Welcome to Air and Mankies, Captain of Curiosity's, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm

and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display,

just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

Transportation has changed drastically over the last several hundred years.

From the steam engines transformation of the railroad industry to the widespread adoption

of the automobile, the ways in which we travel get more impressive every year.

The rail system in particular has seen some incredible advancements in power and speed,

for one engineer in the 1970s.

It seemed that the sky was the limit.

Charles Osmond Frederick was working for the British Rail in 1970 when he had an idea.

Frederick had been in charge of wheel performance on the tracks, but thought the rail system

as a whole could have been improved.

Train tracks were too rigid.

The train could only go where the tracks had been placed and nowhere else.

But what if the train didn't need the tracks at all?

Frederick saw an opportunity to elevate British rail above the competition, so he designed

a new type of rail car that didn't use a track system.

It didn't drive on roads, or over dirt, or through mountains either.

It flew, which made it sound like another popular form of transportation.

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