Robert.Maddrey
November 27th, 2007, 04:34 PM
An interesting article in regards to how much we like to talk about the use of light rail and other rail systems, the article even addresses high speed rail connecting Tampa, Orlando and Miami. A good read.
Super Trains: Plans to Fix U.S. Rail Could End Road & Sky Gridlock
With airports and highways more congested than ever, new steel-wheel and maglev lines that move millions in Europe and Japan have the potential to resurrect the age of American railroads.
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/maglev-lede-630.jpg
Unlike conventional diesel- and electric-powered trains, the motor for maglev trains is essentially embedded in the track. The track creates a traveling magnetic field beneath the train, which lifts the cars and propels them at 300-plus mph. The train’s on-board systems are powered by induction from the track. And only the section of track under the train is energized. (Diagram by Hello-Napalm)
Nestled between the seaside bluffs of Southern California’s Torrey Pines and the concrete arteries of Interstate 5 is the low-profile campus of General Atomics, home to the only magnetic levitation, or maglev, train in the United States. The company’s Electromagnetic Systems Division built the test track here three years ago, basing it in part on a design for a maglev rocket launch system developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
General Atomics’ director of maglev systems, Sam Gurol, has promised me a rare ride on this prototype train, which is not really a train at all, but rather a single, open chassis with no seats. The track looks a little like the guideway to the Walt Disney World monorail in miniature—just 400 ft. long and raised 2 ft. to 5 ft. off the ground.
As I climb aboard the chassis, a researcher waves enthusiastically from a nearby control room like a parent sending his child on a first roller coaster ride. Gurol stands next to me. “Hold on,” he warns, and directs me to a single bar at the front of the vehicle. There’s a subwaylike jolt, a quiet rumble, and we’re off.
For a few moments I feel nothing but the soft La Jolla breeze as we accelerate. It feels as if we’re floating, and we are: Between the car and the track is a 1-in. gap that allows the train to operate with zero mechanical friction. And almost no sound. One of the most surprising things about maglev propulsion is that it is whisper quiet. Suddenly, we’re decelerating. There’s another vibration, and we stop. The whole trip took 22 seconds, and our top speed was 20 mph, but the technology used on this modest test track may power a new generation of ground transportation in the United States.
As a proof of concept, the General Atomics maglev is impressive, but to fully grasp the potential of high-speed trains in this country, you still have to use your imagination. Here’s how it could work: You board a train in downtown Anaheim, Calif., at 5:30 on a Friday evening, destined for Las Vegas. Instead of inching out of the traffic-choked Los Angeles metro area on what is typically a 4- to 6-hour drive, or gambling that the 1-hour, 15-minute flight will depart on time, you glide out of the city, accelerating toward Barstow. As the train fires through the Mojave Desert, it hits a top speed of more than 300 mph, and then pulls into Vegas just 90 minutes after departure—in time for dinner before an 8:00 show.
That scenario won’t come to pass for years, but commercial high-speed train travel is no mere fantasy. In other countries, “steel-wheel” bullet trains have been in operation since the 1960s. Japan’s Shinkansen sails along the 645-mile route between Tokyo and Fukuoka at up to 186 mph. In France, the high-speed TGV tops out at 199 mph on the 480-mile run between Paris and Marseille, which takes 3 hours. Within the U.S., Amtrak’s seven-year-old Acela Express can reach speeds of up to 150 mph, although the tight curves and dangerous roadway crossings of the Northeast Corridor route curtail its average speed to 86 mph. Magnetic levitation, the technology floating the test train at General Atomics, has a smaller commercial footprint, but it has the most impressive capabilities in the world of superspeedy trains. A maglev train that began service four years ago in Shanghai runs 20 miles between Pudong International Airport and the city’s business district in just 8 minutes at speeds of up to 267 mph. And this past September, the city of Munich, Germany, announced plans to build a new maglev line that will cover the 25-mile route between Franz Joseph Strauss International Airport and downtown in 10 minutes.
Proposed North American High Speed Train Projects
There are plenty of plans in the works for next-gen passenger rail, from upgrading existing lines to building super-high tech tracks. Given the expense, the technical challenges and the political complexity of these projects, it’ll be at least a decade before the first trains go into service—if they ever do.
