ALTERNATE ENERGY: Keep those trains a-rollin'

When I hear that Santa Fe start blowin’
I wonder where it’s been and where it’s goin’.
I tell you, boy, every time
The feelin’ sure is fine.
Just move me on down the line,
Just move me on down the line.
— ZZ Top, 197

​Rail transportation began sometime in the 1500s. It was used primarily for mining. Long ropes were used to pull these carts from one position to another, while others were pulled by horse. Rails were made of wood then.
When the steam engine came along around in the early 1800s everything changed. George Stephenson is given credit for the first railroad steam-driven engine. For its day a steam engine was pretty amazing. It hauled eight cars of 30 tons of coal uphill at 4 miles per hour. Amazing too when you consider that every one of those engines had to be fabricated on the spot. The metal, was not the steel of today, had to be forged to specs and bolted together. There were no welders then, no place to buy bolts, every single item had to be hand crafted. This was the real start of the industrial revolution.
Rail was always used to move heavy loads. Today we can move large loads fairly quickly, however; most of that movement is done with tractor-trailers. This is because tractor-trailers have greater point-to-point delivery access while rail does not. Delivery by rail is depot to depot.
So what does this have to do with alternate energy? It is all about the energy used to do work. Trains are the most efficient for moving objects from point A to Point B. They get the most mile/per gallon/per pound.
To take the efficiency of train transportation to a whole new level, what if solar panels are placed parallel to the tracks the trains run on? Can you image the possibility of transportation costing almost nothing to operate, at least fuel-wise? The solution is to install solar panels and wind turbines where possible, parallel to the rails. Then connect this to a grid system in-line overhead to accommodate the train traffic and to supply power to the resident grid system.
This is the concept promoted by Backbone Consortium and its founder Bill Moyer, author of “Solutionary Rail.” America’s rail system compared to the rest of the world is lagging far behind. This is because our massive highway infrastructure has taken precedence. Hopefully there will be a resurgence with this new system.

TEB Bus on rails
Next is intercity transportation. How can trains fit into an already crowded environment?
One solution still in the making is the TEB Bus. TEB stands for Transit Elevated Bus. It’s a bus that will ride on rails in an accommodating intercity overhead infrastructure. Waiting passengers stand on an overhead deck. The proposed bus stops at these points, does not stop or hinder surrounding traffic and the waiting passengers board the TEB in comfort and safety. In some respects, the TEB resembles the lower body of a hyrofoil. It has alternate names such as straddle bus or tunnel bus.
The savings in energy use would be enormous. Anyone who has driven in a big city knows what it is like to wait in traffic. Studies have shown that the average speed through a major city is about 12 mph. At this speed the average gas efficiency drops by 30%. Optimal speed for optimal gas mileage in a gas-only vehicle is at about 35 mph.
TEB can service hundreds of passengers at a time. It would also unclog the traffic of buses. However there has been quite a bit of controversy between feasibility and investor fraud and the TEB project appears to be in limbo. Some say this project is 20 years off.

The Hyperloop
Elon Musk is an ubiquitous character on the transportation and energy stage. He has his hands, thank goodness, in all things that move. Trains included!
You may have all heard of the hyperloop. So how does it achieve speeds near that of sound? Well, Mr. Musk is not saying. I thought it would be the gravity or vacuum system; however, Mr. Musk would only say it is a cross between the Concord and an air hockey table.
To achieve this end, tunnels are drilled. His new company, the “Boring Company,” is drilling tunnels for this purpose. I think the underground has a big future as far as energy is concerned. Currently, a hyperloop is proposed for between New York and Baltimore, which, when built, is proposed to take 29 minutes to travel. This translates to about one mile in six seconds.

MagLev
Magnetic levitation trains — or MagLev — is the last train I will cover. While this technology has been around for a while the supporting infrastructure and maintenance is extremely expensive. The Shanghai Maglev cost $60 million per mile to build. Some projects have achieved speeds of over 300 mph.
However, the very essence of what makes this an amazing technology is the same property that makes it vulnerable. The train rides on a rail that is cushioned by an “air” of magnetic repulsion between that rail and the body of that rail. Electricity in the coils in the rails is continually pulsed the whole way. However, only maglev trains can use this rail; in other words it needs its own infrastructure. This is difficult to consider as an overall benefit when its use is limited.
The future of trains is yet to be fulfilled. The concepts are in place but the reality is a few years away. It will be an enormous task to have these concepts fit the required infrastructure. So let’s hope that we are up for the challenge,or will the future have other plan