The Washington times., 1903-07-19
- HREE HUNDRED MILES an hour.
A train without wheels,
A lighter railroad structure!


ten instead of three hundred horse
power engine! 1s
Such is the attractive claim made for
an invention of DIT. Albert c. Albert
son. distinguished electrical engineer
of the Royal University OF Denmark. At
present DR.. Albertson is a citizen of the
United States. 1t is purposed to accom-
plish this wonder by means OF mag
netism. Already he has perfected his
system and obtained international pat
ents.
Many electrical and mechanical en-
gineers who have examined the inven-
ton through the publicity given it in
the Patent Office have been impressed
with the saneness OF the proposition and
the practicability of the application of
principle as old as electricity itself. DR..
Albertson's invention aims simply to
overcome the weight of the present rail-
way train by means of powerful mag
nets. These are attached TO the bottom
of the cars in such way as to lift the
wheels and render a 100. 900 pound car
gravity being thus overcome. the heav-
lest train becomes as light as air and
can be rushed along the tracks with
only atmospheric resistance to contend
with. The magnets clamp the rail above
and below, so that it is impossible for
the train to leave the track.
Maximum Speed Net Reached.
At present sixty miles an hour-a mile
a minutes practically the maximum
speed. and to accomplish this the weight
and drawing power of the locomotive
has been increased until a 5000 horse
power engine must be attached to the
front of a flyer As the weight of the
carrying the engine increases, as does
the general wear and tear on the road
bed Eighteen hours from New York TO
Chicago has been the maximum result.
The limit Of weight. power. and speed
has been reached and the railroads ac-
knowledge themselves unable 10 10 much
better Two things defeated the attain
merit Of greater specific dead weight
of the trains and aerial resistance.
there has been discovered a method of
aboli shing the dead weight of the train.
leaving only aerial resistance TO be con-
tended with. II this can be done. as DR..
Albertson asserts. half of the battle is
won and the world may yet be able to
travel on the earths surface with the
much dreamed Of speed Of hundreds OF
miles an hour For many years the great
principle of magnetism has been known
to electricians and used in practical
work by laymen. Steel companies have
found the magnet useful in lifting huge
metal Orders. At one end of their lift
ing apparatus they have placed a mag
net which. when charged. grips the steel
bars and lifts them no matter how great
their weight. 1t has been noticed that
a magnet would move TO come in con-
tact with the steel bar as soon as It ar
rived within the drawing radius. carry
ing any amount of weight with it which
happened to be attached at the time.
1t is this principle which Dr. Albert
son sought to make use of-the lifting
power of a magnet when attracted to a
fixed rail Of steel. He arranged a Sc
ries of magnets under a miniature car
running on steel railway track. The
magnets were insulated and attached to
the bottom of the car so that they came
under the rail and about an inch below
It, Then he turned on enough electricity
to make the magnets active. They rose
upward toward the rail. lifting the car
bodily in the air. The weight of the
train was thus simply overcome!
Result of Actual Tests.
The inventor next loaded heavy metal
into his miniature car until It weighed
several tons. The magnets clamped
tightly against the rail and refused to
slide easily. But as he loaded on the
weights he found that the car moved
easier the more weight he applied up to