The system was developed by French engineer Charles Lartigue (1834–1907) who further developed a horse drawn monorail system invented by Henry Robinson Palmer in 1821. However, the Lartigue system was not a true monorail, since it was necessary to add two further rails, one on each side lower down the A frames. These did not carry any weight, but unpowered stabilising wheels fitted to all the engines and wagons contacted these extra rails to prevent the vehicles from overbalancing which was one of the system's big disadvantages. Passengers could not move from side to side when the train was in motion - and the loads on the two sides had to be roughly equal.
In addition rail-road crossings were impossible and conventional railway switches could not be used, so turnouts were achieved by a large number of curved turntables. When rotated one way, the curve would connect the main and one direction. When turned end-for-end, the curve went in the opposite direction, and so connected the main and a different track.
The line closed in 1924, but a 1 km section was recreated in 2003 and uses a diesel locomotive built to resemble the original 0-3-0 Hunslet-built steam engines.
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