Anyone going to model this?

[Fergmiester]

Just saw it on the News. The French have a Train that can do 575 kph and man she needs a set of wings. I don't think the curves on the MESS could handle that. Actually I don't think any MR could handle that!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6521295.stm

Fergie

 

[tstage]

My layout isn't superelevated enough to run that...

 

Tom 

[SpaceMouse]

I've always a train that could lap itself on my 4 x 8 layout.

(Would that make time move backward? It did in the Superman Movie.)

[loathar]

Did you ever see the pics of that one bullet train that chucked a wheel at 200mph? Derailed into a concrete bridge. What a mess! Forget how many people died. I see they're dreaming of an under sea tube train between NY and Europe that's supposed to go 2500mph.

[dehusman]

Boooorrrrriiiing.  All it does is go fast in a straight line.  no fun at all.

Dave H.

[loathar]

Boooorrrrriiiing.  All it does is go fast in a straight line.  no fun at all.

Dave H.

I don't know about that. You ever been to a top fuel drag race in person? NOT boring at all!

[Virginian]

In order to return full measure the noted French (unwarranted) arrogance, I have no intention of modelling anything French.  I will not even have any white flags on my layout.

[reklein]

Amazing what you can accomplsh when your not funding a war, I hear they have plans to go to Mars in a few years. Why would the French want a train that can go 575KPH ? Are they planning to take the train?

[twhite]

Fergie--

Well, of COURSE I am!  Can't you see it leaving Yuba Pass at 531KM and flying out of my garage halfway across the street?  Dang, I hope the model isn't ABS, that stuff just SHATTERS when it hits pavement, LOL! 

Tom  

 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Is it true that the mechanism for the high speed French train was patterned after the old Athearn Hustler drives?

[AntonioFP45]

20 years back I had a stock Athearn BB F7 that could run at near bullet train speeds! Just like this french bullet train...........that puppy could draw some current!

Would be great to see a system like this here in Florida.  A promising, triangular shaped corridor (Tampa Bay, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami ) was identified back in the early 80s.  Many people want it but seems that no one wants to fund it.  But our interstate widening projects are going well. 

[ndbprr]

According to the news story I saw last  night it took 25000 HP and special wheels ( probably the equivalent of code 100 track for the flanges too).  My guess is at least 10,000 of that horsepower was for the last 20 mph.  Not practical and a typical French stunt unless they plan to use it when they retreat from any battle they have ever been in.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Actually, the French could end up selling hogh speed trains to China.  China plans to spend huge amounts on high speed trains (unlike USA).

[tatans]

Guess it's pretty funny to laugh at the French with high speed trains and a railway infrastructure all over their country, when we abandoned passenger service (and allowed railways to get away with it,) and here we sit smugly and it takes 4 days to across North America if there is any sense of rail travel left (not really) and God forbid if you ever wanted to go North or South. Maybe we should praise them instead of mocking them, instead look at the rail system in North America.

[vsmith]

Oh come on...nothing new here

The Tinplate guys have been running at this speed since day one!

[tomikawaTT]

Boooorrrrriiiing.  All it does is go fast in a straight line.  no fun at all.

Dave H.

I don't know about that. You ever been to a top fuel drag race in person? NOT boring at all!

The most interesting thing about any motor sport is the interview with the winner at the end of the race.  Difference is, in NASCAR racing, there's three hours of action between start and interview.  NHRA drags last about five seconds.

On the original subject, if I were to model the standard curvature JNR Shinkansen curve in 1:80 scale, it would have a 25 meter radius!  A simple circle of track would take a building 160 x 160 or larger to house it.  I don't know what radius France's TGV lines are built to, but I'm willing to wager that the radius is even larger.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - sans Shinkansen)

[ndbprr]

"it takes 4 days to across North America ."  Sure does.  Maybe the fact that the USA is about four times as big as France and has those pesky rockies as well as a desert to deal with might have some bearing

[Midnight Railroader]

According to the news story I saw last  night it took 25000 HP and special wheels ( probably the equivalent of code 100 track for the flanges too).  My guess is at least 10,000 of that horsepower was for the last 20 mph.  Not practical and a typical French stunt unless they plan to use it when they retreat from any battle they have ever been in.

Yeah, it sure is easy to discount another country's effort when yours can't do it.

By the way, it was "stock" track, and included switches and a diamond crossing.

"it takes 4 days to across North America ."  Sure does.  Maybe the fact that the USA is about four times as big as France and has those pesky rockies as well as a desert to deal with might have some bearing

Does that account for the track in such bad condition that trains run at 20 mph?

