That's neat. Can't decide whether to buy one for our town's model train museum, or for the children's discovery museum's magnetism exhibit. I think the magnetism exhibit would be better because of its moving "wow" factor. It would be lost in the train museum because it's so small and with the bigger trains running.
I think you will find the first product is not magnetically levitated, but a low friction setup where the track is energized to pull the train along. The second product is indeed levitating as demonstrated in the video. The second product seems to be powered by a friction wheel between the train and the wall, so it's levitated by magnets but not propelled by magnets. Greg
Well, I realize not a word is spoken in that video, but if you read fast (or pause the few frames where the description is) you'll see it claims the propulsion is magnetic, too. And I believe it, because if the inside wall weren't magnetic, the train wouldn't follow the track. It has to be attracted to the wall or it wouldn't turn when it comes to the curves. It also wouldn't stay above the track--it would squirm sideways until it could fall over. Besides, when you see it come to a stop, you'll see it back up half an inch, obviously to where the poles of the magnets change. This isn't the track below doing that, because it keeps levitating. I'm just not sure how it's controlled. They say it's powered by three AAA batteries, and I'm guessing that's one per train car. So I have doubts about whether it's remote control. Are those buttons on top of the cars? I think my nephew is going to have to get one of these for Christmas, so his parents can play with it. The Christmas train tradition! That's what happened when my dad got his Lionel in 1934--Grandpop played with it all day. But since both of his parents have a background in physics, he's going to have the pleasure of seeing his mom play with his present too!
