Transport of one SC coil through the village of Meyrin

In 1952, before CERN was officially founded, two accelerator projects were launched: one for an innovative accelerator to operate at an energy level unequalled at the time, the other for a more standard machine, a Synchro-Cyclotron (SC) to operate at 600 MeV. Design work on the SC was started in 1952 and carried out by teams scattered throughout Europe. Once construction began in 1954, CERN had to arrange road transport for the first of what has since been a long series of spectacular component deliveries, such as those of the machine's two magnetic coils each weighing 60 tonnes and measuring 7.2 metres in diameter. Above, one of them is seen passing through the village of Meyrin. The SC was commissioned in 1957 and was operational for 34 years!