codyg1985’s Think Tank

An article at Damn Interesting (a new favorite site of mine) talks about a proposal to build a futuristic train in Houston, Texas.

The train has no rails, or even a support platform to speak of. Instead, columns with a hollow top are put at even intervals along the path the train will take. Inside the support columns there are wheels that grip to rails on train which propel the train forward:

Now, this does not run on rails, air, or a magnetic cushion. It has no wheels. In fact, it has no engine. That may start you sniggering in derision but they claim its the wave of the future. The train they are proposing is built somewhat backwards. The rails are on the train itself and the wheels are built into the cement “rings” and run by electric motor. The cars on the train are quite long…if fact, one of the design points are that the cars be as long as the distance from one ring to the next. The designers claim it that because the train has neither engine nor wheels, it will be lighter and therefore more efficiently able to utilize energy. The wheel in the rings would have to be controlled by some program turn on and off at the right time. Even if a motor breaks down on one of the rings, the train will still run just as well.