Records of the Railplane designed by George Bennie, 1891-1957, engineer and inventor

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Dates of Creation
Name of Creator
Physical Description

Scope and Content

Design and research records, c1930-1947;
Catalogues and notes on components, 1922-1935;
Photographs, c1930.

Administrative / Biographical History

George Bennie (1891-1957) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but spent much of his youth at Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland. The son of an engineer, he turned his own inventive skills towards the area of public transportation and by 1921 had developed his 'railplane', a high-level monorail system. In 1929-1930 he built a prototype at Burnbrae, near Glasgow. Design of the propeller-driven cars drew heavily on aircraft technology and they were built by William Beardmore & Co Ltd , Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the manufacturers of the R34 airship.

Despite high levels of enthusiasm at the 1930 launch, Bennie was never able to get the financial backing to develop the idea further. The proposed Edinburgh to Glasgow line was never built, nor the one between Blackpool and Southport, and by 1937 he was bankrupt. The track at Burnbrae was eventually demolished for scrap in 1956 .

Arrangement

The arrangement of this material reflects the original order in which it was received

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Deposit: 1982 : ACCN 0497

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Digital file level list available in searchroom

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