Future alternatives to conventional rail

Glad to see someone thinking outside the box

Actually, somebody DID make pitch to Houston METRO!  METRO did not bite!

The web site is certainly short on specifics. Apparently the propulsion system would involve motor-driven rollers in every support column. It's obvious that the "track system" needs very wide curves. What about power systems on-board? Has an operating model been built? Investors wanted, maybe?!

http://www.tubularrail.com/video.htm

What is the power source?

The power is provided though electrically driven AC motors.

How does the Tubular Rail car stop?

The braking system (non emergency) of the Tubular Rail system will rely on the creation of friction between the braking device and the resistance plate on the column.  However most routine braking is done by controlling the speed at which the rollers are rotating and when coming into a station the rollers actually serve to regenerate energy back to the grid.

Methinks this is a solution in search of a problem...  Apparently, the wheel needs reinventing.

Rusty

Totally tubular!

At the demo, there would be electric "rails" on the cars, which would rub against rollers in the tubes.

For very shrp curves, turntables were offered as a solution.

http://www.tubularrail.com/background.htm

Background: Reinventing the Wheel by Removing It

OK, so there are no wheels on the "tubular rail passenger car", which provides some illusion of simplicity. But there are multiple guide "rollers" in every support column along the route! In effect, the rails and bridgework are integral with the train and the wheels are in the support columns. That's still plenty of wheels. And apparently all those wheels/rollers are intended to be powered for the system of propulsion.

I suspect there is lots of potential for weird noises and vibration with a pencil-train shooting through a series of holes in the support columns.

Although the concept is somewhat interesting, conventional high-speed rail as developed by the French and Japanese seems to be much more practical and adaptable.

This sounds like a lot of moving machinery that could cause maintenence headaches.  In my opinion, MagLev is far more practical. 

Reminds me of SiFi story I read years ago.  It was called "The Highways Must Roll" and described an intercity highway system that was actually a complex set of conveyor belts! 

This is just about the most impractical thing I've ever heard of.  Thinking outside the box is one thing, but this guy is off the reservation!

Different, I'll admit that.  But.....hmmm

Maglev is definitely off the ground in China and we can expect to see more commercial systems being built - mostly in other countries.

Chinese maglev trackside video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqAJemM6xYs *

German maglev

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO8b2Zp_aW8

Maglev toy train

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5el1A5B-h3Q

Maglev model demonstration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lmtbLu5nxw

And it's just a matter of time before we start seeing some Maglev model trains?

You're thinking of The Roads Must Roll, by Robert Heinlein.

Yes!  Thanks for the correction. 

Nothing new...:

Copyright: Heimeburger House Publishing 1985

Rusty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Fallberg

Carl Robert Fallberg (September 11, 1915 – May 9, 1996) was a cartoonist and artist who created animated feature films and T.V. cartoons for Disney Studios, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Brothers. He also wrote comic books for Disney Comics, Dell Comics, Western Publishing, and Gold Key Comics.

Carl had a lifelong passion for the “narrow gauge" railroad lines connecting the mountain mining towns of Colorado. This love of narrow gauge railroads in early mining communities was expressed through his cartoon drawings published in his Fiddletown & Copperopolis comic strip which appeared in Railroad Magazine. During the early 1980s, Carl compiled all his Fiddletown and Copperopolis cartoons into a book. The resulting "Fiddletown and Copperopolis - The life and times of an uncommon carrier" was published in 1985.

Interesting. Reminds me that there were a lot of coal slurry pipeline ideas back in the 1970's, which the railroads and environmentalists fought against.

In the US, Union Pacific supposedly has a plan to build a "maglev container shuttle":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev

Union Pacific Freight Conveyor: Plans are under way by American rail road operator Union Pacific to build a 7.9 km (4.9 mi) container shuttle between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with UP's Intermodal Container Transfer Facility. The system would be based on "passive" technology, especially well suited to freight transfer as no power is needed on board, simply a chassis which glides to its destination. The system is being designed by General Atomics.

Information not verified.