November 1962 – the birth of Maglev

Despite decades of development and a growing worldwide interest in high speed rail, Maglev – a futuristic transportation concept that uses magnets to propel wheel-less trains along track at super high speeds – has had surprisingly little impact on the transportation mainstream.

And with most of the current development in this intriguing field taking place in Japan, Korea and China (home to the 270mph Shanghai Transrapid system) it’s often forgotten that the technology was originally developed by British electrical engineer Dr Eric Laithwaite, inventor of the linear induction motor and the so-called “father of Maglev".

In November 1962 The Engineer reported on one of Laithwaite’s early efforts to demonstrate the technology, aboard an experimental rail trolley, at British Railway’s Gorton Locomotive works.

The article explained that the motor consisted of a flat three-phase winding attached to the trolley (which is the equivalent to the stator of an ordinary induction motor) and a continuous metal plate fixed vertically between the rails along the length of the track (which is equivalent to the rotor).  When the winding is energised, the reaction between the currents in the winding and the metal plate results in a force which propels the trolley along the track.