Is it a Bird, is it a Plane..?
No, Its another MagLev Train
Coming to a city near you soon ... but for now Shanghai's flashy Magnetic Levitation (Maglev), train [above, on the Pudong run], remains (marginally), the world's fastest train with speeds of approx 430pkh!
The technology used to propel this miracle was way ahead of its time seven decades ago, when it was first invented ... but sadly, was quickly forgotten with the rise of oil dependence and war. However, the still-futuristic magnetic levitation system is set for a renaissance that will redefine many aspects of our daily lives as it finally comes of age in the 21st Century.
With the potential to exceed speeds of 4000 mph (6437 km/h) if deployed in an evacuated tunnel, the Maglev is faster than any speeding bullet, locomotive or aeroplane; precisely because it is as much like a plane, as any railroad we have ever known; incredibly, because there is no physical contact between the track and the train... but better, as there is also no drag/lift ratios common to conventional flight.
True, the train has no wings, but no wheels or engine, either; therefore no rolling resistance and no moving parts (like ball bearings), which wear out, making this old technology super viable in a future world of rising prices and shrinking resources.
Transrapid, the German firm that developed the Shanghai Maglev train in 2003, described it as: *the first fundamental innovation in the field of railway technology since the invention of the railway itself...* an irony, if you consider that they overlooked this form of propulsion over 70 years ago for the other kind?
If you will pardon the pun, it is obviously the Magnets that ARE the attraction, because when in action, they lift the entire train about 10 to 15 millimeters above the special track, called a guideway, as it directs the passage of the train, rather than a means of it being *locked onto* to the tracks themselves through the gravity of conventional wheels.
Other magnets provide propulsion just like the Superman ride at your local theme park. Braking, and the breathtaking speeds ~currently up to 580 kph in Japanese test runs (a good 60% faster than the renowned Bullet Trains) - are attained largely due to the reduction of friction, or rolling resistance (see above for definition link).
Is there a need for such speed?
Certainly not on such a short sprint, barely 30 kms from the subway in Pudong to the airport, and not at the cost, note critics of the Pudong line, which was around a $1.2 billion investment.
Still, where China and Japan are concerned, I think the critics miss the point of the appeal, and the thrill!? Clearly, the Maglev isnt about getting from point A to B in Pudong. Rather, it's the ride, a glorious glide, from the past to the future . . . an addiction that will cost China a further $22-30 billion with the current consideration of a high-speed link between Beijing and Shanghai, among its current five-year rail plan.
Of course we cannot rule out countries with vast expanses of land like the US looking on with interest at this technology either, especially with incentives like a glide from San Francisco to Los Angeles, say, in less than two hours! A flash of excitement served, as you sip your tea or coffee, from the mundane motion of nowadays to the hyper-speeds of Tomorrowland, and not a single drop of additional oil, or pollution needed to get there.
Critics will tell you that the system was not developed further at the time because of the cost; maybe because of the war . . . and not since then either, where the current rail system is very well developed. However with Peak Oil already painting its dry futuristic landscape, the playing field is changing completely, and for countries like China, the United States and Australia, this new technology has huge potential. . . Maglev is pollution-free, with no exhaust and very little maintenance and in a world with no more oil, rather attractive.
A Futuristic peek at a Car Carrying Maglev Land Ferry
In fact, the US have funded a few billion in pilot projects during the past five years (including the Venus Project ); and particularly for a proposed 47-mile Pittsburgh system and a 40-mile track linking Baltimore and Washington, DC; with yet another recently popping up from Chattanooga to Nashville.
On the other side of the country, Maglev-backers recently lobbied congress to fund a 180 km circuit between three Southern California airports that could be expanded to a 500kph plus (273-mile) web, designed to relieve the region's gridlocked road systems ... A chant now echoing across the developed world ...
LINKS FOR FURTHER READING:
For those wanting to read more about Maglev technology near your city, try this website: Maglev Quicklinks for dozens of updates of current trials and pilots from around the world.
