Caillet System Monorail

Caillet System Monorail

Caillet System Monorail
Drawing of the Caillet System taken from IOR/ L/MIL/7/14846 Memorandum 9764 190 3 “British Library” with permission

The ‘Caillet System’ Monorail was being used in France as a means of getting produce off the farms. It was also being used on the Rubber Plantations in Malaysia. In 1896 Henry Jules Caillet, of 7 Boulevard St. Denis, Paris, lodged an Patent application “Improvements in the rolling stock and permanent way of Single Rail Railways, the Patent was accepted in Nov 1897 .

The ‘Caillet System’ of monorail consisted of a single load-bearing rail of as little as 9lb per yard weight, the ‘truck’ being balanced by man or horse or wheel supporting a pole set at right angles to the track. The system was so light that it could be laid on a temporary basis across fields, providing transport at one-sixth the cost of horse transport at one-third of the time .

In June 1898 Henry Caillet licenced the 'Caillet System' to Eaton Devonshire of Chislehurst and the ‘Monorail Portable Railway Company’ was formed in the October of that year with the rights for the Great Britain and colonies. In 1905, ”The Engineer” November 17th edition, advertised that the ‘Monorail Portable Railway Company Limited’ of 22-23 Laurence Poutney Lane, London had a book available which ‘describes Caillet’s well-known monorail system, and contains a large number of illustrations of its application . The company lasted until 1924

An article in ‘The Mercury', Hobart, Tasmania, Australia dated 31 May 1911, paragraph 4 states:-

‘The single rail of M. Caillet's system is laid direct on to the surface of the ground, and supported by small sole plates hooked on to the inside of the rail, which is joined to its next fellow by means of a scabbard fish-plate. Although there is only one rail, there may be two or four wheels to each truck or carriage, but these are all in the same plane. Sleepers are not required, nor does the road-bed need to be ballasted. Moreover, the trucks can go up hill and down dale, and the line of rails "may be snake-like in its zig-zag tortuosity." Indeed, in every respect it is a most accommodating railway. The hand cars have wheels 10in.in diameter, but the larger vehicles intended to be propelled by mules or horses, have 20in. wheels. The traction of the cars is effected from the sides with the aid of one or two tube levers, and the mere effort of propulsion is sufficient to maintain the balance. The trucks have two angle iron levers connected by movable shafts, into which the horses are harnessed. The space between the bottom of the vehicles and the rail never exceeds a few inches, and the centre of gravity is thus kept as low as possible, thereby minimising the effort required for maintaining the equilibrium. When the car is at rest it lies over on one side. Some of the cars have movable sides, to facilitate their loading or unloading, and, of course, light, bulky loading can be provided for by pannier sides.’.

Known Applications in India

See individual pages for more information and references

Jubbulpore Gun Carriage Factory Monorail

The first known example of its application in India is the comparative trials conducted between the ‘Ewing System’ and the ‘Caillet System’ during the construction in 1901-02 of the Jubbulpore Gun Carriage Factory.
The ‘Calliet System' consisted of 10 miles(16km) of Calliet rail with six tip trucks, one log bogie and a platform truck to aid the construction of the Factory. The lines were operated using hand labour. As a consequence, the rates of cartage fell as competition to them increased but at peak times bullock carts were still used.The workers did not like the 'Caillet System' wagons and found them difficult to handle. Trained operators were required and at least one bad accident occurred. The engineers found that a monorail was useful in these circumstances as it was quick and cheap to lay using unskilled labour. It would work with reasonably sharp curves and the rails did not have to be perfectly laid. There was minimum disruption to other road users.
The findings on the two systems were that the ‘Caillet System' trucks were easier to control down slopes, but required trained labour and were wearisome to the pullers and therefore could be dangerous. They also found the same difficulties as experienced by the engineers at the Kanan Davan Monorail . To change the type of motive power required rebuilding the connection frame and could not be formed into trains.
The ‘Ewing System’ trucks were easier to use especially by untrained labour and could be joined together quickly. They found that the traction was heavier as a consequence and the large road wheel meant that loading could only be done from one side. These trucks hand not been used in the levelling works and it was doubtful how they would have performed on uneven ground.
The result of the trial, showed that the ‘Ewing’ system was the best and more trucks would have been ordered but the main line sidings had reached the factory. Major Edgell felt that a two-line light railway would have been best but the monorail was very flexible.

Allapalli Sawmill Monorail

In 1902 proposals were sought by the Forest Department and 4 miles(6.4km) of ‘Caillet System’ was supplied with six special bogie trucks intended for bullock haulage. It had proved impractical and was converted to the ’Ewing System’

Quetta Municipality Night Soil Monorail

The Quetta Municipality laid an experimental monorail, possibly the 'Calliet System', for the conveyance of night soil from Quetta cantonment to the disposal pits at Sahibzada . The monorail was reported as being unsuitable to the purpose as the wobbling motion of the trucks caused the contents to spill on the line, the excessive costs of maintaining the system and the horse drawn lorries which were required to carry the filth receptacles from the various parts of the cantonment to the point where the tramway started. The system was lifted before January 1902.

Itsari Water Supply Project Monorail

In 1914 at this site 14 miles(22km) of ‘Caillet System’ rails, trucks and fittings was installed .

Further Reading

• Caillet's Patent Mono-Rail System by John L Townsend; Published by ’The Light Rail Society’ ISBN : 078 0 9934386 1 5 [1]