Fantastical Thread

[electricron]

How about building a rail line to the Moon or Mars?

[Greg Moore]

Like Coleridge's Kubla Khan, I have the fragment of a dream from which I awoke.

A Super-superliner sleeper,
A Supertrain travelling,
Forty-feet wide, dining car like a ballroom,
Lost in the corridors and passages.
Dormitory rooms the size of tennis courts,
Of this I dreamt and boarded
for destinations far
And then awoke.

Yes, I had a dream that I was boarding what was basically a "SuperTrain", or even wider Amtrak train. The "sleeper" was basically a large dorm with private pods, easily 40' across.

It was articulated so you could walk into the dining car and never know you had changed cars. The dining car itself was like a small, 2 level ballroom.

It was quite an interesting train. I never got to the coach car.

[ExCon90]

Just two questions:
Did they run out of anything?
How soon before destination did they close down for inventory?

[rr503]

The gateway tunnels lol
A 100% tangent line (electrified) linking NY-CHI.
Semaphores on the NEC
Containers on well cars, each one of them a bedroom, to be transloaded between trains so a person can ride in their 'room' across the country (but the containers would have hallways built into them so ppl could walk through other ppls' containers w/out entering their space). The containers would be connected with bridge plates.
Acela with auto train cars so you and your car can beat the traffic.
</foam>

[David Benton]

Starting to sound like the Ecotopia train .
https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=KWO ... EQ6AEIHzAB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Greg Moore]

Hmm I love the idea of semaphores on the NEC!

And while wholly impractical, I think the idea of "portable" bedrooms is an intriguing one!

[BostonUrbEx]

Hmm I love the idea of semaphores on the NEC!

I thought you said s'mores. So naturally I now propose an open air car with a bonfire and riders can make s'mores.

[BandA]

Amtrak adds giant airbags to their engines and cab cars, allowing them to interoperate on streetcar / LRV lines. The airbags protect the non-FRA cars in case of collision.

[BandA]

Google adds couplers and hi-rail to their self-driving cars. Amtrak and especially commuter rail lines have trouble competing and cut back service.

Amtrak adds backup rubber wheels to trains. If sensors detect track failure or derailment, the rubber tires take over. Also allows trains to continue over excepted track and where tracks have been removed, and for low-speed changing of tracks without any switches.

Amtrak trains launch drones ahead of trains. Any trespassers, vehicles, downed trees, avalanches and washouts are detected automatically and the train is stopped in time. Optionally, multiple drones (1 per car) connected together drop high strength nets on the objects and remove them so the train continues unimpeded.

Ulster County NY county executive changes his mind and gives CMRR new 25 year contract for full length of ROW. CMRR restores track and contracts with Amtrak for through-trains from NYC through the Catskills. Full length of track is restored, including Delaware County. Passenger success encourages freight shippers to locate online there.

Freight railroads drop all objections to Amtrak, provide preferential dispatch, partner with Amtrak on speed upgrades and fast mixed-passenger-freight trains.

DOT requires all interstate highways to have associated passenger train lines (and bicycle paths). This becomes the new Amtrak Fully Automated Monorail Division.

In order to support US energy independence, Amtrak commissions a fleet of Tier-IV compliant steam engines, replacing all diesel equipment up to 125 MPH. Engines can burn coal and/or biomass. Fully automated fire management feed requires no fireman.

Nuclear powered locomotive debuts on the Supertrain to rave reviews.

[BandA]

Faced with increased congestion on the NEC and tunnels, Amtrak debuts their mini-train. Two passengers wide and double stacked you sit down and the sides close - lower level boards one the right side, upper on the left. This mini-train balances on a single rail like a bicycle, has full tilt capabilities and can hop from rail to rail (or adjacent track) while maintaining catenary contact. When it gets to a station the scissor lifts in the trucks adjust to platform height automatically.

[rr503]

Uber R
RDCs for hire wherever and whenever you want

[Ocala Mike]

Just as fantastical as anything else in here. The State of Florida recognizes the importance of intrastate travel and finances a "Citrus Corridor" of passenger rail throughout the Sunshine State.

[Ridgefielder]

-Summer-only, Chicago-Fort Wayne-Pittsburgh-Philadelphia-NYP-Montauk.
-NYP-S Norwalk-Danbury-Waterbury-Hartford-Boston.
-BON-Bellows Falls-Rutland-Burlington-Montreal.
-NYP-Providence-Newport/Hyannis (train splits at Taunton).

[ExCon90]

Just as fantastical as anything else in here. The State of Florida recognizes the importance of intrastate travel and finances a "Citrus Corridor" of passenger rail throughout the Sunshine State.

Surely there are some limits, even to fantasy ...

I'd settle for forward-facing cameras, speedometers, and cab-signal repeaters in all cars.

[F40CFan]

Mica has an epiphany and becomes the number one Amtrak supporter in Congress. Ok, that would take a lot of Koolaid.