Bennie Railplane

The Bennie Railplane was a form of rail transport invented by George Bennie (1891–1957), which moved along an overhead rail by way of propellers. Despite superficial appearances, it was not a monorail, as it used both an overhead running rail and a guide rail below. It was intended to run above conventional railways, separating faster passenger traffic from slower freight traffic. A prototype ran over a 130-yard (120 m) line at Milngavie near Glasgow in the 1930s, but Bennie was never able to secure funding for further development and went bankrupt in 1937. The line was demolished for scrap in the 1950s.

Further reading

• Thwaite, Malcolm (2005). "The George Bennie Railplane and Hugh Fraser Airrail Systems of Transport". Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 75(1):37-84. ISSN 03720187.
• Black, William B. The Bennie Railplane. East Dunbartonshire Council

External links

• George Bennie Railtrack, Baldernock Parish
• The Bennie Railplane, Gear Wheels Online Motoring Magazine
• GEORGE BENNIE RAILPLANE SYSTEM OF TRANSPORT (1930) (archive film from the National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE)
• Railplane newsreel footage at British Pathe
• Film of test run (BBC Scotland)
• The Newcomen Rolt Prize
• Further info on Mike's Raiway History