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Gator Lager · Jan 17, 2006, 01:04 PM

500 km/hr (310 mph).

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...00396387878713

baw · Jan 17, 2006, 01:05 PM

I'd ride that.

Gator Lager · Jan 17, 2006, 01:25 PM

To fast of a ground speed for me. Air speed no worries.

Y3a · Jan 17, 2006, 02:05 PM

Doesn't seem THAT smooth either. A little bumpy for so fast.

Leia's Left Bun · Jan 17, 2006, 03:36 PM

Question. Why are the windows so small?

baw · Jan 17, 2006, 03:42 PM

Strength?

wdlove · Jan 17, 2006, 04:20 PM

A nice clean looking train.

the_glassman · Jan 17, 2006, 05:11 PM

Wait until they put maglevs in vacuum filled tunnels. Top speed will increase by 10 times or more!!!

osiris · Jan 17, 2006, 05:28 PM

Frickin amazing - it makes the old Shinkansen look slow.

jamil5454 · Jan 17, 2006, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by the_glassman

Wait until they put maglevs in vacuum filled tunnels. Top speed will increase by 10 times or more!!!

Vacuum filled? I spy an oxymoron.

f1000 · Jan 17, 2006, 06:21 PM

"We're gonna have to go right to...ludicrous speed!"

villalobos · Jan 17, 2006, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by osiris

Frickin amazing - it makes the old Shinkansen look slow.

The TGV still holds the record at 522 km/h but that is pretty fast. Speaking of a TGV, I saw one going through a railroad station at full blast. It scares the **** out of me.

TETENAL · Jan 17, 2006, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by villalobos

The TGV still holds the record at 522 km/h but that is pretty fast.

That seems to be the JR-Maglev in the video and it can go 581 km/h.

Originally Posted by villalobos

Speaking of a TGV, I saw one going through a railroad station at full blast. It scares the **** out of me.

Cargo trains can scare the hell out of you when they run through the station and they only run at reduced speed through the station (maybe 30 or 50 km/h).

greenamp · Jan 17, 2006, 07:57 PM

Wow that's really cool. Last I heard Japan had put that project on hold. Perhaps tech advances have made the price come down a bit. I remember when all the hoopla about maglev trains was kicking off a few years back, the estimated price per mile to construct one was in the millions.

TETENAL · Jan 17, 2006, 08:02 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transra...truction_costs

According to Wikipedia the price per mile is lower than that of a conventional rail track.

JoshuaZ · Jan 17, 2006, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by osiris

Frickin amazing - it makes the old Shinkansen look slow.

Conceptual trains may one day be real trains that go fast, but don`t knock the Shikansen. Its on time, and not really expensive. I felt real pain taking a train from St. Paul to Milwaukee over Xmas. I was thinking to myself `If this was the shinkansen, I`d be home by now.`

greenamp · Jan 17, 2006, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transra...truction_costs

According to Wikipedia the price per mile is lower than that of a conventional rail track.

"Building a maglev track is less costly than a comparatively HSR line. The non-contact technology uses factory manufactured girders. To construct a maglev track is approx. 20 to 50 % less expensive in terms of construction. However, the vehicles cost much more than conventional high-speed trains bringing overall project costs ahead of HSR track projects. In comparison, maglev technology might have equal or slightly higher costs by giving commuters much better time saving benefits. Thus, maglev technology gives a favorable ratio of travel time to infrastructure costs. However, due to its high costs, passenger comfort may be compromised as interior seating takes on more of a commercial jet-aircraft configuration than a typical passenger train one."

far200 · Jan 17, 2006, 11:36 PM

thats a fast train... almost as fast as the monorail train on the simpsons.....

festeringwounds · Jan 17, 2006, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by Gator Lager

To fast of a ground speed for me. Air speed no worries.

Ground speed is fine. Less terorrist bullshit at train stations than airports to deal with.

Leia's Left Bun · Jan 17, 2006, 11:50 PM

If it is not pressurized I still don't get the tiny windows.

festeringwounds · Jan 17, 2006, 11:50 PM

Originally Posted by Leia's Left Bun

Question. Why are the windows so small?

Because of the speed it's traveling at. An open window at such speeds would be not only deafening, but it might suck people out, who knows. They need to be able to be very strong windows that are very well secured to the sides of the train. I've been on some bullet trains in japan, and honestly their windows aren't a whole lot bigger.

jamil5454 · Jan 18, 2006, 03:25 AM

Originally Posted by festeringwounds

Because of the speed it's traveling at. An open window at such speeds would be not only deafening, but it might suck people out, who knows. They need to be able to be very strong windows that are very well secured to the sides of the train. I've been on some bullet trains in japan, and honestly their windows aren't a whole lot bigger.

Just for the record, the reason people fly out of holes in airplanes is because of the air pressure differece in the airplane and upper atmosphere.

Leia's Left Bun · Jan 18, 2006, 03:27 AM

Originally Posted by jamil5454

Just for the record, the reason people fly out of holes in airplanes is because of the air pressure differece in the airplane and upper atmosphere.

Uh ya, I was going to say the same thing. Why not put big windows that can't open?

festeringwounds · Jan 18, 2006, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by jamil5454

Just for the record, the reason people fly out of holes in airplanes is because of the air pressure differece in the airplane and upper atmosphere.

There's a massive difference in pressure between something that's going 300+mph and the boundry layer of air outside of it. My guess is that at those speeds a large pane of glass or plastic would be more likely to distort or start reverberating.

festeringwounds · 10:05 AM

Wow. Nice forums.

Fixinated. It was database hiccoughs, that's all. Glenn

ghporter · Jan 18, 2006, 10:08 AM

Beyond a certain speed, the airflow along the outside of a fast-moving vehicle begins to layer. This laminar airflow does some amazing things, and managing it is very important. Bad laminar flow can cause serious vibration and instability. Small windows may be part of the airflow management, or part of the structural integrity of the carriage body, or due to some other consideration. But 500kph is just too freaking fast for passengers to worry about not having much of a view: WHOOOSH!!! "Ok, we're here!"