Maglev Monitor
Midweek Morning MagLev Messenger (2025-07-16) Miscellaneous & Various Items
Interesting and background stories. All these less-important stories are in two semi-weekly e-mails, so each of you is not bothered by a lot of e-mails, and you can select which you want to read, and which you choose to ignore. This "MagLev Monitor" is issued Wednesday morning as this Midweek Morning MagLev Messenger (4M), and also late Saturday as the Saturday Evening Repost (SER).
This newsletter generally covers Superconducting MagLev, and more. It also covers competing technologies, such as EVs, hydrogen, and aviation. We won't forget the past, covering classic railways, and what lessons they can give us. And, of course, the Jigsaw Puzzles, for fun.
My website: http://www.LeviCar.com/
Maglev2000 website: https://www.maglev2000.net/
Can Americans Just Stop Building New Highways?
A new book argues that the expansion of the US roadway network has exacted social and environmental costs that far outweigh the benefits.
IMHO — We need to explain how P/D MagLev will make highways less needed.
How the US Fumbled Railroad Electrification [Part 2: WW2 to 1970] (13:35)
How the US Fumbled Railroad Electrification [Part 2: WW2 to 1970] (12:35)
Discussion of "HSR" starts at timestamp 9:16. Actually, this segment is about how the Shinkansen inpired the Metroliner, which, for that time, was "high-speed" (110 mph) compared to other American passenger-rail service.
Part I of this series was in "Maglev Monitor: Midweek Morning MagLev Messenger (2025-04-23)" and it is repeated here:
AmeriStarRail Issues a Challenge—and Faces One—for America’s 250th Birthday
Perhaps we should call P/D MagLev "Transcontinental MagLev"?
Since the eastern terminal will be in Hoboken, maybe it'll be time to revive the Hoboken Zephyrs?
Future editions of this newsletter will provide more about this proposal, and other similar proposals to enhance conventional rail to compete with HSR and MagLev.
Florida Plans High-Speed Rail Extension
https://www.newsweek.com/florida-plans-high-speed-rail-extension-2098717
Florida Plans High-Speed Rail Extension - Newsweek
Caption: “If completed, a train trip between Orlando International and Tampa would take roughly an hour. It takes two hours to drive between the cities on I-4. In 2024, Florida transportation officials said ...” (www.newsweek.com)
Brightline is seeking funding from a state agency, so even the poster-child of private HSR needs government help. But that's nothing new. The Federal Government gave land to railroads to encourage them to lay tracks in the Old West. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land)
Why ‘Personal Rapid Transit’ Can‘t Compete With Regular Old Buses
Could Tesla’s Cybercab and similar smaller vehicles replace traditional trains and buses? Unfortunately, the idea of “personal rapid transit” has some big drawbacks.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/don-t-shrink-the-bus
Why ‘Personal Rapid Transit’ Can‘t Compete With Regular Old Buses
IMHO — PRT doesn't work well with conventional technology, but it would work well with P/D MagLev. How? The linked article gives quite a number of reasons for the former, but P/D MagLev, with a minimum vehicle length of 4 feet (1.2m) can readily accommodate PRT vehicles on its regular guideways. You could have a regular PRT taxi that could take you cross county, with your luggage, at a reasonable cost.
General Motors makes game-changing announcement about future of its electric vehicles: 'It doesn't get much better'
It's a revolutionary tech breakthrough.
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/gm-lmr-battery-ev-project-update/
IMHO — Improving battery technology can result in reduced cost and weight for batteries, less tire wear on EVs, faster charging time, longer battery life, less need for mining of lithium and other metals, plus other benefits.
Related article:
Innovative company discovers unique use for old Tesla batteries: 'They can be quickly and economically repurposed'
This isn't just about better gadgets.
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/recell-tesla-battery-recycling-ev-lithium/
Superconducting Motor Could Propel Electric Aircraft
Superconducting Motor Could Propel Electric Aircraft
Caption: “Prototype unit from startup Hinetics uses a high-temperature superconductor” (www.msn.com)
Thanks to reader Jim Jordan
Engineers develop new steel technology to triple lifetime of bridges: 'We're enabling 100-year lifetimes'
https://www.yahoo.com/news/engineers-develop-steel-technology-triple-111512000.html
Caption: “Crumbling infrastructure is a widespread issue in the U.S. that needs significant funding and attention. Luckily, teams of researchers are working on new technology to help solve the problem ...” (www.yahoo.com)
We may need this for constructing guideways.
Oregon Zoo not yet all Aboard with Reviving Historic 3-mile Train Loop
North Carolina Transportation Museum
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2448dd9eaa8c
(For the jigsaw puzzle, you can adjust the number of pieces using the "Play as" option at the top right. There is a pause button to the right of the time indicator at the bottom center.)
https://www.nctransportationmuseum.org/
NC Transportation Museum | The museum that moves you!
Caption: “Welcome to North Carolina Transportation Museum. The N.C. Transportation Museum is a historic site and museum highlighting North Carolina’s important transportation history including railroading, automotive, aviation, and more. Located at the former Southern Railway Spencer Shops, once a major steam locomotive repair facility between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, the 60-acre site is rich in ...” (www.nctransportationmuseum.org)
I hope you like my tributes to conventional rail, especially since my overall aim is to relegate conventional rail to museums.
–– Joshua Zev Levin, Ph.D.
Dr. Levin,
Kudos on a truly compelling issue in your very interesting Substack. As I read through the articles in this issue, I felt as though you were crafting a kind of Venn diagram—an elegant convergence of the major challenges confronting civilization today. Issues like safe streets, clean air, sustainable energy, land conservation, and equitable access to a better standard of living all seemed to intersect, revealing a profound global market opportunity for superconducting maglev (SC Maglev) transport technology.
At the center of this imagined Venn diagram, in my mind's eye, stood the energy-efficient superconducting maglev system pioneered by my late colleagues, Drs. James Powell and Gordon Danby. Now, after four decades of advocacy, I’m encouraged that their transformative vision may finally reach market realization within this century.
Thank you again for producing such an inspiring issue—and for your steadfast support of the elevated guideway concept. This high-speed logistics corridor, built primarily along existing highway rights-of-way, offers the remarkable capability to electronically switch off the guideway and use the Powell and Danby system on inexpensively adapted conventional rail trackage. This approach enables seamless access to port facilities, land terminals, and urban rail hubs.
As the realities of energy, food, water, land-use and the broader commons come into sharper focus, I’m hopeful that enlightened policymakers and investors will champion the testing and demonstration of this remarkable transport innovation—positioning it to complement and evolve the nation and the world's highway, rail, and air systems.
Please continue sharing your thoughts and reports on this vital sector of human infrastructure in our increasingly interdependent world.
James Jordan
President, Interstate Maglev Project and Executive VP of Maglev2000