Linear Air Motors - Walled Lake MI

Address: E Lake Drive
City: Walled Lake
State: MI
Zip: 48390
County: Oakland
Number of visits to this page: 2698
General Information:

Linear Air Motors was the brainchild of W. Kenneth Crowder of Ortonville. It was stated the company had offices in Ortonville, Pontiac, and Rochester when they were in operation. I would assume it was either the same office or they moved once or twice. They demonstrated their rapid transit prototype idea at the Walled Lake Amusement Park. I believe they had a test track in Walled Lake also.

They called it their invention the "Insta-Glide" system and it resembled a small monorail. Additionally, they had an idea for transport via tube which sounds like a precursor to Elon Musk's Hyperloop idea. Actually, they had lots of ideas and were mainly pitching local municipalities around the US, looking for government funding. The mentions in the newspapers fizzle out after 1985 so I don't think they ever had a project come to fruition.

Monorails were going to be the next big thing back to the mid 1960's and early 1980's. Some were built but most didn't last. The Detroit People Mover is sort of a remnant of that effort. There was also a monorail in between Fairlane Mall and the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn. I actually rode that one once or twice but it was taken out of commission and demolished. Even the monorails at Disney have had their issues even though the fans like them.

Info Updates:
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 Photos:11
Linear Air Motors - From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - This Looks Like Walled Lake Amuse Park - From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
This Looks Like Walled Lake Amuse Park - From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
From Wayne State Photo Archives (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - January 1985 (newer photo)
January 1985 (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - July 1977 Article On Proposal (newer photo)
July 1977 Article On Proposal (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - June 1983 (newer photo)
June 1983 (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - March 1978 Article On Company And Insta-Glide System (newer photo)
March 1978 Article On Company And Insta-Glide System (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - Nov 1972 (newer photo)
Nov 1972 (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - Sept 1972 Article (newer photo)
Sept 1972 Article (newer photo)
Linear Air Motors - Sept 1983 (newer photo)
Sept 1983 (newer photo)
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