I totally admit that it sounds absolutely vain to have a title of this nature, but many good solutions can come from common folk who think deeply about a problem. I encourage you, dear reader, to make suggestions on how to make this idea work better. My intention is to put America to work and end dependence on fossil fuel and thereby clean up the environment and make the air cleaner to breathe.
America needs better mass transportation. we lag behind much of Europe, Japan and China (and probably other places too) with our train system. Those places have high-speed bullet trains. I think we should go them one better. If America had better and more attractively priced public transportation we would drive less and create less pollution and use less fossil fuel.
My idea is for the government, in conjunction with the train companies, to build a high-speed train to connect America’s hub cities. This would be no ordinary train. It would be solar-powered by panels set on top of the tube through which it would move. This could be a similar application to solar roadways that I cited in an earlier blog post.The train would be set about one-third into the ground with the tube built around it and it would have a modified octagonal shape with rounded corners. It would have only one track and might work by the maglev system. The most famous maglev train is in Shanghai, China.
Sitting the train in a ditch and surrounding it with a tube would make it safer and faster as inertia could be modified within the tube through a suction like effect. There would be no collisions possible due to the train being inside the tube. No animals would be killed on the track because the train would be totally enclosed. Because it is only in a ditch and not in a subway tunnel the cost would be lower to build.
Thousands of American workers would be employed improving the grassroots economy of the country. Building the train system would provide construction jobs. There would also be maintenance jobs and service jobs running the complex rail system. There would be hundreds of engineering jobs in creating the plans and execution of this idea as well as thousands of peripheral jobs in train station services. Using the solar-powered train would lower the dependence on fossil fuels. It is a win-win situation for the country. No longer would we lag behind China, Japan and Europe.
This rough idea that has excited my imagination came to me all in one piece in an open meditation.
Update 11/28/12: Thanks to Stephan A. Schwartz via the SchwartzReport: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9702521/310mph-floating-trains-unveiled-in-Japan.html
The first photo in this article bears a resemblance to my drawing especially in the area of the furrow in which the train runs.
July 29, 2012 at 4:0 1
It’s an interesting idea but missies the main problem with our society: there are lots of great ideas and solutions out there but the entrenched powers are not interested in solutions – just maintaining and/or expanding their own positions. The real problem is how to get past these entrenched powers in order to implement helpful changes.
July 29, 2012 at 4:0 1
Thank you for your trenchant comment which is most certainly true.
October 25, 2012 at 4:0 1
Actually Will, lets leave the governments and big business out for a moment. For many the entrenchment you refer to is just regular folk trying to work and those industries pay the bills, feed the workers and and keep a roof over their heads. Or should I say over my head?.
July 30, 2012 at 4:0 1
I agree with Will Shaw but the idea still flies. It will just take another century to be accepted.
July 30, 2012 at 4:0 1
Thanks for the comment, Buddy. The question we must ask ourselves is “Do we have another century or should we force the issues now?” Sadly I don’t think I have the oomph to force the issue alone.
July 31, 2012 at 4:0 1
I appreciate especially that you try to put forward positive contributions and ideas. Believe it or not, I had a vague idea for maglev trains when I was 12 or so, so like 40 years ago.
The idea in itself is probably a good one (I think China is working massively on expanding their rail system), but in reality I think it gets so complicated. Just some of the issues are…
– A massively expensive project that would have to be pragmatically considered.
– There are a lot of clean energy paths that we could take as a society, and all cost something. We can’t choose all though. “Kid in the candy shop” problem, although we should make some choices.
– Anything resembling “stimulus” these days is fraught politically, and so gets caught up just for the economic arguments.
– Whether it might better be considered as being done in specific areas. I think Obama had a plan for some highspeed rail down a particular strip in Florida. I don’t know what happened with that.
In terms of really fixing any of our problems with the recessionary economy though I think is another matter, and I think there are better solutions. Still worth considering though, just to get people arguing though about what might be effective solutions.
Thanks again
August 2, 2012 at 4:0 1
Dear Jeff,
How wonderful that you thought about such things at a young age. I’m glad that you like the idea. I realize that the finished detailed plan would be infinitely more complicated. What I put forth was a rough draft of the “big idea”.
During the Great Depression, FDR had some big ideas to pull the USA out of a worldwide economic debacle. I think that this plan could do this now for our country. Obviously I am not going to be able to put this plan into effect single-handedly.
Also please remember that this rail plan is not just for a high speed system but for a sunken tubular solar rail system.
Thanks for your comment.
Fahrusha
July 31, 2012 at 4:0 1
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August 7, 2012 at 4:0 1
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