Lionel originally announced Magnetraction in their 1950 catalog.
Actually, the "motor" isn't the magnet; typically the axles had Alnico magnets which in turn magnetize the driving wheels. It was found on almost all postwar Lionel products from 1950- onward, with some exceptions like those engines that were equipped with plated wheel rims, some locos made during 1952 when material shortages occurred due to the ramping up of the Korean war, some of the low-end Scout sets and many late postwar engines. It's only affective on steel track like traditional tinplate, Super-O, Atlas O solid steel or FasTrack. Magnetraction isn't effective with non-ferrous track made of nickel-silver like Atlas O's regular track, MTH's RealTrax & ScaleTrax.
