the same time allowing for what the inventor called ‘guided flight’. Propellers were mounted on the carriage, which even had short, stubby wings, designed to lift it slightly in the way wind under the wings of an aircraft lift it into the air. Once again, a single carriage was involved, but this one was egg-shaped to make it more aerodynamic.
In a patent filed in 1915 he described his idea for a ‘vehicle for use in high-speed locomotion’. Meanwhile in France, inventor Francis Laur was having his own thoughts about propeller-driven railways with a vehicle he called the Aerial Monoflyer.
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