MOVED TO http://amasci.com/maglev/train.html






























































SIMPLE MAGLEV TRAIN                          (c)1996 William J. Beaty

Lots of people have emailed me about building some sort of maglev train as
a science project.  A truely levitated maglev train is a very complex
device.  Permanent magnets alone cannot statically suspend a train car; 
coils, amplifiers, and negative feedback are also required.  I'd only
recommend the coils/sensors approach to college students or fairly
advanced highschoolers.

However, there's a way to make a simple permanent-magnet maglev train which 
involves guide rails on the sides of the track.  Because real science 
involves striking out into the unknown, I'm not going to give detailed 
plans here.  Just enough info to get you started.

The "rails" of your train will be small square ceramic magnets.  Radio
Shack stores in the US sell a good type, the 1" x 3/4" square with a hole
in the center.  Each foot of train track will require 32 of these magnets. 

First mark your magnets so you later can lay them down with the same
"pole" facing upwards.  To do this, stick your magnets all together in one
big stack.  Now use a permanent marker to make an "X" on flat face of the
end magnet of the stack, pull that magnet off the stack, make an "X" on
the next one, etc., until you're out of magnets. 

Before building an entire huge track, make a "test bed" about one foot
long.  For a base, you can use cardboard or wood.  Don't use iron or steel
of course.  You'll be lining up your magnets side by side in long rows. 
One way to do this is to stick them to a strip of duct tape, then lay the
strip down on the cardboard or wood and rub the tape down to hold the
magnets.  Position each magnet carefully on the tape so the row is very
straight.  Make two parallel rows of magnets with about 5cm of space
between the rows.  Make sure the rows are perfectly parallel.  It might
help to draw lines on the base first. 

For a temporary "car", cut out a square of cardboard 9cm by 15cm .  Tape
four magnets to the corners, flipping the magnets correctly so they will
repel from the tracks when the cardboard is layed down, and positioned so
the magnets on the cardboard will be exactly over the magnets on the
track. 

If you place your cardboard "car" on your magnet track, you'll find that 
it will twist or flip over and fall, and will not hover.  But if you 
gently hold it by its sides, you can keep it floating in position.  Does 
this give you an idea?  What if you place one long board on each side of 
your track?  The "car" will touch the boards and will stop slipping 
sideways, but the boards will not stop the car from slipping down the 
track.

                   MAGLEV TRACK,
    board          VIEW FROM THE END         board
    ____                                      ____
   |    |                                    |    |
   |    |                                    |    |
   |    |        magnet         magnet       |    |
   |    |        row            row          |    |
   |    |     _____                _____     |    |
 __|____|____|_____|______________|_____|____|____|__
|____________________________________________________|
                      wood or cardboard




               MAGLEV TRACK, WITH FLOATING
               CARDBOARD CAR IN PLACE   
    ____       (end view)                     ____
   |    |                                    |    |
   |    |                                    |    |
   |    | __________________________________ |    |
   |    ||__________________________________||    |
   |    |    |_____|              |_____|    |    |
   |    |     _____                _____     |    |
 __|____|____|_____|______________|_____|____|____|__
|____________________________________________________|



Once you get this part working, you can build a much longer track.  You
can build a real car too, though you'll have to find very lightweight
construction materials.  You can try thinking up ways to reduce the
friction with the side rails.  Maybe try aluminum angle strips instead of
wood, or sand the wood smooth and paint it with something. 

But how can you drive your train forward?  I don't know.  You'll have to
think of something.  There are only two ways to move a hovering object. 
One is to grab something on the ground and pull or push forwards (this
includes tilting the rail to becom a ramp, using gravity to pull the car
forwards.)  The other way is to force something out the back, which drives
the car forward.  Marbles rolling down a ramp?  Propellor?  Squirt water? 
Rocket engine?


Someone elses' version:

MAGNET MAN, levitating train
http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magtrain.htm