New-York tribune., 1912-03-15
Mount Vernon Man Promises to
RevoIutionize Trolleys.
ALMOST AN AER0PLANE
Device Skins Above Tracks at
High Speed, Without
Touching Them.

II subway train should suddenly rise
| from its track and float along at Increased
speed half a foot from the rails, but always
guided by them, the effect would be pre-
ciseIv that which Emile Bachelet seeks
| from the invention he has just patented
AT a public demonstration Of the invention
! in Bachelets little laboratory IN Mount
Vernon yesterday, William b. Wheeler
manager of the Westchester Electric hali-
way Company, became so enthusiastic that
he asserted Bachelets discovery would ultl-
mately revoutionize transportation.
Mr.. Bachelet, a stocky man, somewhat
above middle height with gray hair ana
mustache thinks three hundred miles an
| hour not an impractcable speed for cars
propelled according to his method of "elec-
/ tro-magnetc levitated transportation and
he claims for his system the minimum OF
! friction, much less even than that incident
to the monorail-gyroscope combination, a
dangerous rival bidder for the rich freights
OF the future. Mr.. Bachelet came to this
country twenty years ago and has been
state electrician for the State Of Wash
| ington.
This" said he. with a wave OF his hand
toward the red and yellow model Of intri-
, cate design which almost filed his little
| wOrkshop-"this is an entirely new discov-
| cry In the field of electrical science that is
| believed to forecast a revolution in the high
| speed transmission of mail and express
matter and passengers. 1t Is believed TO
be the most importat invention of recent
years in the application of electromagnetic
energy
| ut operates first, by raising and sustain
! ing any desired amount of weight through
electromagnetic repulsion; second, by
causing weight so sustained to move later
ally, at will. by means of electromagnetic
| traction, or otherwise. While these two
forces of repulsion and attraction are oper-
ative there is no friction except that of the
atmosphere.
In his laboratory the inventor has erect
ed a YiSNie elevated track. breast high and
| 81 feet long. There is a rail above. invert-
| cd, like a trolley as well the two
| below which any well regulated track pos
sesses. These rails are not r shaped, but
parallelopipeds. with deep grooves in their
/ upper surfaces. The car resembles i'm min
iature the common garden variety Of box
| car, without trucks and wheels. Its body is
made Of steel and its base OF aluminium. II
weighs forty pounds.
/ But the most interesting features of the
apparatus are the "solinoids" and the lev
itating coils" The "Solinoids" are little
red and yellow tunnels wound around the
track like wide horse-colars. They are
really big steel spools OF electrically
charged wire which act as magnets attract
| ing the steel car laterally. The 'levitatng
| coils are smaller spools Of electrically
charged wire set on end between and below
the two lower rails These are the magnets
which repel the aluminium base Of the car
| and suspend the car above the track.
| There are eight of them TO section
In the model they are placed an inch or
! two apart.
| The 'levitating coils suspend the little
model 4O-pound car half an inch above the
rails and the "soinoids" pull It along. IL
was amply demonstrated yesterday, as
though It were a projectile, and the rails
| guide IL by means OF little pins or brushes" ."
| which extend from the car ~ both ends
| above and along either side below and run
along in the grooves of the rails.
| The question OF speed, Mr.. Bachelct oX-
| planned, depends on the number and
strength of the "solinoids." since the mo-
ment the car has passed through one sol
| inoid" its speed lessons until IL feels the
| attraction Of the next, and the closer these
! are placed the more powerfully they will
impel the car. with two "solnoids' TO
| thirty-one feet OF track and 200 volts Of
! electricity the little model car in Bathe-
let's shop gained such momentum two DAYS
ago, Il was said that before II could be
stopped II shot off the end of it's track,
through the front door and out into the
middle OF the street
SUNDAYS NEW-YORK TRIBUNE
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