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u/Necessary_Reality_50 Dec 12 '24
Looks like a section of suspended railway. I guess this was left as a memorial.
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u/wasmic Dec 12 '24
Nope, the entire railway still exists - this piece was taken from the railway during renovation work and placed in front of an industrial museum.
It's from the Wuppertal Schwebebahn.
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u/BobmitKaese Dec 12 '24
Looks like the supports for the Schwebebahn
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u/BobmitKaese Dec 12 '24
DeepL translation:
Officially opened on 1 March 1901, the Wuppertal suspension railway is still one of the world's most extraordinary local passenger transport systems.
Designed by the Cologne engineer Eugen Langen back in the 1880s, the railway is technically a single-track suspension railway. The suspension railway has been a listed building since 1997.
At the end of the 19th century, an electrically operated suspension railway was planned over the Wupper in the densely populated twin town of Elberfeld and Barmen. Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) was commissioned to carry out the work. This formed a joint venture with three large steel construction companies in the Ruhr region: the ‘Union, AG für Bergbau, Eisen- und Stahlindustrie’ in Dortmund (‘Dortmunder Union’), the ‘Brückenbau-Anstalt Johann Caspar Harkort’ in Duisburg and the ‘Brückenbauanstalt’ of the Gutehoffnungshütte in Oberhausen-Sterkrade. A good quarter of the Wuppertal suspension railway was manufactured in Oberhausen. After construction began in 1898, the inauguration of the railway was celebrated in 1901.
When a general overhaul of the suspension railway was planned in the 1980s, the LVR Industrial Museum endeavoured to bring a construction segment of this technical masterpiece back to Oberhausen. Only one segment that could stand on its own was considered: a so-called ‘brake curve’ of the ‘land section’.
The suspension railway runs through today's Wuppertal mainly over the Wupper, but also over roads at the western end of the line in the area of the former rural community of Vohwinkel. Like the water section, this ‘land section’ has so-called braking bends at regular intervals, which stiffen the rail system in the longitudinal direction and absorb dynamic loads. The LVR Industrial Museum in Oberhausen has erected one such ‘brake arch’ in front of its main entrance to commemorate the renowned ‘bridge construction centre’ of the Gutehoffnungshütte.
Daniel Stemmrich
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u/werepat Dec 12 '24
Am I wrong in assuming this suspension railway still exists somewhere in Germany? I have seen videos of this, and I think I recall a news story of an elephant that fell to it's death from one of the cars.
I imagined the whole line was dismantled after WWII, but your description doesn't mention that it was totally removed.
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u/BobmitKaese Dec 12 '24
No its still in use. After a general overhaul they transported this piece from Wuppertal to Oberhausen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IFh6wFTJiQ is a good video talking about it.
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u/aldebxran Dec 12 '24
It's still operating as a transit line in Wuppertal, Germany. It was repaired after the war and it got an overhaul a few years ago. It was never dismantled. These supports were apparently taken out during the renovation, see u/BombitKaese comment
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u/x0wl Dec 13 '24
I like that they gave it an inventory number and then reported it under the picture.
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u/BigBlueMan118 Dec 12 '24
Yeah this is in Oberhausen out front of the Rheinisches Industriemuseum near Oberhausen Hbf, about 35km away from Wuppertal Hbf. They must have shifted a piece of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn there as a demo/advertisement for the museum, here is a similar section on-location in Wuppertal:
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u/BobmitKaese Dec 12 '24
See the comment I made under my own comment, I found the article by the LVR Industriemuseum itself.
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u/MyLastAccountDyed Dec 12 '24
Bus shaker. Picks the bus up and flips it over, gives it a good shake to get any change / small coins out. It’s a good money maker, I’ve got one at home.
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u/BobmitKaese Dec 12 '24
Also I love the rail replacement bus underneath, this perfectly captures the German spirit
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u/Plastik-Mann Dec 12 '24
This is a part of the structure of the overhead railway operated in Wuppertal/Germany on display.
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u/DBL_NDRSCR Dec 12 '24
looks ready to magnet the bus up onto it, but as others said it's probably a piece of the suspended rail system
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u/backinnahm Dec 12 '24
Old monorail maybe
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u/wasmic Dec 12 '24
It is! Though the monorail still exists. This particular piece was taken from it during renovation and moved to the place seen in the picture.
It's (a piece of) the Wuppertal Schwebebahn.
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u/frostedmooseantlers Dec 12 '24
You don’t want to be underneath it in your car when they turn the magnet on
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u/mrjsmith82 Dec 12 '24
if they were straight members meeting at 90-degree angles, they would be weaker. The joints would need reinforcing to transfer moments. Or knee braces under every horizontal member. The bends use less material and achieve similar results for strength and serviceability.
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u/TimLikesPi Dec 12 '24
The 2011 movie Pina about choreographer Pina Bausch has some nice footage of the monorail in action.
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u/moonimoosh Dec 15 '24
That is a car crusher you drive under it and the top comes down and smooshes your car if you forget to flush the toilet
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u/guhman123 Dec 12 '24
It prevents you from double parking in front of the crosswalk, otherwise it will grab your car and crush it
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u/T3chn0fr34q Dec 13 '24
ah yes german efficency, i also would have used a bus from a company in meschede for replacement service for the re49 wuppertal-wesel. surely its way cheaper to have the drive 110 km to wuppertal instead of finding a local company. 🤦🏻♂️
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u/jf808 Dec 12 '24
Looks like an old suspended rail segment that's been left for posterity.