High speed trains

[Ghostwolf]

For high speed trains these are very nicely designed, if not bizarre looking. They looked rather like fighters, and
not trains anymore.

http://www.khi.co.jp/sharyo/pro_final/train/jrn_500.jpg
500 Series
Max. service speed: 300 km/h
Production Year: 1995-1998

http://www.khi.co.jp/sharyo/pro_final/train/jrn_700star.jpg
700 Series "Rail Star"
Max. service speed: 285 Km/h
Production Year: 1997-2004

http://www.railway-technology.com/contractor_images/hitachi-ltd/800.jpg
800 Series
Max speed: 260 km/h (initial trial test)
in service 2004

http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~dajf/byunbyun/pics/500a.jpg

http://homepage1.nifty.com/yuya-yamasaki/gyrari/shinkansen/5005.jpg

http://homepage1.nifty.com/yuya-yamasaki/gyrari/shinkansen/500+7001.jpg
The "500"(right) and the "700"(left)

http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~dajf/byunbyun/pics/500f.jpg

http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~dajf/byunbyun/pics/700i.jpg

http://homepage1.nifty.com/yuya-yamasaki/gyrari/shinkansen/yoko-nagasi1.jpg

http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~dajf/byunbyun/pics/700e.jpg

http://homepage1.nifty.com/yuya-yamasaki/sinnkannsenn/tsubame/7.jpg

http://homepage1.nifty.com/yuya-yamasaki/sinnkannsenn/tsubame/627.jpg

[MVSpartan117]

Those are cool looking, I've kinda always liked trains


They might be adding a Maglev train system by my house, from Port Canveral/Cocoa Beach to Orlando, that might be cool

[cut]

are those all japanese?

[Ghostwolf]

are those all japanese?
They are all Japanese Shinkansen high speed trains, or the so-called
"bullet trains".

http://photo.chinatimes.com/photofile/newsphotob/013006j.jpg
http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/kobenews/sougou04/040130taiwan.jpg
and this one is the 700T, design and made in Japan for Taiwan's High Speed Railway System.

[wholagun]

Fastest are still French TGV and German Magleves (trains don't have track but rather are levitated and propelled by magnets). Germans crazy mo fos when it comes to thinking **** up.

[Ghostwolf]

Fastest are still French TGV and German Magleves (trains don't have track but rather are levitated and propelled by magnets). Germans crazy mo fos when it comes to thinking **** up.

I know about the French TGV's 500+ kph record in May of 1990, but in
reality its maximum service speed never exceeds 330 kph, because it is
just too dangerous for a train loaded with passengers to go at such a high
speed, and at that speed it will need at least 19 km long of track to stop it
completely. As for the maglev, neither Germany and Japan are planning
to build an entire transit system based on the technology, it is just
TOOOO EXPENSIVE to do so.

I have not heard any speed record attempt by the Japanese using their
high speed train, but with their railroad technology they may be capable
of achieving that speed.

[Kriz]

Maglev trains are cool as sh*t though :)

[Shadow]

Fastest are still French TGV and German Magleves (trains don't have track but rather are levitated and propelled by magnets). Germans crazy mo fos when it comes to thinking **** up.

I know about the French TGV's 500+ kph record in May of 1990, but in
reality its maximum service speed never exceeds 330 kph, because it is
just too dangerous for a train loaded with passengers to go at such a high
speed, and at that speed it will need at least 19 km long of track to stop it
completely. As for the maglev, neither Germany and Japan are planning
to build an entire transit system based on the technology, it is just
TOOOO EXPENSIVE to do so.

I have not heard any speed record attempt by the Japanese using their
high speed train, but with their railroad technology they may be capable
of achieving that speed.

But there is one in China.
http://www.hobbytechnik.de/transr02.jpg

[MolliG]

No, no, no! A dirty old Class 43 HST (with it's lovely '80s styling), in the old Intercity livery, at an old dirty station (which is half modern and half Victorian), with the old orange ticket card things, is what true trains and train travel is all about...

http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/pix/gb/diesel/HST/BR/43_43193.jpg

http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/pix/gb/diesel/HST/BR/43143.jpg

:lol: ;)

[Ghostwolf]

But there is one in China.
http://www.hobbytechnik.de/transr02.jpg

You are right, there is one 30 km maglev "demonstration" line connecting
the Shanghai (Pudong) International Airport to downtown Shanghai, but I
am referring to the entire high speed rail network built using maglev
technology. For the Chinese maglev line(the technology used is German
BTW), each mile of track cost about 3.5 million euros to built(about 63
million euros for entire 30 km track alone), and that price does not
include the cost of the massive electrical substations, that is why no other
countries will be so eager to build maglev because they fear that it will
never profit.

