Émile Bachelet (30 January 1863 – 2 May 1946) was a French-American inventor. In the 1880s, he worked in the United States as an

electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...

. After discovering therapeutic qualities of

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

s especially with

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

patients, he began to commercialize this practice. While doing so Bachelet began to experiment with magnetic fields. Bachelet was born in

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

, the son of Henri Bachelet. He immigrated to the United States in 1883 and became an American citizen in 1889. He died in Poughkeepsie, New York. Bachelet was granted in 1912 for his "Levitating Transmitting Apparatus." which was meant to transfer mail and small packages on a cart which was levitated above a track of

electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire (likely copper) wound into a electromagnetic coil, coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic ...

s. The patent also talked of a large version transporting freight or passengers. In 1912 Bachelet demonstrated a model to the press in Mount Vernon, New York. A vaudeville show called The Bachelet Mystery opened in London and New York in early 1913 demonstrating the wonders of electromagnetism using equipment supplied by Bachelet. In 1914 he presented his model to the Admiralty in London, England where a one-meter-long aluminum mobile agent hovered in a state of levitation, one centimeter above an 11-meter-long guide (which was the first example of a

magnetic levitation train Maglev (derived from ''magnetic levitation'') is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance. Compared to conventional railways, maglev trains ha ...

). The press used the words "flying train".

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

who assisted the demonstration said it was the most wonderful thing he had ever seen in his life. The Bachelet Levitated Railway Syndicate Limited was registered 1914 Jul 9 in London, just weeks before the start of WWI.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachelet, Émile 19th-century French inventors French emigrants to the United States 1863 births 1946 deaths