Hyperloop Progress....

Not long ago Elon Musk challenged the Cal High Speed Rail authority insinuation a better solution to a High Speed rail would be a Hyperloop. A Hyperloop works like a vacuum tube thrusting a pod at speeds greater than the speed of sound. There are at least three firms engineering a Hyperloop system in order to make this theory a reality. News reports indicate Hyperloop One completed a test in Las Vegas and propelled a pod 192 mph. This is about a third of the way to the final speed of 700 mph. Some say human can’t take that speed on the ground. It would do funny things to the stomach. We bring this up as the CalHighSpeedRail continues its construction and journey to provide human transport in California with a stop in Palmdale. It is possible that Hyperloop technology will only be used for freight. A technology that will seriously damage freight trains and long haul trucking. A job killer. A Hyperloop may not be a California or US solution as Russia and Middle Eastern Countries have interest in feasibility studies. Elon Musk who has said he would not develop the tech commercially recently tweeted that he had verbal government approval for the Boring Company to construct a Hyperloop system in the East Coast from New York to Washington. Washington never seemed to be in a hurry to go to work, so we will see how far this goes. Hundreds of mile underground? That maybe as much fantasy as a fully funded High Speed Rail in California. The jury is out on both.

The Hyperloop is Coming and Maybe to a Town Near You

A half billionaire and venture capitalist who has funded Uber, Airbnb, Munchery among other ventures is backing Hyperloop Technologies. He is Shervin Pishevar and not long ago he made a pitch to Senator Harry Reid. Granted Senator Reid will soon be out of office, but this science fiction project is gathering attention. The billionaire Elon Musk is also pushing the program and both parties are conducting test programs in Texas and Las Vegas. The Hyperlook may not supersede the CalhighSpeedRail, but it will give many to pause. If cargo can be transported from Los Angeles to Denver or beyond via a Hyperloop then that changes transport costs. I will really change the way transport is done. It should clearly be a threat to the HighSpeed Trains, and the Airline industry. It this takes off like these innovators see it then it can eliminate the commute. A loop could run above a freeway and zip people for under ten dollars from downtown to LAX, or from San Francisco to San Jose and then maybe you can hope into a driver-less car to take you to the office. It is not that far off to being a reality.

SpaceX has Awarded MIT Team The design Contest for the Hyperloop

The Hyperloop is progressing. In this case it is Elon Musk's SpaceX financed Loop.The MIT grad students won out against a 100 other teams. This design will go into a proto-type in Hawthorne California. The proposed system would use pods traveling in tubes in a vacuum at 750 MPH from Houston to Dallas, or San Francisco to LA. The design is an elevated design above the ground and MIT design has been reported as using magnets. There are now several plans in place and all designed in the US. We will see which one or many work out. This certainly competes with a high speed rail in California which will cost billions. We are still unsure if the Hyperloop is really feasible as it will take a person at 750MPH. Some design include carrying vehicles. Hyperloop people say a person will not realize they are going 750 MPH, but how can it turn? Critics say a person can handle a change even gradual turns or rising and falling without getting sick. If that is the case then a Hyperloop would have to be at the same level from San Francisco to LA. It just seems impossible to be at say 50 feet up all the way since California is not flat. We will see where this goes.

The Hyperloop is coming to Las Vegas

Elon Musk’s radical transport system will be tested in Nevada in 2016. It has been recently reported that the Hyperloop is coming to Nevada for testing. Hyperloop Technologies and the Nevada Governor’s office selected 50 acres in North Las Vegas at Apex Industrial park to test out the prototype system. This proposed system will reach speeds to 700 plus MPH or San Francisco to LA in 30 minutes. This system will be tested by in Las Vegas. A rival test will be done by a separate company Hyperloop Transportation Technology north of Los Angeles. The Hyperloop plan will be elevated above ground and it will carry tubes powered mainly by solar energy. There may be some hic-ups in the engineering, but Elon Muck Hyperloop Technologies and the rival LA group Hyperloop Transportation Technology are both pushing this technology forward. There always seems to be a reference of the SF to LA, but this could work Dallas to Houston, or maybe NY to Washington. It is a rival to the California High Speed Rail and the Xpress West High Speed train from Los Angeles (Victorville to Las Vegas). The Cal High Speed Rail has broken ground in the Central Valley, but there are not enough funds currently to move it along to Palmdale. The Hyperloop has estimated that the cost per passenger from SF to LA maybe under $30, while the high speed rail will need $billions to complete will cost more per passenger. Let’s let this play out and see whose technology and if the State and Federal Government will approve a Hyperloop since they have already spent money and have voter approval on the Rail line.

Problems with the Hyperloop

We continue our input on mass transit in Californian and the alternative to the currently approved High Speed Rail, which is only partially funded. Like issues with the Cal High Speed Rail and we are sure there were issues with the US highway system that was introduced in the 50’s. There are a few major issues that would have to be addresses with the Hyperloop. The Hyperloop will as all mass transit has land rights issues. Getting right of ways locally and regionally. That is an avenue that can be addressed if the system is more than a science project. There will certainly be environmental issues as any development has to address. Two big issues though may make it an unsound idea. If it proves to be sound as a prototype then practical issues would need to be overcome. The Cato Institute says a big one is how much energy the Hyperloop would require. The linear propulsion system and the air pressure pumps for the tubes would probably need much more energy than would be provided by the solar panels Musk proposes installing on the tubes and the energy recovery system he envisions having at the end of the route, said Roger Goodall, a maglev train expert and a professor of control systems engineering at the United Kingdom's Loughborough University. Another big issue is that the Hyperloop would have to go straight. If this vacuum tube runs at 800 miles per hour or more, then scientists say a human could not take a bend at that speed without deposited their lunch or breakfast on the seats or other passengers. The force of moving a human body at such speeds a few feet left or right or up and down over a hill maybe too much for a passenger. It is likely unrealistic to think you can have a straight shot from San Francisco to Los Angeles. There would have to be bends in the plan. If this can be overcome then maybe there is hope for a $20 one way ride, not including your car. But is there enough energy to do it with just solar? And will the development costs far exceed the construction costs. Things to consider.

HyperLoop Test Track in California

Elon Musk has has pushed the Hyperloop forward from a dream to a test track. The Hyperloop train is a proposal to move people and cars at super speeds (760 mph) via a tube system. You could move from San Francisco to Los Angeles in under 45 minutes and drive your car right away. It appears that Elon Musk’s “hyperloop” system will build a test track in Texas. Another developer is proposing to build a test track in Quay Valley in Kings County. Quay Valley has been a proposed sustainable community, or a modern 21st century town from the ground up. It runs along Hwy 5 in central California. Quay Valley is not unlike Centennial in Antelope Valley has proposed. This proposed hyperloop track will be slower and shorter than Musk’s Loop in Texas. This slower system will allow engineers to study the system to load and unloading people and movement of the system. They have the land and they indicate they have the money also. We continue to bring this up as a Hyperloop would be a less expensive alternative to the CalHighSpeed Rail.