{"id":213,"date":"2023-02-01T15:58:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T15:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tekkiepix.co.uk\/?page_id=213"},"modified":"2023-02-21T17:14:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T17:14:36","slug":"british-rails-secret-flying-saucer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/tekkiepix.co.uk\/?page_id=213","title":{"rendered":"Saucer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the oddest patents ever to be filed at the British Patent Office popped up after the book Why Didn’t I Think Of It First<\/a> had gone to press. What made it doubly odd was the source – British Rail before de-nationalisation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The UK rail network had been looking for a new way of lifting train engines and carriages. Engineer Charles Frederick suggested a flying saucer, powered by thermonuclear fusion. BR’s management liked the idea and in December 1970 the company’s lawyers filed a patent application for a “Space Vehicle” at the London Patent Office.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Lasers inside the disc-shaped hull would trigger a controlled nuclear reaction by pulsing at 1000 Hz. Powerful magnets were to direct charged particles produced by the reaction, some towards electrodes to produce electrical power and the rest towards the ground to create lift. A shield around the fusion zone would contain the radiation. The electricity generated could spin a heavy flywheel to stabilise the vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"Patent
The drawing of a Flying Saucer which British Rail filed with its patent application<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

The load-lifting design brief was extended to cover passenger transport. BR filed this sketch at the Patent Office which clearly showed a cabin mounted on the central upper part of the vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

BR’s patent claimed “sustained thrust” and “very high velocities” from “a very small mass of fuel”. But when asked about radiation and safety, BR admitted that the design had never actually been tested. BR then stopped paying the fees needed to keep the patent in force, so it died.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But killing a patent does not unpublish it. Under patent law UKPA 1 310 990 was destined to remain on the shelves of Patent Office libraries all round the world, an embarrassment to BR for all time. BR\u2019s Press Office used to get decidedly tetchy when asked how its pet saucer project was progressing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But thanks to the Internet anyone can now see the patent in all its glory and for free here <\/a>at the click of a mouse. Enjoy….<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"100-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-213","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSaucer - Tekkiepix Sidelines<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/tekkiepix.co.uk\/?page_id=213\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saucer - Tekkiepix Sidelines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/tekkiepix.co.uk\/?page_id=213\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tekkiepix Sidelines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-21T17:14:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/tekkiepix.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/BR-Saucer.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tekkiepix.co.uk\\\/?page_id=213\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tekkiepix.co.uk\\\/?page_id=213\",\"name\":\"Saucer - 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