Railway transport has always occupied a special place in the transport infrastructure of any country. In the twentieth century, trains could not oust airplanes or cars that were gaining in popularity at a terrible pace from the market for the transportation of passengers and goods. In many ways, this did not happen because trains were also constantly evolving. At times, engineers proposed line-up projects and were not at all the brink of madness.
1. Schienenzeppelin
Self-propelled carriage that was built by German engineer Franz Krukenberg in 1930. The main feature of the composition was the presence of a two-bladed propeller in the rear (there should have been four of them in the original project!). The train was driven by BMW engines. It managed to accelerate to 230.2 km / h, which made the Schienenzeppelin the fastest in its time.
What the Germans will not come up with.
The mass use and production of Schienenzeppelin did not begin, because the design of the self-propelled carriage posed a danger to passengers.
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2. Aerotrain
Creation of the American company General Motors, which was born in 1956.
Turned out to be too light.
The lineup was designed by Chuck Jordan. The innovative train moved faster than conventional trains, but the passengers did not like it. Due to the high speed and low weight of the wagons, the train was constantly "shaking" from which one got the impression that you were driving a truck on a bad dirt road. Aerotrain never got into mass production.
3. Black Beetle M497
The Black Beetle reactive compound was developed in the early 1960s in the United States by NYC. In 1966, the first tests of the unusual train started.
All the same, they refused from jet engines.
An ambitious project aimed at luring American passengers from domestic airlines to the railroad. The project was led by engineer Don Wetzel. The train was set in motion by engines from a B-36 bomber. The tests reached a speed of 295 km / h. Despite this amazing result, the jet engine was abandoned in favor of a conventional one.
4. Tubular Rail
Let's go back closer to our time. Here is the Tubular Rail concept train, designed by engineer Robert S. Pally.
A bold project.
The main feature of the train is the use of special rail-rings on which the train slides at a height of 5-10 meters above the ground. The creators claim that such a design will allow speeds to be achieved much higher than those of the monorails that are gaining popularity today.
5. Shweeb
A real-life monorail in New Zealand with personal transparent cabins.
Also a train.
Riding one is not a test for the faint of heart. Shweeb was opened in 2006. The project is owned by Jeffrey Barnett. The train speed is 45 km / h. New Zealanders want to use these in densely populated cities for the foreseeable future.
6. "Berkut"
The project of a super-express train from Kazakhstan, the designer of which is Semyon Bolota.
The maximum speed of the Berkut reaches 512 km / h. The train will have to run between the capital of the state and Almaty. In 2.5 hours, the train travels 1200 km. The double-decker train cars can accommodate up to 1,056 passengers.