Transport Tycoon Forums

Computerized trains are already a reality. Think BART in San Francisco.
Pressurized coaches are also already a reality. The Chinese use them on their rail link across the Himalayas into Tibet.
Conclusion? This idea has legs. Go with it.

wallyweb wrote:Computerized trains are already a reality. [...]

Indeed it´s very hard to invent a "futuristic train".

* With regards to their drive, IMO the future belongs to electric drive, fed by a high-voltage catenary system. Only by using high voltage, e.g. 25kV, the needed power supply would be possible, but not with a low voltage system. By the same reason, DC systems (hence "third rail") aren´t "futuristic" either.

Using a catenary system is advantageous over any system which generates electric power "on-board":

- engines may be lighter without all the needed gadgets to produce electric power on-board,

- production of electric power by central power plants is more effective and environmentally favourable.

* Computerized control for trains is already in existence and one may argue that it´d be more widespread in the future. However, this is a feature which cannot be modelled sensibly in TTD.

* With regards to design, some of the existing high-speed trains do already have a quite "futuristic look". O/c, our reception is time-dependent, so this may be a questionable argument. Nevertheless, it doesn´t make the task any easier.

* Although the wheel/rail combination has been quite successful for the last 100 years, and e.g. the French TGV system suggests to be equally successful for the next decades, some very different systems could gain more interest in the future:

One of them is magnetic levitation. Although this isn´t really a new concept, there are quite a few realised projects. One of the technically most advanced concepts is the German TransRapid system which, nevertheless, has been only realised for one single commercial line in Shanghai/China, except from its test-bed in Germany.

The most disadvantageous features of magnetic levitation are the high building cost of the track (in the TransRapid system it contains the linear motor), the high amount of (electrical) energy needed for the envisaged high travel speeds, and the incompatibility with the existing railway system.

Nevertheless, in TTD this concept (magnetic levitation) is already available, so developing any further "futuristic trains" beyond this seems to be quite hard, at least for the majority of set designers.

regards
Michael

I agree with Michael on pretty much all that he said, except for the following:

michael blunck wrote:* Computerized control for trains is already in existence and one may argue that it´d be more widespread in the future. However, this is a feature which cannot be modelled sensibly in TTD.

TTD by its very nature is a computer controlled system where we program our trains by giving then their orders and then we set them loose onto our networks in the hopes that we did not preset one of our signals incorrectly..

Hmm, well I always did want more Mono Rail and Mag lev type trains for OpenTTD
Though first I think somebody should make a better looking Mag Lev track, the TTD one looks to Corny by todays Standerds
Maybe Somebody could make it Above Ground and Make a Special Station set that Connects the Ground to the Track
Kinda like how El. Train Stations in Places like Chicago or In Some places in Tokyo ( i know there are many more places but im just naming a few)

Also, what about Super High Powered Trains that maybe not be Extreamly fast <400Km\h but Have in excess of over 20,000 HP to deliver really heavy stuff like maybe A huge Line of Oil Tankers or a Long line of Raw Ore Cars or even Moving Air Plane or Ship Parts ( normally transported either by land, by ship or on the Beluga Jumbo Jet) should the industry type be made that need these parts or for just Really Huge loads or if you need a Train which can take on Mountainous Terrain.

NekoMaster wrote:Maybe Somebody could make it Above Ground and Make a Special Station set that Connects the Ground to the Track

like this? http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=34753

Why should we stick to reality? This is a game. What about plasma-anti gravity?

Roujin wrote:

NekoMaster wrote:Maybe Somebody could make it Above Ground and Make a Special Station set that Connects the Ground to the Track

like this? http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=34753

I tried this before, it didnt work out too well

athanasios wrote:Why should we stick to reality? This is a game. What about plasma-anti gravity?

WTF! How can Plasma and Anti Gravity Go together? Ok, that's really thinking out side the box but might be a little too advanced for the 21st century, maybe in the 22nd or 23rd would be good cause right now our technology is no where near getting plasma to work, we have Plasma Torches and Cutters but thats not really the plasma where thinking off

Hmm, now that i think about it, a few weeks ago when I watched Iron Man tony used a Arch Generator or something like that to keep him alive, to power his suit and also Power Stark Industries, well, how about a Train powerd by simular means?

It would be expensive to buy but cheap in the long run as it wouldnt rlly need fuel at all and the running cost would be low, and also the Power and speed would probably be pretty high.

Anyways, i finally rememberd to bring home my drawing of the GPT train

NekoMaster wrote:Hmm, now that i think about it, a few weeks ago when I watched Iron Man tony used a Arch Generator or something like that to keep him alive, to power his suit and also Power Stark Industries, well, how about a Train powerd by simular means?

It would be expensive to buy but cheap in the long run as it wouldnt rlly need fuel at all and the running cost would be low, and also the Power and speed would probably be pretty high.

Anyways, i finally rememberd to bring home my drawing of the GPT train

There are fuell cell trains in some set, I think it is pretty much the same.

CommanderZ wrote:

NekoMaster wrote:Hmm, now that i think about it, a few weeks ago when I watched Iron Man tony used a Arch Generator or something like that to keep him alive, to power his suit and also Power Stark Industries, well, how about a Train powerd by simular means?

It would be expensive to buy but cheap in the long run as it wouldnt rlly need fuel at all and the running cost would be low, and also the Power and speed would probably be pretty high.

Anyways, i finally rememberd to bring home my drawing of the GPT train

There are fuell cell trains in some set, I think it is pretty much the same.

Your talking about the Fuel Cell (hydrogen) train from the NARS v2.0 set

Well my idea is something much different, My idea is sorta like the Arc Reactor, but instead it uses a Rod of Uranium or Plutonium and in the coil on small scale nuclear fission would happen, and the heat and energy released would react with the Inner Coils Metal and it would become electrically charged and a outer coil would extract that electricity and send it to the electronics and motors of the train.

Also, a little off topic, why not a Train set that resembles the style of trains from Final Fantasy VIII? Those trains look fast and powerfull, so why dont we try something like that (there probably Diesel Fueled btw)