Sharopoyizd
The Sharopoyizd (Ukrainian: Шаропоїзд, literally ball-bearing train), was a Ukrainian attempt to develop a high-speed rail system in the 1930s. Instead of iron rails, the design specified a single rail, shaped like the bottom of the letter 'U', made of concrete.
The monorail train, created by Ukrainian engineer Mykola Yarmolchuk in 1932-1934. The train moved on ball-shaped wheels with electric motors built into them. The engines were located in semicircular troughs under a wooden platform, in a full-scale project such a platform was to be made of concrete. A scale model (1 to 5) of this train, built for testing, reached a speed of 70 km/h. It was assumed that the full-scale design would reach speeds of up to 300 km/h.
In the early 1930s, the USSR did not have a sufficient production base to implement such a project. Several museum exhibits and newsreel footage remained from the project.