Subject:
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Re: Moonbase and monorail
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space
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Date:
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Sun, 18 Aug 2002 15:58:55 GMT
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Viewed:
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625 times
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In lugnet.space, Markham Carroll writes:
> My train could make a 30 degree climb at the third or fourth notch on the
> regulator, though it had about three cars aside from the engine. Two
> engines can pull more, and they can be easily disguised if it's a space
> train.
2 plates per track section is a more typical elevation change for 9V train.
At that gentle elevation change, it becomes difficult to develop a standard
for tracks. Hence I think that's why some people were suggesting that all
train track be at the same elevation.
Personally I think I would leave train track out of the pverall standard at
least at first. My modules may have some track on them but it will be in a
non standard way that will only interoperate among my modules.
Someone else suggested that train be confined to mining operations. That's
not exactly prototypical, NASA proposals and other futuristic studies do
envision track being laid for multiple uses including passenger transport.
However it seems from my SF reading that monorail or at least elevated track
would be more likely to be built first as it would require less grading. On
a moon where aluminum is essentially free (for the cost of solar smelting
it) but manual or robotic labor to do grading is expensive, it's likely that
most interbase surface transport more sophisticated than haulage roads would
be on elevated track where only the piers would require grading or surface
work of any kind.
(c.f. Kim Stanley Robinson's excellent Red/Blue/Green Mars books, one of the
most comprehensive views of basing/colonization/terraforming ever written as
well as a not too bad story, which I feel has applicability even if it is on
Mars rather than Luna... the colonists there built elevated monorails for
exactly the above reasons)
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Moonbase and monorail
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| "Duane Hess" <LEGOZILLA@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote in message news:H0sq4w.I6z@lugnet.com... (...) though. (...) those (...) track, (...) I'm (...) .Trains (...) My train could make a 30 degree climb at the third or fourth notch on the regulator, though it (...) (22 years ago, 13-Aug-02, to lugnet.space)
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