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Post by nickf on Sept 17, 2017 14:26:48 GMT
Just seen this on the BBC News site. HovertrainIt's the first I have heard of it. Does anyone have more details? |
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Post by nickf on Sept 17, 2017 15:30:52 GMT
Just been advised to search for Prof. Laithwaite on this subject...and sure enough here is some of the result. Thanks JR 15 Secs. Laithwaite's tracked hovercraft |
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Post by John Tuthill on Sept 17, 2017 16:32:38 GMT
Just seen this on the BBC News site. HovertrainIt's the first I have heard of it. Does anyone have more details? It was shown many years ago on 'Tomorrows World.' But like most inventions in this country, the narrow sited bean counters dropped it. But-now China and i think Japan have high speed trains.  Think of a generator/motor with the coil laid out flat, and the rotor as a flat plate.The plate would move relative to the coil. Now invert the idea, the plate(track) is inverted as a fixed item, and the coil(s) are built into the frame of the train............ |
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Post by nickf on Sept 17, 2017 16:59:09 GMT
Just seen this on the BBC News site. HovertrainIt's the first I have heard of it. Does anyone have more details? It was shown many years ago on 'Tomorrows World.' But like most inventions in this country, the narrow sited bean counters dropped it. But-now China and i think Japan have high speed trains. Think of a generator/motor with the coil laid out flat, and the rotor as a flat plate.The plate would move relative to the coil. Now invert the idea, the plate(track) is inverted as a fixed item, and the coil(s) are built into the frame of the train............ So presumably some coils are for levitation and others for propulsion and braking. And I imagine there will be stand by wheels for unexpected power loss. Power transmitted to the train through induction from the track? |
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Post by John Tuthill on Sept 17, 2017 17:32:15 GMT
It was shown many years ago on 'Tomorrows World.' But like most inventions in this country, the narrow sited bean counters dropped it. But-now China and i think Japan have high speed trains. Think of a generator/motor with the coil laid out flat, and the rotor as a flat plate.The plate would move relative to the coil. Now invert the idea, the plate(track) is inverted as a fixed item, and the coil(s) are built into the frame of the train............ So presumably some coils are for levitation and others for propulsion and braking. And I imagine there will be stand by wheels for unexpected power loss. Power transmitted to the train through induction from the track? Something like that. Check the web  |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 17, 2017 17:38:06 GMT
Problem is total incompatibility with existing network, so would need a totally new infrastructure. Also very difficult to see how junctions could be managed, so only really practical for simple shuttles such as the one at Shanghai.
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Post by theblackferret on Sept 17, 2017 19:14:27 GMT
Problem is total incompatibility with existing network, so would need a totally new infrastructure. Also very difficult to see how junctions could be managed, so only really practical for simple shuttles such as the one at Shanghai. Yes, the junctions problem was one of the downfalls of the 1840's/50's atmospheric railway & one that even Brunel couldn't solve. I think points were also a major issue on that, how does this compare in that regard? |
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Post by brigham on Sept 18, 2017 7:29:42 GMT
The electric supply was by twin conductor rails each side of the 'beam'.
One of the most memorable features of the demonstration was the massive arcing from the pick-up shoes.
Over 200 years of research has gone into the monorail, and still no practical use has been found for it.
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Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 18, 2017 9:47:41 GMT
So presumably some coils are for levitation and others for propulsion and braking. The Hovertrain prototype was a tracked hovercraft, similar to the contemporary French Aerotrain. Both systems used air cushions for levitation, but Hovertrain used linear induction motors for propulsion whereas Aerotrain used turbofans. Maglev was being considered as a future development, but the projects were canned. when funding was withdrawn when the respective national rail operators' research departments APT and TGV projects started to challenge the received wisdom that the practical limit for conventional steel wheel /steel rail operation was about 140mph. The Hovertrain test track in Cambridgeshire has been dismantled but the French one near Orleans can still be seen. Railworld also has one of the cars of the world's first maglev system - the shuttle that connected Birmingham International station with the airport terminal half a mile away, at the not terribly exciting speed of 25mph. This ran between 1984 and 1995, but eventually closed as its electronics became unreliable and outdated, and because the limited capacity of its vehicles had been outsripped by demand. It was eventually replaced by a cable hauled system (!) |
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Post by nickf on Sept 18, 2017 11:38:09 GMT
Thank you, Norbitonflyer.
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Post by stapler on Sept 18, 2017 11:45:11 GMT
I heard a lecture from Prof Eric Laithwaite about 1971. Linear motors would replace conventional (and so he thought, antediluvian) ;rotary ones; and maglevs/tracked hovercraft would supplant conventional railways. He regarded switches and crossings as unimportant
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