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If I remember correctly Amtrak brought over 3 or 4 different exisiting high-speed train sets from europe a few years ago when they were gearing up to start the service in the US. They made a big show of it. I went to see one when it came to DC Union Station. One car was set up to tilt and you could walk through the rest of the train. I think it was one of the German ICE trains. In Japan they have had this type of train since the 1960's and europe since the 70's. The powers that be are so bass ackwards they decided that it would be a good idea to reject all of these proven designs and start from scratch. So they started from the begining and built all new unproven designs. Then while they wasted time doing this they upgraded and wired much of the track in the NEC. When the new train set was done and ready to test at the test ground in Colorado. They found all kinds of problems like uneven wheel wear. Each time they found a problem they slapped a redesign bandage or a restriction on it. These trains were flawed from the begining. Amtrak was just being forced to build it here for job and political reasons although the trains these high speed ones would replace were headed by the most powerful engines owned by Amtrak, those slabsided Swedi***oasters. Those weren't made or designed in the US. So there is a precident for going outside and in this case they should have. It would have saved money, time and greif. After many restrictions and too much time passed at the Colorado test grounds and in rebuild / redesigns they finally brought the trains to the NEC to test. They found that the tilt mechanisim made the cars overhang onto parallel tracks. So unless they wanted to temp fate the trains most high tech expensive feature is moot. Now it is just extra weight keeping the car on the track and much money lost. OOPS. Come on, was nobody thinking about this. Good thing this isn't rocket science. There is only on section in Rhode Island where the train can reach full speed anyway. There were trains in the steam era that were able to keep close shedule to this service and that was over 50 years ago. This whole thing is sad and it is just another excuse to pull the plug on Amtrak. In California we have close to $3.00 gas now. It will be $5 and then $10 soon. Train travel is looking better and better. Too bad it will all be gone when we all break down and want to use it again. It is probably easier to keep track of the citizens if they stay in one place anyhow. After September 11 all the jet planes were forbidden to fly and one of the open alternatives was the train. If (or I maybe should say when) this type of thing happens again it may be that one more option is closed. Amtrak was set up to fail in this venture and it is really a crime. The timing could not have been better planned. The supposed flagship and savior of american rail travel is shown to have serious flaws at a time when they are questioning continuing the service. This area the train travels in is the most profitable one for passenger service. It is the only area that people travel on it with a fequency like that of the "good old days". This one area of strength was promised a silver bullet and given a mylar band-aid.
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