Awesome Thread

Even though they are basically forgotten, I think Maglev trains are awesome. So sad we didn't build one here.

 
i remember a few months ago, that a train, in germany, on elevated tracks, while testing, ran into a maintenance locomotive

anyone knows what i'm talking about?

wasn't that a maglev?
 
bone said:
i remember a few months ago, that a train, in germany, on elevated tracks, while testing, ran into a maintenance locomotive

anyone knows what i'm talking about?

wasn't that a maglev?
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It was the "Transrapid" maglev demonstrator.

I like those trains as an engineering exercise, but not from any other point of view.
 
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bone said:
i remember a few months ago, that a train, in germany, on elevated tracks, while testing, ran into a maintenance locomotive

anyone knows what i'm talking about?

wasn't that a maglev?
Click to expand...

Your definition of a few months stretches quite a bit, it has been 52 months.
Wiki in english
 
wow, if you said it was year ago, ok, but i sure didn't expect it being 4 years ago!
 
The part I find scary is this:

There were twenty-three fatalities and ten severe injuries
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and
Two staff members were found guilty on 23 counts of manslaughter and 11 counts of causing negligent injury, and were fined 24,000 and 20,000 euros respectively.
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Not sure how the law is in Germany regarding vehicular manslaughter but if I were negligent behind the wheel of a car and killed one person I would be liable to a prison term, yet in similar circumstances if I were negligent within a job role I could escape with a fine at worst. :no:
 
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MWF said:
The part I find scary is this:

and

Not sure how the law is in Germany regarding vehicular manslaughter but if I were negligent behind the wheel of a car and killed one person I would be liable to a prison term, yet in similar circumstances if I were negligent within a job role I could escape with a fine at worst. :no:
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Well the people who were fined did not tell those on the work train to engage a system that would have shut-down the magnetic field in that section, the person who allowed the train to run in the first place, was not prosecuted as he was thought to be unfit for trial (suicidal).
 
Cold Fussion said:
Why?
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They're incompatible with existing infrastructure, more expensive to build and operate than conventional railroads (AFAIK) and the time and resources spent on their development would have served us better if they had been spent on high-speed rail. The test ride I went on at that very facility wasn't what you'd call comfortable, however they did say the track had been built in differing (concerning materials) sections for test purposes and the trainset lacked sound insulation for the same reason.

IceBone said:
He prefers to travel slowly.
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Come again?

[video=youtube;ANB-yZIJP6o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANB-yZIJP6o[/video]
 
I hope your argument for not needing maglev is because we have ICE. That is still 2/3rds the speed of the commercial maglevs running in shanghi, and in all probability we wont have normal electric trains running at over 450km/h in a commercial capacity.
 
I kind of like the maglev trains for their speed and for some practical reason. Committing suicide is harder, running level crossing is impossible and the largest animal you will encounter on the tracks is a goose or some other bird, so with these out, there is a lot less chance for delays. Also these should work in the snow :D
 
Cold Fussion said:
They are difficult to derail as well.
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Which is not necessarily an advantage, e.g. it's a disadvantage in a head-on collision.

And yes, my point is that there is already viable high-speed public transport in Germany, in the form of ICE trains. However, even the Chinese who run the only commercial line anywhere in the world are building conventional railways everywhere and not maglev lines.
 
they run on elevated tracks, which means i won't have to wait at crossings no more :thumbsup:
 
Aren't they damned near impossible to derail because the cars wrap around the track?
 
Blind_Io said:
Aren't they damned near impossible to derail because the cars wrap around the track?
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Yes, which is why the collision with the service vehicle destroyed so much of the trainset and killed so many people inside. A regular train would have derailed, which would have changed the outcome - not necessarily for the better, though.
 
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