>>1288138>It's that gay huhYes, flamboyantly so
Anyway, on the topic of atmospheric railways (pic related). The system has extraordinary advantages:
>as with maglev, no engine, transmission, battery, or tank on board >can move up to THREE TIMES the payload of conventional railway systems with the same amount of energy>support structure needs less reinforcement >track construction is much faster than in conventional railways>can do very steep climbs and tight turns>can easily be remotely controlled>train collisions are almost impossible by building air cushions between them >operation on the site itself is quiet emission-freeCost is comparable. Total emissions depend on source of energy used for operation. The following disadvantages have to be considered:
>track has to be separated since it's hollow and can't can be damaged by heavy vehicles >ice and snow can damage or block track elements. This makes it very hard to use beyond tropical or sub-tropical climate zones >high amount of embedded carbon through track construction. I guess if you wanted to build an aeromovel in North America or Europe, you'd have to include heating elements on the track. That may cause a whole bunch of other problems. I'd love to learn how they compare to maglev, which shares many of the same characteristics.
