COMPARISON OF MAGLEV SYSTEMS
1. ELECTROMAGNETIC
According to the United States Department of Transportation, Germany has
spent more than a billion dollars attempting to create a practical maglev system
using electromagnetic lift. After about twenty years and more than a
billion-dollar effort, Germany has not produced a practical maglev utilizing
electromagnetic lift - nor will Germany, the U.S. Japan or any
other country ever produce a practical electromagnetic maglev for the
following reasons:
Electromagnetic systems (EMS) must
maintain an air gap of about
six-tenths
(6/10th) of an inch in order to
function.
This narrow air gap requires that the
trackage must be constructed with
a
vertical variation of not more than a
few tenths of an inch per mile-and the
trackage must be maintained to those
"jeweler
tolerances" at all
times.
Such precise
construction costs much
more than less precise construction, but
far worse maintenance
of such
precision would be astronomical
particularly in earthquake prone areas.
Another
major fault of the EMS is that
the very narrow air gap is maintained by
a relatively fragile system of sensors
which activate or de-activate
electromagnets to maintain the air gap.
Yet
another major fault of the EMS is
the harmful effect of the great
magnetic
field to which passengers
or sensitive
cargo are exposed.
2. SUPER-CONDUCTING
On the other hand Japan, according to the U.S.
Department of Transportation has spent over one billion dollars attempting to
create a practical maglev system utilizing super-conducting magnetic lift.
After about twenty years and more than a billion-dollar effort Japan has not
produced a practical maglev utilizing super-conducting magnetic lifts. The
super-conducting system (SC) will never be a practical system for the following reasons:
The cost of manufacturing the rolling
stock and trackage is forbiddingly
excessive. For example, each car of
whatever type
must contain a large
refrigeration system
which is
necessary for the system to
function.
Also the trackage is expensive to build
and does not lend itself to economical
switching.
The SC system, like the EMS system,
exposes passengers or cargo to great
and harmful magnetic fields.
3. PERMANENT MAGNETS
Only the United States has produced a design and patent for a
permanent magnet (PMS) maglev system in which no part of the PMS touches the
track. Germany has produced a low-speed people mover* permanent magnet
system to provide lift but it requires "buffer" wheels to prevent the
magnets from "grabbing" the track. It is known as the MBahn and
is not practical for high speed operation.
The U.S. permanent magnet system uses permanent magnets to
provide lift and a simply hydraulic system to control the magnets under all
conditions of car weight - empty, partially loaded, or fully loaded - under all
weather conditions - cold, heat, rain, or winds. The U.S. system is
known as Vinson's Magnetrain.
ADVANTAGES
OF MAGNETRAIN
(To read the advantages)
MAGNETRAIN
I, Roy Vinson, have named my maglev "Magnetrain" for obvious
reasons. To my knowledge it is the only "controlled permanent magnet"
maglev in existence. It is intended to totally replace conventional trains
through the world for freight as well as
passengers. It is far superior to any train of any type, conventional or
maglev, in existence or under study. I estimate Magnetrain will move
freight or people at 1/3 or 1/4 the energy cost of
conventional trains.
The Shinkansen of Japan and the TGV of France are but conventional trains of
advanced design. Both are much slower than Magnetrain and are expensive to
maintain; particularly their tracks and road beds. In contract,
Magnetrain's track an road bed will cost almost zero maintenance for hundreds of
years. Magnetrain's design speed will be 600 miles per hour (1,000
kilometers) between cities. It's speed is limited only by the sound
barrier of 640 miles per hour
*The MBahn system has since been dismantled in 1998
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