603 kmh (374.7 mph)
They have to be fast to get away from the giant alien robots.
[quote user=“zugmann”]
schlimm
603 kmh (374.7 mph)
They have to be fast to get away from the giant alien robots.
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To say nothing about Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidra the Three-Headed Monster, Hedorah the Smog Monster, Mecha-Godzilla, Rodan…
Still has nothing on sonic.
You didn’t look far enough. Consider that wonderful offspring of a Dreyfuss Hudson that mated with a McKeen car:
Go to 0:51 to see it run in blue.
You ain’t kiddin’ RME, looks like a rocket ship from those “Flash Gordon” serials from the 1930’s.
Moves like Ming the Merciless is chasing it!
Those look like something Dr. Robotnik created.
Dreyfuss Hudson…yes
McKeen car…??? Looks a bit more like the Copper King car from the first City of LA, albeit in blue paint as opposed to UP colors. The Copper King had Polaroid windows to adjust for dimming. FWIW, I do remember when the Nevada RR Museum’s McKeen car was part of Al’s Plumbing shop across 395 from the mall at the south end of Carson City.
Couple of other things that come to mind - the Professor’s spaceship from Felix the Cat or the ship from 2001.
These have been around for about a decade. First saw one of the blue ones operating for a private railway in Osaka Kansi service.
Is there any signifigance to the various colors of the trains or are they just wraps done for advertising purposes. (I noted serveral in Star Wars themed wraps)
And then there’s the Evangelion Bullet Train (which… looks… awesome).
http://kotaku.com/the-evangelion-bullet-train-looks-truly-magnificent-in-1737292763
Neon Genesis Evangelion, thank you very much. And awesome as the exterior is … it’s not the best part.
Be interesting to see what an American version of this would be … and who would ride it.
Yes, Neon Genesis Evangelion. I (should) have said that.
That interior is aesome. Even without the NGE characters/tie in, that NERV design scheme would be awesome in any bullet train.
I know at least a few people here…
Looks like something “The Rocketeer” would drive. But only if it had Jennifer Connelly on board!
Better still with the original from the book version…
“You didn’t look far enough. Consider that wonderful offspring of a Dreyfuss Hudson that mated with a McKeen car:”
Yes, at least one of the trains is decorated in a Star Wars theme, and cab car does indeed resemble a Darth Vader helmet, which in turn has inspiration from a Greek helm (which probably was the motif of industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss for his NYC Hudson) or of something a Samurai would wear.
But is this prow functional? If this is meant to protect the driver in a grade-crossing collision, you would think there would be more of a protective “nose” on the thing, but closeup scenes in your video show the driver is indeed seated some distance back from the window.
Do they use these in the northern island of Japan where they get a lot of snow? The lower flange of the “helmet” serves to buck or push aside drifts?
All told, I think with all of the attention on the standard gauge Shinkansen, the railfan (and model railroad) opportunities of the 3.5 foot-gauge network are overlooked, considering the variety of interesting-looking passenger trains there.
“Darth Vader’s helmet” runs on the Nankai Electric Railway, south out of Osaka. That wraparound armor plate won’t buck much snow - more likely inattentive drivers at grade crossings.
Yes, I said armor plate. Note, too, the row of, ‘Vlad the impaler,’ studs at just about chest level all the way across the front. Nothing’s going to hit that (bulletproof) window if it can’t ride up that far. And nothing is likely to get under the pilot to derail the train.
A little-known fact about the original, “Bullet nose,” Shinkansen cab cars. The curved pilot under the nose ogive was actually several plates of armor-grade steel, separated by crushable spacers. There were Imperial Navy battleships that had less capable armor.
Chuck (Japanophile railfan/observer)