High-Cost Rail - Part 124 Hyperloop Test

There is no doubt that my 124 part High-speed Rail posting thread is a glass more-than-half-empty.  I dislike everything about the idea, the lousy implementation, the cost, and the politics.  Even if built as planned, which is near-impossible, the rail service delivered would be sub-standard and cost more than the bill of goods voters were sold.  Guaranteed.  But today lets consider a true, forward-looking alternative instead of just howling in the wind.

Elon Musk's Hyperloop test bed in Las Vegas just gave us some public view of progress a couple of weeks ago.  There is video here.

Hyperloop One held the first public demonstration of its propulsion system on May 11th, with a unmanned sled hitting 116 mph in just 1.1 seconds on a short stretch of track outside of Las Vegas. 

Eventually, the company hopes the system will hit speeds of more than 700 mph.

Hyperloop sounds truly innovative, but I'm pleased to tell you that a professor at my alma mater, Rensselaer Polytech in Troy, NY, demonstrated the idea more than 50 years ago.  Dr. Joseph Foa built an experimental system called TubeFlight that does the same thing Hyperloop does--moving a vehicle through stationary air at jet speeds.  This is a link to the RPI alumni magazine from the Winter 2013/14 with an article on Dr. Foa.  It's a little slow to come up from an archive, but it's worth the wait.

Can you imagine Gov. Brown calling a press conference to say that all of the problems with HSR have caused the supposed fiscal conservative to halt work on high-speed rail in favor of examining a true public/private solution based on real innovation?  Nope, me either.

Comments

[Joe]

Here's some news from the Consumer Electronics Show courtesy of Yahoo:

US startup Hyperloop One on Friday disclosed a list of locations around the world vying to put near-supersonic rail transit system to the test.

The startup company keen to revolutionize the way people and cargo travel said that 35 contenders remained from a field of 2,600 teams in a Hyperloop One Grand Challenge launched in May 2015.

Viable submissions had to be condoned by government agencies that would likely be involved in regulating and, ideally, funding the futuristic rail.

Projects in the running included hyperloop rail connecting Sydney and Melbourne; Shanghai and Hangzhou; Mumbai and Delhi, and London and Edinburgh.

There were also 11 US teams in contention.

The startup's reasons for being at the Consumer Electronics show included collaborating with the self-driving car industry to make sure autonomous vehicles will inter-operate with the hyperloop system.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cities-vie-hop-super-speedy-hyperloop-rail-171056964.html

[Joe]

More on Gov. Brown's horse and buggy project:

Maryland has given transportation pioneer Elon Musk permission to dig tunnels for the high-speed, underground transit system known as a hyperloop that Musk wants to build between New York and Washington.

Representatives of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday the state has issued a conditional utility permit to let Musk’s tunneling firm, the Boring Co., dig a 10.3-mile tunnel beneath the state-owned portion of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, between the Baltimore city line and state Highway 175 in Hanover.

“This thing is real. It’s exciting to see,” Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn said. “The word ‘transformational’ may be overused, but this is a technology that leapfrogs any technology that is out there today. And it’s going to be here.”

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-boring-company-maryland-20171020-story.html

[Joe]

Here is a very cool short YouTube clip showing the first passenger test of the Virgin Hyperloop system that just happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKvbSboQ5_g

[Libertarian]

How sad that Gavin is chasing fourty year old Japanese outdated technology that is overly costly and inefficient.
That is CA Dem leadership today.
Very sad.

[Wunderkind]

And CalTrain got RR passed with its millions and they are planning on cutting service.

Cutting salaries? Pensions? Bet not.