French Train garners bragging rights with 574.8 km/h

[minir]

Hi to all
Wow! That would sure shorten the daily commute eh!
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Record knocked off the rails. French train garners bragging rights with 574.8 km/h
By INGRID ROUSSEAU, AP
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ABOARD TRAIN V150, France -- The speedometer climbed higher and higher -- and so did my heart rate.

Inside the last of three double-decker cars sandwiched between two engines, those of us aboard the French bullet train trying to set the speed record on conventional rails watched the digital numbers flash on a screen in kilometres per hour: 400, 450, 500, 550.

Looking out the windows, the countryside became a blur.

Then the magic number appeared: 574.8 km/h -- faster than any humans had ever travelled in a train on rails. As fast as an airplane, but on the ground.

Frankly, I was happy when it was over.

The chrome and black V150 looked majestic as its engines hummed on the platform near the town of Preny, east of Paris, before yesterday's record run.

25,000-HORSEPOWER

For its mission to break the speed record -- 515.3 km/h set by a French train in 1990 record -- the train was modified with a 25,000-horsepower engine, and adjustments were made to the track, notably the banking on turns.

The rails were treated so the wheels could make perfect contact, and electrical power in the overhead cable was increased from 25,000 volts to 31,000 volts.

The V150 was equipped with larger wheels than the normal French TGV -- or "tres grande vitesse" -- to cover more ground with each rotation, said Alain Cuccaroni, chief technician with Alstom Transports, which built the train.

French TGVs normally cruise at about 295 km/h.

But this was more than a stunt. The demonstration was meant to showcase technology that France wants to sell to multibillion-dollar overseas markets such as China, which plans to build more than 12,000 km of high-speed railways in coming years.

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minir

[downhill]

I can't imagine what the work on the track bed would have been to keep the ride smooth enough for speeds like that.

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

Superman will now need to eat his Wheaties.

[minir]

Hi downhill & Joint Chiefs of Staff
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downhill
They sure must do a better maintenance job than we do here.

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Joint Chiefs of Staff


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Can you imagine the wake it must leave behind. I wouldn't want to be standing at a crossroads when one went by. You'd get a free trip into the next county.

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Pretty amazing.

Thanks Fellas

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regards

minir