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/maglevmap-470-1207.gif
The rest of the article can be viewed here. (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/transportation/4232548.html)
Super Trains: Plans to Fix U.S. Rail Could End Road & Sky Gridlock
With airports and highways more congested than ever, new steel-wheel and maglev lines that move millions in Europe and Japan have the potential to resurrect the age of American railroads.
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/maglev-lede-630.jpg
Unlike conventional diesel- and electric-powered trains, the motor for maglev trains is essentially embedded in the track. The track creates a traveling magnetic field beneath the train, which lifts the cars and propels them at 300-plus mph. The train’s on-board systems are powered by induction from the track. And only the section of track under the train is energized. (Diagram by Hello-Napalm)
Nestled between the seaside bluffs of Southern California’s Torrey Pines and the concrete arteries of Interstate 5 is the low-profile campus of General Atomics, home to the only magnetic levitation, or maglev, train in the United States. The company’s Electromagnetic Systems Division built the test track here three years ago, basing it in part on a design for a maglev rocket launch system developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
General Atomics’ director of maglev systems, Sam Gurol, has promised me a rare ride on this prototype train, which is not really a train at all, but rather a single, open chassis with no seats. The track looks a little like the guideway to the Walt Disney World monorail in miniature—just 400 ft. long and raised 2 ft. to 5 ft. off the ground.
As I climb aboard the chassis, a researcher waves enthusiastically from a nearby control room like a parent sending his child on a first roller coaster ride. Gurol stands next to me. “Hold on,” he warns, and directs me to a single bar at the front of the vehicle. There’s a subwaylike jolt, a quiet rumble, and we’re off.
For a few moments I feel nothing but the soft La Jolla breeze as we accelerate. It feels as if we’re floating, and we are: Between the car and the track is a 1-in. gap that allows the train to operate with zero mechanical friction. And almost no sound. One of the most surprising things about maglev propulsion is that it is whisper quiet. Suddenly, we’re decelerating. There’s another vibration, and we stop. The whole trip took 22 seconds, and our top speed was 20 mph, but the technology used on this modest test track may power a new generation of ground transportation in the United States.
As a proof of concept, the General Atomics maglev is impressive, but to fully grasp the potential of high-speed trains in this country, you still have to use your imagination. Here’s how it could work: You board a train in downtown Anaheim, Calif., at 5:30 on a Friday evening, destined for Las Vegas. Instead of inching out of the traffic-choked Los Angeles metro area on what is typically a 4- to 6-hour drive, or gambling that the 1-hour, 15-minute flight will depart on time, you glide out of the city, accelerating toward Barstow. As the train fires through the Mojave Desert, it hits a top speed of more than 300 mph, and then pulls into Vegas just 90 minutes after departure—in time for dinner before an 8:00 show.
That scenario won’t come to pass for years, but commercial high-speed train travel is no mere fantasy. In other countries, “steel-wheel” bullet trains have been in operation since the 1960s. Japan’s Shinkansen sails along the 645-mile route between Tokyo and Fukuoka at up to 186 mph. In France, the high-speed TGV tops out at 199 mph on the 480-mile run between Paris and Marseille, which takes 3 hours. Within the U.S., Amtrak’s seven-year-old Acela Express can reach speeds of up to 150 mph, although the tight curves and dangerous roadway crossings of the Northeast Corridor route curtail its average speed to 86 mph. Magnetic levitation, the technology floating the test train at General Atomics, has a smaller commercial footprint, but it has the most impressive capabilities in the world of superspeedy trains. A maglev train that began service four years ago in Shanghai runs 20 miles between Pudong International Airport and the city’s business district in just 8 minutes at speeds of up to 267 mph. And this past September, the city of Munich, Germany, announced plans to build a new maglev line that will cover the 25-mile route between Franz Joseph Strauss International Airport and downtown in 10 minutes.
Proposed North American High Speed Train Projects
There are plenty of plans in the works for next-gen passenger rail, from upgrading existing lines to building super-high tech tracks. Given the expense, the technical challenges and the political complexity of these projects, it’ll be at least a decade before the first trains go into service—if they ever do.
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/maglevmap-470-1207.gif
The rest of the article can be viewed here. (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/transportation/4232548.html)