IVRW,
3rd rail can never be used for high speed rail due to two important factors: One is that the contact isn’t as reliable or as constant as overhead wire due to gaps in the 3rd rail for switches, rough(er) track work, etc. The other is the lack of voltage available in 3rd rail installations. To go fast, you need a lot of power to overcome wind resistance. 3rd rail cannot deliver that kind of power because if it did, it would ground out into the Earth itself (or the nearest rail). One doesn’t have to touch overhead wire to get electricuted…and now imagine that as 3rd rail.
MAGLEV stands for Magnetic Levitation. The trains do not fly aerodynamically, they are levitated by the magnets. They rest on wheels when the track is not powered enough to levitate the train as they start and stop. They do not accelerate at speeds that would knock some people out and kill others. You are also confusing speed record attempts with in service speeds. They do not run anywhere near 600 KPH in service.
Those people that you guys are calling bumbling idiots have the only MAGLEV system in revenue service in the world.
To expand more on WHY Maglev trains rest on wheels when stopped: The power to the electromagnets is lowered as they approach a station stop so the train stops with the wheels resting on the ground. This prevents the train from having to “hover” while stationary, which would require the magnets to alternate often to keep the train from sliding forward or backwards. This is a lot easier to do when the train is moving forward, and forward only. Compare it to a bike - lots of tiny movements to balance stationary but easy when you’re moving (a Segway is a better example if you’re familiar with how they work).
If this mechanism failed the Maglev would go crashing to the ground, and even if it didn’t, the train may move forwards and backwards enough to make getting on and off difficult, not to mention walking around
I have a better innovation for them…put the cities on constantly-moving never-stopping connector trains and bring the cities to the people. That way the Chinese themselves, especially the old people, stay in one place and there’s no wasted time and effort moving them around. There are a lot more Chinese people than there are Chinese cities, so the advantages are obvious. More people would be able to “travel” from city to city then, too, when they aren’t on the job working.
An early post mentioned a story by the science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, “The Roads Must Roll”, which describes a similar idea - cities on moving belts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roads_Must_Roll
They cant even build basic structures without shortcuts. They’ve been having buildings collapse or have to be torn down. here’s the story of one that fell before being finished and the cause.
Forgot to put re-bar in mold, then spun to save concrete. Did not expect side load. So sorry…
Yes, the Chinese have a GERMAN maglev - and have been having their problems with keeping it on line.
They are also in the process of building the world’s biggest concrete dam, to impound the world’s biggest artificial lake. It’s perfectly straight… (Reminder to self. Avoid the Yangtse valley anywhere downstream of Three Gorges.)
Actually I think I saw the concept of moving containers onto, off of, and between non-stopping trains in Popular Science or Popular Mechanics back in the early 1970s. Passenger trains had already passed from being a normal mode of transportation here in the US where that would have been a consideration.
Well I would debate that. I think the real reason all the jobs are going east is because I can pay a computer coder $2.50 an hour instead of the $40 I would have to do here in the states. Likewise I don’t know what a Chinese assembly line worker makes these days but way less than a state side person. Seems that when the migration of manual work to China started in the late 1970s that a normal factory worker got the equivalent of $0.03 per day, vs the $1.60/hr minimum wage here in the US.
3 years ago when the company I was at was setting up their Chinese plant the going wage for unskilled factory workers was around 0.35 an hour and around 0.50 an hour for skilled factory labor.
Another note is that the company leased a nice Euro style 3 bedroom condo and got full maid service every day for around $20.00 per week. This included doing the laundry, dishes etc.