The maglev speed record was set by the Japanese at 581 kph(w/
passengers onboard), but that is also a intercity high speed test line,
obviously still a lot of work to be done in order to cut the cost down.

[Ghostwolf]

http://home.hetnet.nl/~pschokk/ice/ice3/406001Wierden.jpg
Germany InterCity Express(ICE) 3
Top Speed: 330 km/h
Production Year: 1998

http://home.hetnet.nl/~pschokk/ice/ice3/406002Amsterdam.jpg

http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/pix/de/electric/emu/ICE/ICE-3M/Basel/ICE3_Basel2.jpg

http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/ice/ice3_ave_300x165.jpg
ICE 3 for AVE Spain High Speed Rail Network
Top Speed: 360 km/h

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Nooo! Pullman - Standard PPC in Boston MBTA Green Line livery!

http://members.aol.com/netransit/private/3309.jpg

[Ghostwolf]

http://members.aol.com/netransit/private/3309.jpg
http://www.hobbytechnik.de/transr02.jpg

Hmmm, I see a family resemblance here, do you?

[kutter]

I've always been fascinated by the British Advanced Passenger Train, pretty innovative concept of making the train tilt around corners. Too bad it was perhaps too ahead of its time :( (interesting to see that cars 1 and 4 haven't tilted)
http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/tiltfail.jpg

Ironically the Brits have brought back the tilting train concept but did it by buying the Fiat Pendolini (Portugese example shown)
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/alfa/images/alfa8.jpg

Swedish X2000 tilting train.
http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/x2000.jpg

[Falco]

Nice pics

Here are some canadian trains (not high speed).

VIA rail in Canada's national rail carrier. It was formed when the passenger service of CN and CP merged.

http://www.transpixs.com/photos/trnicr1b.jpg

http://home.cogeco.ca/~lbscr424/via-6767.jpg

http://home.cogeco.ca/~lbscr424/via-6769.jpg

http://www.kanada-incentives.de/4/bilder/frontal.jpg

http://www.trainweb.org/lansingrailfan/via6428b.jpg

http://www.trainweb.org/lansingrailfan/via6417.jpg

http://www.trainweb.org/lansingrailfan/via6428a.jpg

These are some of Montreal commuter trains.

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=1251448&outx=760&oq=0

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=1251442&outx=760&oq=0

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=1251439&outx=760&oq=0

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=1251449&outx=760&oq=0

These are Toronto's commuter trains.

http://www.emdx.org/rail/canard/Toronto2000/Photos/40-Union_GoTrains.jpg

http://www.emdx.org/rail/canard/Toronto2000/Photos/39-Union_GoTrains.jpg

[AFACadet]

I'm not even going to try and post...



US passenger trains suck :oops:

[Ghostwolf]

My parents rode the VIA train once from Toronto to Montreal and back,
my brother used the Go train several times. As for me, I only rode in
the TTC subway train......

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Hey, we've got some decent stuff.
Run-of-the-mill Amtrak
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/rail/images/amtrak-engine.jpg

...and the Acela Express between Boston & DC
http://archives.theconnection.org/archive/2002/02/images/0208trains.jpg

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

Saw a documentry on transport this week and they had the new high speed US train on it I think it does the NYC to Washington DC run nice looking machine and pretty high tech.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Unless I'm mistaken (which I may be) - all these rail lines bleed money. None is turning a profit. That's why Amtrak is in such lousy shape - we expect it to carry it's own weight & resist throwing good money after bad.

These groovy systems in Japan/Europe etc get all kinds of public money & nobody expects anything other than transportation from them. Which is how it should be, IMHO.

How can we expect rail transport to compete with air travel when there's so much maintenance involved/infrastructure costs etc.? Isn't it in the public interest to have an effective transport system, regardless of whether it makes money?

I think the US should consider changing it's stance on Amtrak. The benefits of an efficient mass-transit system are not to be found in the profitability of the enterprise, but in the money/pollution/traffic congestion saved by having it.

Time & again, when it comes to expansion, we in the US choose more highways. That only breeds more traffic & urban sprawl. Soon roads need to be expanded again. That's what has happened in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale - and traffic is horrendous. They did build a token mass transit system up the I-95 corridor, but it's nearly useless. It doesn't reach any of the population away from the coast (BTW they look almost exactly like the pics of Toronto's commuter trains that were posted, paint and all). So it takes people an hour to drive 15 miles just to get to the train - who's gonna do that?

C'mon dammit - slap us up some cool maglev trains that go 200mph+, build new lines & quit paving everything...