Okay, not computer hardware, but I don’t have a category for trains (hmm, might have to fix that…). News from France early this month that the TGV set a new rail speed record of 574.8 kph!
Of course some anti-Francophiles just have to mention that they couldn’t break the overall speed record for a train, which still stands at 581 kph, set by a Japanese mag-lev train. For me though, the fact that good ol’ steel-wheel-on-steel-rail managed to get within seven kilometres per hour of a mag-lev train says a lot about the French technology.
It’s probably fair to say though that the mag-lev rig probably has a better chance of entering service at speeds approaching the record, while this TGV run was purely a record-setter — a special train set up for the run, with fewer coaches, larger wheels, bigger motors and higher AC tension on the overhead.
Riding TGV at speed is still one of my life goals. The closest I’ve come so far is Thalys from Amsterdam to Brussels — it runs the original TGV stock, but in Holland it doesn’t run to top speed because it’s only on standard track (not the high speed purpose-built tracks built for TGV in France).
There’s some video of the latest record floating around the ‘Net (a search for “TGV rail speed record” on YouTube will hook you up) that is just astonishing. People standing on rail bridges while the train flashes by underneath them. A pan following the train by a camera that must have been a mile away to be able to keep up with it. Some footage from an aircraft matching speed — something impressive in itself, a plane flying at that speed while low enough to be able to keep a ground vehicle in a fairly close camera shot!
Okay, obviously I’m a train nut… but this is COOL! Vive la TGV!
Crossed Wires 