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by Tondoteottotote on March 29th, 2005

Tondoteottotote

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Will it ever be possible for trains to exceed the speed of sound?

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  • by Anonymous on March 29th, 2005

    Anonymous

      I cannot think of any good reason why it could never be possible.  I very much doubt if it is possible with today's technology, but who knows what technology may be developed in the future?

      The first land-based vehicle to break the sound barrier did so for the first time within the last decade.  This was a rocket-powered car, much smaller and lighter than a train, and it took some fairly remarkable technology to achieve this.  Strange as it seems, one of the bigget technological hurdles that this first supersonic land vehicle had to overcome was the development of wheels that could spin as fast as they needed to at that speed without being torn apart by centrifugal force.

      If a supersonic train is ever developed, I expect it will probably not use wheels at all, or conventional railroad tracks, but rather be based on a maglev system, and probably be propelled by external electromagnets, in the manner of a magnetic rail gun.

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  • by tigueron on January 12th, 2007

    tigueron

    yes, it'll be done

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  • by PerpetualAFK on January 12th, 2007

    PerpetualAFK

    The problem with trains is that they are extremely non-aerodynamic. Even the high speed bullet trains, with their pointed noses, produce much more drag than a typical fighter airplane. Also, at such high speeds, drag increases as a function of speed squared. So going twice as fast would produce 4 times more drag. At supersonic speeds, This would be a lot of drag, that the train would have to compensate for.
    Also, a train is not designed to survive a sonic boom, and the pressure differences associated with that.

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