Thanks for demonstrating typical American arrogance ("If we didn't do it  first, it's unnecessary"), in case we'd forgotten what it looks like.

[Midnight Railroader]

Did you ever see the pics of that one bullet train that chucked a wheel at 200mph? Derailed into a concrete bridge. What a mess! Forget how many people died. I see they're dreaming of an under sea tube train between NY and Europe that's supposed to go 2500mph.

Better get rid of those deadly jet airplanes, too; why, one crash can kill hundreds.

[easyaces]

Bet that sucker took alot of AMERICAN FRIES to get up to that speed!!!

[Virginian]

I was not directing any sarcasm at the French in order to belittle their railway achievements, or to try to elevate the US railway situation.  I do not like the French.  We saved their butts in two World Wars and they can not bring themselves to forgive us.  I know, I worked with them.  Therefore, they can kiss my you know what.  And anyone else who doesn't like it can lump it.

And the US is perfectly capable of building an excellent rail system.  Just look at the one in Japan, paid for with US dollars. 

[csmith9474]

I found this site to be very interesting and informative. You might want to check out all the links on the site after watching the video...

http://www.record2007.com/site/index_en.php

 

[Newyorkcentralfan]

And the recipient of the award for this threads most moronic post goes to...

In order to return full measure the noted French (unwarranted) arrogance, I have no intention of modelling anything French.  I will not even have any white flags on my layout.

[Virginian]

And the recipient of the award for this threads most moronic post goes to...

In order to return full measure the noted French (unwarranted) arrogance, I have no intention of modelling anything French.  I will not even have any white flags on my layout.

Gosh, you disliked this one even more than the other one?  I'm shocked.

[tomikawaTT]

And the recipient of the award for this threads most moronic post goes to...

In order to return full measure the noted French (unwarranted) arrogance, I have no intention of modelling anything French.  I will not even have any white flags on my layout.

I guess Virginian doesn't operate any extras.

(Quote from Peter Josserand's Rights of Trains:  "Extra trains will display two white flags an in addition two white lights by night, in the places provided for that purpose on the front of the engine.")

Of course, maybe he has no need to run work trains, snow plows, Sperry test cars, rail grinders...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[dehusman]

Yeah, it sure is easy to discount another country's effort when yours can't do it.

Don't know that we couldn't do it.  How many french flags are on the moon?

By the way, it was "stock" track, and included switches and a diamond crossing.

But it used special engines, a very small train that wasn't loaded and they raised the voltage in the lines above normal and it was probably for a relatively brief stretch of tangent track.  Its not something that they could do with a normal trainset under normal conditions.

Thanks for demonstrating typical American arrogance ("If we didn't do it  first, it's unnecessary"), in case we'd forgotten what it looks like.

Not at all.  We actually have a longer high speed system, with more tracks.  But since our high speed system was designed 100 years ago it has too many curves to operate comfortably to the passengers over 150 mph or so (even though we proved it could operate at speed in excess of that in the late 1960's). 

The Amtrak Acela trainsets are basically TGV's.  I had a friend who worked on the Acela program.  The TGV windows leak, the Amtrak units had the fairings over the roof and underbody peieces keep blowing off, the brakes weren't up to a system with as many stops as the NEC and they had lots of other problems with them that nobody will talk about.  If the French weren't the low bidder, the Acela sets would have been Swedish.  Better technology.

Dave H.

[Midnight Railroader]

I was not directing any sarcasm at the French in order to belittle their railway achievements, or to try to elevate the US railway situation.  I do not like the French.  We saved their butts in two World Wars and they can not bring themselves to forgive us.  I know, I worked with them.  Therefore, they can kiss my you know what.  And anyone else who doesn't like it can lump it. 

They saved ours first.

[SteamFreak]

I bet Lance Armstrong could still outpedal it on his road bike.

[Texas Zepher]

Actually I don't think any MR could handle that!

I don't know, I thought that was the normal speed of those old Tyco F units.  Certainly some of the early Bachmann U28's I had in N-scale approached that.  And then there are all those Lionel locomotives.  And more recently the Tyco Turbo-Trains.  

[Midnight Railroader]

Yeah, it sure is easy to discount another country's effort when yours can't do it.

Don't know that we couldn't do it.  How many french flags are on the moon?

Okay, now you're making it worse. When was the last time we went to the Moon? JFK announced the plan in 1962. Seven years later, we were there. Think we could do that today? Sure. We're still flying spacecraft with 30-year-old technology!

France's railroads were around long ago. They just saw their value, whereas this country hasn't.