Telpherage and problems of innovation

During the 1880s Fleeming Jenkin and his associates designed and constructed a new form of transportation entitled ´telpherage´. This was envisaged to be an analogue of telegraphs. Goods were to be sent in small trucks along single cables completely automatically. Initially the cables were to serve the dual purposes of load and current bearing. Jenkin hoped that this system of transport would enable electric power to be ´divided´ as easily as electric light and would provide a cheap and flexible method of transporting goods. A line was constructed at Glynde in Sussex in 1885 where Jenkin´s ideas were tested under operating conditions. He had recognised the need for adequate, safe control systems and introduced various techniques, such as mechanical brakes, electrical governors and positive blocking systems. His electrical governors were particularly ingenious. However, the system did not develop as he intended. The main purpose of the authors is to evaluate the constraints that forced modifications of his ideas.