From propellers to sails to magnets , history ’s discoverer have come up with some excellent ways to mount the runway .
1. Propellertriebwagen Schienenzeppelin
German engineer Franz Kruckenberg had an idea : why not build a train that act upon like a blimp ? It was the tardy 1920s and he was a zeppelin intriguer by training , but he ’d recently turned his tending to the railing . He ’d try on his hand at make a give ear monorail , but when that failed he decided to try something fresh — a streamlined , atomic number 13 bullet wagon train powered by a jumbo propeller . This time , it worked ! make in 1930 , the Propellertriebwagen Schienenzeppelin was as libertine and smooth as its name was retentive . Zooming at an unprecedented 140 mph , the engine dress a hurrying record that would stand up for another 23 years .
So why are n’t today ’s Amtraks propeller - power ? The ( extremely noisy boat paddle ) that made the string run also prevented cars from coupling to each other , so the Schienenzeppelin was n’t really much of a power train .
2. SAIL TROLLEYS
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canvas - powered trolleys were used in the UK from the 1850s onward , especially in coastal orbit that had a reliable gust . One in Cliffe , England , used abandoned cement mine track to transport people want , as the book The Cement Railways of Kent describes , to “ prod louse and inspect the sea defense . ”
3. PENYDARREN LOCOMOTIVE
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Not to be confused with a deluxe barbeque smoker , Richard Trevithick ’s 1804 locomotive was the first steam engine to successfully run on rails . On its first run , the 7 - ton railroad train maxed out at 5 miles per hour . The train was so heavy that it made only three journeying , breaking the cast - iron rails every time .
4. THE HOLMAN LOCOMOTIVE
Built in 1887 to swindle fleeceable investors , the Holman had wheels on wheel on wheel . Impressive , but they did nothing to make the train turn tail better . Locomotive potency Angus Sinclair said it had the same value as “ cast gilt coin over Niagara Falls . ” Nonetheless , a test run helped sell a few phony stock .
5. GEORGE BENNIE’S RAILPLANE
Suspended by steel trestle , the railroad train - woodworking plane hybrid hung from an overhead rail and was push along by two airplane propeller . figure to cruise at 120 to 150 mph , a prototype ran in Milngavie , Scotland in 1930 , but a lack of support left the idea literally hanging .
6. BEACH PNEUMATIC TRANSIT
New York City ’s first subway was a pneumatic tube . build under Broadway in 1869 , a giant rotary electric fan nicknamed the “ Western Tornado ” pushed a individual auto down the track . The organization was irksome and flashy , and it was shut down after a stock marketplace clang in Europe caused investors to turn a loss pursuit .
7. GYROSCOPIC MONORAIL
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Louis Brennan ’s 1903 “ gyroscope - car locomotive ” totter on one rail and leaned at corners like a motorcycle . Two gyroscopic stabilizers helped the machine lean around bending , standing tumid even when give up . In 1910 , the train debuted in London , carrying 50 passengers , include Winston Churchill . But it still flopped : One was scrapped and another was made into a park protection .
8. MAGLEVS
Magnetically levitating trains — foretell maglevs — literally float on a cushion of air . Recently test in Japan and Germany , the rails are lined with potent electromagnet . The repellant force makes the train float up to four inch above the cut ; since there ’s no rubbing with the track , the trains can reach 311 mph !
