The largest train set in the world

These guys have way too much time on their hands. I wish I were them.

click on the title to view the news report about them. This is very impressive.

Here are some good Submarine Simulation game sites

http://www.subsim.com/index.php Check this out, its an excellent site for addons, and other scenarios for your SH III game. GWX 3.0 Gold is out now.
This site also offers Naval news and Intel articles.

Pick up a copy of Dangerous Waters here and at other sites. I just didn't want to name them all.
http://www.strategyfirst.com/en/games/DangerousWaters/
This game will be part of my inventory pretty soon. It looks like a ton of fun.

Home built CNC machine for under $200

This is a great article on building your own CNC machine. Plenty of instructions and you tubes to watch. Its pretty cool.

China is on board with the Mag lev system

http://www.gluckman.com/Maglev.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train

http://www.slate.com/id/2115114/

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200108/14/eng20010814_77299.html

German Maglev in Iran?

Heres an older article on Iran exploring a Mag lev built by a German firm. More and more countries are getting on board. When will it be the US's time?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,485422,00.html

Maglev explained

Maglevs (Magnetically levitated trains)

Introduction

The principal of a Magnet train is that floats on a magnetic field and is propelled by a linear induction motor. They follow guidance tracks with magnets. These trains are often refered to as Magnetically Levitated trains which is abbreviated to MagLev. Although maglevs don't use steel wheel on steel rail usually associated with trains, the dictionary definition of a train is a long line of vehicles travelling in the same direction - it is a train.

How it works

A maglev train floats about 10mm above the guidway on a magnetic field. It is propelled by the guidway itself rather than an onboard engine by changing magnetic fields (see right). Once the train is pulled into the next section the magnetism switches so that the train is pulled on again. The Electro-magnets run the length of the guideway.

What is the advantage of Maglev?

Well it sounds high-tech, a floating train, they do offer certain benefits over conventional steel rail on steel wheel railways. The primary advantage is maintanance. Because the train floats along there is no contact with the ground and therefore no need for any moving parts. As a result there are no components that would wear out. This means in theory trains and track would need no maintanence at all. The second advantage is that because maglev trains float, there is no friction. Note that there will still be air resistance. A third advantage is less noise, because there are no wheels running along there is no wheel noise. However noise due to air disturbance still occurs. The final advantage is speed, as a result of the three previous listed it is more viable for maglev trains to travel extremely fast, ie 500km/h or 300mph. Although this is possible with conventional rail it is not economically viable. Another advantage is that the guidway can be made a lot thicker in places, eg after stations and going uphill, which would mean a maglev could get up to 300km/h (186mph) in only 5km where currently takes 18km. Also greater gradients would be applicable.

What is the disadvantages with Maglev

There are several disadvantages with maglev trains. Maglev guide paths are bound to be more costly than conventional steel railways. The other main disadvantage is lack with existing infrastructure. For example if a high speed line between two cities it built, then high speed trains can serve both cities but more importantly they can serve other nearby cities by running on normal railways that branch off the high speed line. The high speed trains could go for a fast run on the high speed line, then come off it for the rest of the journey. Maglev trains wouldn't be able to do that, they would be limited to where maglev lines run. This would mean it would be very difficult to make construction of maglev lines commercially viable unless there were two very large destinations being connected. Of the 5000km that TGV trains serve in France, only about 1200km is high speed line, meaning 75% of TGV services run on existing track. The fact that a maglev train will not be able to continue beyond its track may seriously hinder its usefulness.

A possible solution

Although I haven't seen anywhere a solution could be to put normal steel wheels onto the bottom of a maglev train, which would allow it to run on normal railway once it was off the floating guideway.

500 KPH maglev for Japan

AMSC helps speed Japanese maglev train to 500kph

American Superconductor Corp. of Westborough, a maker of alternative electricity systems, reports that Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central) successfully ran its magnetically levitated train system for the first time using high temperature superconductor (HTS) electromagnetic coils powered by American Superconductor's HTS wire.

The maglev train attained speeds as high as 500 kilometers per hour (approximately 311 miles per hour), while it levitated about 10 centimeters (4 inches) above its "track." Superconductor electromagnets are used as the lifting component in JR Central's maglev train system. Data on the vibration and temperature characteristics of the HTS electromagnet will be collected and analyzed to provide a basis for further improvements.

The maglev train is being considered for Japan's Chuo Shinkansen, a main transportation route connecting Tokyo to Osaka, according to the company. JR Central has been running its maglev trains since 1997 utilizing low temperature superconductor (LTS) electromagnets. HTS electromagnets offer several advantages over LTS electromagnets including a much less complex cooling system allowing simpler designs, lower costs and more reliability, according to AMSC officials.

Additional testing and analysis are required in order for HTS electromagnets to be chosen as the preferred solution for maglev trains. AMSC estimates that the total potential HTS wire requirement for a full, commercial maglev train system for the Tokyo-Osaka run exceeds 100 million meters (62,137 miles).