Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Henry Ford once tried mounting railroad ties into concrete. That old genius thought he knew more about railroads than railroaders. He built the track into concrete and sent the locomotive on its way...it derailed. He had his technicians rerail the locomotive and the same thing happened again. Setting the rails in concrete completely defeats the purpose of the railroad. Setting the ties in concrete makes the rails rigid. What Henry Ford learned the hard way is that the rails have to be flexible because the axles and the bogies are not flexible. In order for a 4-wheel bogie to round a curve, the rails must spread a bit and then return to their original gauge once the rear axle passes. The vibration of the prime mover and other aspects of the train's motion are absorbed by the ballast in order to prevent the rails from breaking and to give the passengers and freight a smoother ride. A train running on rails set in concrete would have about the same ride quality as a car driving the interstate on rims. There has to be flexibility somewhere, and that flexibility comes from setting the railroad ties in ballast. <br /> <br /> Revenue service in excess of 200 MPH is possible today. It would require a completely new signal system, and the maintenance bill would be astronomical. Maglev and Aircraft are the only practical means of transportation faster than 200 MPH. The reason for aircraft is obvious...the atmosphere is the flexibility needed to ensure a smooth ride. Maglev has a different system to provide the necessary flexibility or suspension for a smooth ride. Magnetic fields hold the train in midair. The train wraps around the guideway to make derailment impossible. The train does not touch the guideway. The ride is kept smooth by the magnetic fields which support the train. Furthermore, since the train does not touch the guideway, the maintenance bill is extremely low. Incidentally, Siemens and Thyssenkrup (The parent companies for the German "Transrapid" maglev system) have built guideway sections out of concrete, steel, and other materials to test the viability thereof.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag