Disney Light rail

[jmarc63]

Originally posted by Fantasia Boi


Keep in mind... "Monorail" just means that the train has one rail... "Maglev" or "Magnetic Levitation" is the mode of propulsion. So, you can have a Maglev Monorail. (Such a system would have a small sized guideway, only slightly larger than Disney's monorail guideway)


I'm not sure if anyone has posted the link for this yet, but American Maglev Technology, Inc is currently designing and building a Maglev monorail for Old Dominion University. The track is less than 1 mile long, and will have one 45-ft car, that will travel at 40mph. Total cost for this system will be less than $14million. In addition to the low cost to build, AMT estimates monthly electric bills to only be about $3,000... in comparison to Monorail... thats a HUGE savings.

In addition, Transrapid International of Germany is currently shipping out it's first Maglev Monorail to Shanghai... this version however, will be a high speed one. I'm not sure of the cost for this, but Transrapid reports it is simmilar to that of a regular high speed rail system.

One fun little tidbit... on the AMT system... once levitated... you can move the train with the touch of your finger... no friction

Sites:
www.american-maglev.com
www.transrapid.de

These must be recent designs, I had not seen thes design before. I am mote familliar with the bullitt trrain and one I saw at some university site where the track looked like a coaster track.

Still I prefer the Alweg/bombider style of Monorail

 

[FutureCEO]

I would vote no but it won't let me vote. I like monorial's MUCH better

 

[garyhoov]

Just a quick point because I'm not sure if it has been made yet (though I'm sure many people on this board already clearly understand this).

Mag-Lev is very cool, but it is also very expensive because the cars "float" using repulsing magnetic fields rather than riding on traditional wheels. The big advantage of maglev is the huge reduction in friction which allows very high speeds. This is great for Mag-Lev lines that one day hope to compete with airplanes for city hopping travelers, but I think we would all agree that whatever is used to cover the short park distances will ride on wheels of some sort.

 

[bamboo7]

Originally posted by garyhoov
but I think we would all agree that whatever is used to cover the short park distances will ride on wheels of some sort.

i certainly will NOT agree to this!!!

(you forgot about boats. no wheel there )

 

[garyhoov]

Doooohh:hammer: good point (of course you'll need some canals before you can laugh at me too much:animwink: )