Train that hovers on air - linear induction motor

[tomikawaTT]

cacole

The most expensive part of Magnetic Levitation is the requirement for an elevated, dedicated guideway in which thousands upon thousands of electromagnets are mounted --no road crossings or other obstructions allowed anywhere along the route.

 

The Japanese answer is simplicity itself.  A major percentage of the route will be in tunnels.

 

Chuck

[cacole]

The most expensive part of Magnetic Levitation is the requirement for an elevated, dedicated guideway in which thousands upon thousands of electromagnets are mounted --no road crossings or other obstructions allowed anywhere along the route.

[LOCO_GUY]

Ah!

That's what I love about this site you LEARN stuff. I Had no idea that others had tried this before.

I remember seeing the RTV31 abandoned in a field somewhere in England before I left to live in the U.S.A. It was such a sad sight - but now I am a bit more upbeat as it wasn't just another great idea that the Brits dropped due to lack of interest,

Shame they didn't take up production of the VW beetle after WW2 when they were offered it. Apparently they thought there would be no market for it :-) 

[tomikawaTT]

The Brits decided they didn't need it.

The Germans developed it.

The Chinese implemented it (Shanghai airport to downtown.)

In the meantime the Japanese, after fifty years of experimentation and tweaking, are currently constructing a route from Tokyo to Osaka.

The name of the game is Mag-Lev, and the Japanese passed 160kph in the early '60s.  It was decided that they could reach comparable speeds with wheel-on-rail EMU technology, which is why that was the choice for the original Shinkansen route, and all Japanese HSR since.  Present-day Mag-Lev speed capability is four times greater.

Chuck (was living in Japan when both Mag-Lev and Shinkansen were being developed)

[LOCO_GUY]

I found this old footage of the RTV31 - pity the brits dumped the project. A train that reached over 100 miles per hour and virtually no friction in 1973.

http://www.itnsource.com/en/compilations/business-media-and-technology/transport/lr/S12080701/Trains-Footage/?v=2#48

For those who would like to read about the science behind it

http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/blog/videoarchive/2012/11/01/professor-eric-laithwaite-the-rtv31-linear-motor-hover-train-project-in-1973/