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| llantas |
 Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:17 pm Post subject: Millennium Force |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 42
Location: New Mexico
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So here's my preposterous idea of the day:
I happen to live in a town (Albuquerque, New Mexico) that has a very poor public tansportation sytstem. More than just inconvience, this lack of transportaion is a kind of burden on our economy (especially with the city growing so much in recent years). Since the people who planned our city to begin with were so stupid, it would be extremely difficult, expensive and absolutely messy to install a subway system. So the incompetent, corrupt government we have here is faced with the problem of finding a better way to establish some kind of system that would allow people to get around efficiently without wasting too much of the city's budget or energy.
As of recently, there have been meetings within the city discussing such issues as installing an electric cable-car type thing, creating more rapid ride busses, adding to and improving upon the regular city bus routes, etc.
Personally, I think it would be effecient to have some kind of over-ground train or monorail system going over and around the various obstacles of the city, and a certain new technology has caught my attention. (And here's the ridiculous part.)
At Cedar Point ammusement park there is a paricular roller coaster by the name of Millennium Force. What is special about this roller coaster is that during certain areas it uses a magnetic system to slow down the roller coaster so as to prevent injuries that might occur due to the bumps and movements caused by the friction of regular brakes at such high speeds. This is an electric magnet that is designed in a similar way to that of the Navy's aircraft carriers (which use the force of the magnets to accelerate the aircraft to a flying speed in an amazingly small amount of space.)
So if it is possible to use this technology to speed up aircrafts to soul-crushing velocities and to slow rollercoasters with the least amount of friction, would it be possible to incorporate this into creating some kind of transportation system using less powerful magnets to control box-car like units on rollercoaster track or a monorail? Surprisingly, I've found very little information on the topic...
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| Guest |
| Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 2:24 am Post subject: |
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A little note for your here, so far as I know all aicraft carriers in service currently use steam powered catapults. The EletroMagnetic CATapult (EMCAT) system is still under developement. I understand that the high EM field densities which would be generated are a significant concern in regard to other electronic systems on board. There are also concerns of de-gaussing, possible effects on magnetic mines, EM radiation, and interference with aircraft navigation systems. If you have evidence that the system has moved beyond it's land based test site, I'd be obliged if you could supply a link.
THe transport system you are suggesting sounds like 'MAGLEV' try and google it, or Magnetic Levitation Transport(ation) System. There's one in Germany, which recently suffered an accident. |
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| spirytus |
| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:22 am Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Posts: 41
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Transmillenium is a cheap and efficient way for a city to introduce an efficient public transportation system. It's basically dedicated bus lanes, with a twist.
Imagine a subway system with 4 tracks at the station (allowing express trains to go by unhindered). Each train being no more than 2 cabs long to improve efficiency.
It's been implemented in Bogota Colombia as a very successful (and cheap) form of public transportation and is growing in popularity for many developing/congested cities as an alternative to a subway system.
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