Hi Woodsy,
I just found this toy on a site called CityLab - a wonderful set of skyscrapers, with an elevated railway called Sky Rail running around and through the buildings.
It is by Kenner, and dates from the early 1960s. I should imagine that was a very expensive set in its day. I thought it would be of interest to you. This is where I found the box photo.
I also found some film clips of it in operation on You Tube, there were two sets. The Sky Rail cars came in either red or blue. They look like spaceships from Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon.
A really amazing toy, would you like one ?
Paul Adams
New Zealand
I like that. I built a Thunderbirds style monorail once but couldn't think of a way to make it a working one.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine a working Mono Rail is hard to create Kev. Thanks for sharing this Paul. I had a Mighty Mike as a kid, which was a sort of hi-rise road set up for hill-climbing cars. not really a mono rail. there was a real one at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and loved it as a kid. I remember my Missus telling me that an elephant was transported in a mono rail in the town of Wuppertal on the continent. How did they get an elephant in?
ReplyDeleteThere have been a few working toy/model monorails made over the years, including some based on the Disneyland monorail. There have also been one or two ski-lift types. No idea how these work, perhaps one could be modified to create a science fiction version ?
ReplyDeleteIn my Infants School back in England, there was a building set that was brought out for various activities.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a bit like this, there was a base and you built the framework for a sky scraper using red polythene clip-together girders. Once you had the structure built, you could clad it with cip-on vac formed windows and wall panels.
The closest I had to a space monorail as a kid, was the SPACENIK -I guess that's pretty close!
That set sounds like Erector or something Looey. I never had a Spacenik but Wotan did. It looks one cool toy. Gripidee Gravidee was another brill concept for toys. I also like Shangri La City https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-shangri-la-city-monorail-set-1849873467
ReplyDeleteMight this have been the Chad Valley Girder and Panel set ? It had red plastic girders, and covering panels. There was also a Bridge and Roadways set. There are photos in Building Toys, by Brian Salter, Shire Publications, 2011. Another book, which I do not have, is Architecture on the Carpet, by Brenda and Robert Vale, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2013.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved one of those Shangri La City monorail sets. The world of model railways clearly needs more monorails.
Thanks Paul. That's a better idea re. the girders and panels set.
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