[ale] OT: Maglev funding?

[Jeff Hubbs]

Robert Reese~ wrote:
>
>> Again I have to ask - why are you assuming it's not feasible?  The
>> WDW Epcot line is a looped spur that runs about five miles away
>> from the Transportation and Ticketing Center; it crosses highways
>> and waterways as it does so.  For longer expanses, there are issues
>> of power (self-contained like a diesel-electric, third-rail like
>> WDW or MARTA, or pantograph like TGV) and there would have to be a
>> rather involved passenger rescue support infrastructure, but those
>> are reasonably solvable problems.
>>     
>
> Okay, it is *feasible*; I should have said *not practical*.  Again, it is 
> passenger density versus the cost of maintenance. 
So?  What about it is impractical?

> The People Mover is a 
> high-maintenance system.... lots of gears, motors, electrical switches, 
> bearings, and so forth.  And most of those are NOT on the cars but are embedded 
> in the track.  The maintenance folks have to go to those stationary points of 
> failure, though inherent in the system is some redundancy that allows for 
> failure of some components while maintaining the integrity of the system as a 
> whole.
>   
I guess you've lost me somewhere along the way - I don't know what you 
mean by "people mover" here.  The subject was monorail vs. heavy rail; 
the overall problem to be solved isn't all that different from the one 
MARTA trains solve.  Monorail rails have no moving parts - they barely 
have parts, save expansion joints and the power conductors. 

If you're talking about a system like the WDW WedWay PeopleMover - that 
was based on a linear induction motor that didn't have moving parts at 
all.  It's just nontrivial getting power properly sequenced all the way 
up and down the track. 
>
>   
>>> The other problem is that the maintenance cost on a People Mover
>>> are quite high... imagine the thousands of bearings, electric
>>> motors, switches, and so forth that have to be maintained just at
>>> WDW alone.  Sure, the usefulness there warrants the high
>>> maintenance, but as a replacement for MARTA it just wouldn't make
>>> sense financially.
>>>       
Again, I have no idea what system at WDW you're referring to; you 
certainly don't seem to be describing either the monorail or the WedWay.
>>>       
>> Like MARTA *doesn't* have that...or Amtrak, or TGV?
>>     
>
> Those systems have tracks that have a lower maintenance.  The tracks are more 
> efficient to maintain.  The troubles are usually with the cars and engines, 
> which can be taken to a shop to be repaired and maintained.  Question: which is 
> easier?  Fix your car on the side of the highway with handtools and the 
> occasional flashlight, or fixed in a nice, air-conditioned/heated and lit shop 
> with a plethora of specialty tools and equipment?  You see, on a People Mover, 
> the cars are essentially stationary and the track moves.
>   

WHAT???  How'd this get into the conversation?