YOU TUBE VIDEO RIDES :
Go for a YouTube ride on the Shanghai Maglev Pudong run at a speed of 431kph : or watch a documentary on the Japanese pilot maglev train at 581kph!
All links in Green.
Rhythmatism
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Rhythmatism
Budget Centsability
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
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I hear you loud and clear on the Sydney monorail thingo *chuckle* no doubts about the lack of progression there where Mr Carr was concerned ... and now with the cost of the war and declining global money markets, I doubt any of the wild cards running things in NSW, will get to it before 2150 either ~ if at all ~ certainly not before the 2012 shift, thats for sure! *lol* Shame really, because it could open up our cities like magic. Imagine a one hour run to Perth : 30 minutes to Uluru on the way through, with a connection to Darwin/Adelaide right there in the centre?
I can dream on too * ROFL* Yes, just like the Polar bear above ... glad you got a laugh out of it. I think it is classic!
I will get about orble again now that i am back and look forward to catching up soon, thanks for your visit, hope your New Years was extra special!
Lilla ...
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What a great people mover - and designed and invented by the Germans of course. I suspect there are hundreds of fantastic inventions, decades ago and even today, that have been completely buried because of the decisions of those in authority.
It is so good that this one could be resurrected. You don't always have to reinvent the wheel. Some good researching can often be much, much better.
Good well researched post.
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One of the best parts of the current declining paradigms for me, is also the emergence of so much of the free energy technology that has been (to date) shoved in the bottom of the mega~oil~corps vaults, unheeded for the sake of their profits.
There is just so much free energy technology available and this planet has the ability to become pristine again within 10 years of it becoming reality... something to make the envirowarrior in us all sing a little louder!
Thanks for the compliment, I am glad you enjoy the reading.
Lilla ...
Mum's Word
Maglev is pollution-free, with no exhaust and very little maintenance and in a world with no more oil, rather attractive.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
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Real Crash
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Those German Greenies fascinate me *lol* because when they need nice fresh water, they dont mind a little nuclear sediment here and there. My understanding is that the Nuclear Energy needed for the Maglev train is quite minimal and can be shielded as easily as led lining on an xray room apron?
Certainly low enough to off set the massive benefits and savings in resources of such a cheap mass transit system. You only have to consider jet fuels and mobile phone radiation to see sense here; I do think they protest too much sometimes (just to remind us they are there)?
hahahaha, priceless : I dont like to get too caught up in politics (especially American politics), but La Rouche cracks me up sometimes, truly .. and this is no exception. I have to agree that the Fractional Banking Reserve System (although a masterful plan) is outdated, outmoded, corrupted beyond recognition and exceedingly top heavy ~ to the point of putting those on the pedestal in jeopardy of falling off from their great heights they have attained in unleashing such an atrocity on mankind (not that I would mind watching them fall, of course). *chuckle* I have to agree with La Rouches call on this one 110%, it has enslaved us all to no avail. Seriously, what good are profits when there is nowhere to spend them (like money on a desert Island). *slapping my forehead* What burns me is that the Bretton Woods *mob* (and friends) probably already have their tickets for the space station in their back pockets, along with a few in congress?
I dont know if you had a chance to take a peek at my previous post on The Venus Project or not, but there are some people out there really trying to think beyond our feeble capacity to a cashless way forward when it all collapses like a house of cards... the transition isnt going to be easy as the sluggish minds wake up from their prisons, but necessary if we are to continue to exist. Personally I think the 2012 Cosmic alignment in planetary consciousness will be most helpful in making the transition in human consciousness necessary to see La Rouches ideas come into sharper focus globally.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Lilla ..
Real Crash
Its amazing (and sad, and long overdue..) that Governments are just now creating this amazing technology for the masses that 6th graders could so easily formulate in the middle of an average day at school!!!!
Its about time! Thanks for posting this