Maglev train who invented

Petersburg; Russia , page In , the French-born American inventor Emile Bachelet presented his idea of a maglev vehicle and even displayed a first model. A report in the Swiss journal "Schwizer Familie" in the year shows a photograph of this event and provides some information about his project vision, as well as the model.

Emile Bachelet, , with his maglev model. Source: "Schwizer Familie" No. Emile Bachelet was born in France in He emigrated in the s to the United States where he worked as an electrician. In this activity he discovered some therapeutic applications of electro-magnets to cure rheumatism and relieve arthritic pain.

After starting in the s to commercially exploit related medical devices for which he was granted several patents, he began work on magnetic forces through electro-magnets. It is easy to understand what is involved by thinking of what can be done with natural magnets: when the north pole of a magnet faces the south pole of another magnet an attraction force is created; in reverse, a magnetic repulsion is obtained by opposing two north poles or two south poles.

Electro-magnets, according to the intensity of the current and turning on and off at the desired frequency, allow the creation and control of a powerful magnetic force. The invention is described as a machine to transfer bodies at a very high speed from one point to another. Although it was primarily meant for the transmission of mail and small packages by a carrier, it was easy to imagine its application at a larger scale in trains carrying freight or passengers.

Using the forces of magnetic attraction and repulsion, Bachelet explained in detail how to arrange the magnets, with their poles, on a pathway and on the carrier and how to energise them periodically so as to create magnetic fields and allow the carrier to move through these fields. A first magnetic field is designed to levitate the carrier, which is made of a non-magnetic metal but which hold its own set of magnets that react with the magnetic field of the pathway.

Several large-scale maglev projects have been proposed but none appear to have progressed very far. A spokesman for Schlegel, the German engineering firm overseeing the project, insisted just a few months ago that the project was running according to schedule. Big maglev plans have been proposed in the US, including a large system for Pennsylvania. Then there is the Randstad system proposed for the Netherlands, along with numerous plans from Eastern Europe to the Middle East.

A high-profile project for a maglev system linking Hamburg and Berlin was abandoned in due to concerns over cost. Another system has been proposed between Berlin and Warsaw, also to Prague and Budapest. But nowhere has construction actually commenced. Also planned was a city to railway link in Melbourne. But Transrapid is yet to make a single dollar in Australia. After all, the British have always been passionate about their trains. It is also keen not to fall behind other EU countries.

It is not even to downtown Shanghai; it is just to Pudong. China is also now in the race. A prototype capable of mph has been built in the US, yet much greater speeds are apparently possible. Opinion Software. News Automotive. Opinion Automotive. Mike 11th November at pm. Reply Link. Rijkert Knoppers 11th November at pm. Oliver Dunthorne 11th November at pm. Berry Greene 29th December at am.

Peter Tier 25th July at am. No mention of Dr Laithwaite. Barry Dickinson 11th September at pm. Hi everyone. Cancel reply. A working system was in use between Birmingham airport and the railway station yards. The cost of running magnetic levitation plus the unknown effects of powerful magnetic fields on human beings presented problems. However, the recent development by the Department of Astrophysics at Oxford University of cheap methods of extreme cooling could allow for more efficient and therefore cheaper power.

Sadly, the development of these ideas is occurring outside the UK.