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Guest_Birdy_*
Guest
Have you guys heard of the Parry PeopleMover? Does it work? Can it be hot-rodded to work at 70+ MPH?
Basically, its a glorified bus with a flywheel and engine system that operates on a railed carriageway. Between the rail and the flywheel, its highly energy efficient. The stuff I saw on the web was a little third-worldish sounding, but I dunno. In principle, it would allow a light rail system to be deployed pretty cheaply since it doesn't require much of a track or electrification.
On our standard-gauge but low-population density Railrunner train here in NM, it seems to me that something like that could be used to fill in the gaps on the schedule. For example, there is nearly a five hour gap between the last morning train arrival and the first afternoon train depature. A mid-afternoon run of such a vehicle (holding maybe 100 sitting passengers and getting maybe 12 mpg, with only one driver) would nicely fill the gap at relatively low cost. It could be used to serve the small suburb (Eldorado) 25 miles away along the state owned but unimproved track. It could be used to make low-volume runs on weekends. Perhaps some intra-city runs could be squeezed in as well.
It seems to me that there would also be opportunities for light-rail only line extensions of the system. That is, standard gauge but light rail only (and moderate speed) feeders could be branched off from the main line without breaking the bank.
Oh well, another internet pipe dream. Go ahead and burst it now.
Basically, its a glorified bus with a flywheel and engine system that operates on a railed carriageway. Between the rail and the flywheel, its highly energy efficient. The stuff I saw on the web was a little third-worldish sounding, but I dunno. In principle, it would allow a light rail system to be deployed pretty cheaply since it doesn't require much of a track or electrification.
On our standard-gauge but low-population density Railrunner train here in NM, it seems to me that something like that could be used to fill in the gaps on the schedule. For example, there is nearly a five hour gap between the last morning train arrival and the first afternoon train depature. A mid-afternoon run of such a vehicle (holding maybe 100 sitting passengers and getting maybe 12 mpg, with only one driver) would nicely fill the gap at relatively low cost. It could be used to serve the small suburb (Eldorado) 25 miles away along the state owned but unimproved track. It could be used to make low-volume runs on weekends. Perhaps some intra-city runs could be squeezed in as well.
It seems to me that there would also be opportunities for light-rail only line extensions of the system. That is, standard gauge but light rail only (and moderate speed) feeders could be branched off from the main line without breaking the bank.
Oh well, another internet pipe dream. Go ahead and burst it now.