MegaRail

[texman]

Has anyone seen this? MegaRail Transportation Systems, Inc. (http://www.megarail.com/) There based out of Fort Worth promoting a new form of mass transit, or new form of transit in general. Some of it looks gimicky, Mostly just a hyped up version of PRT but the frieght component and the High speed rail part look pretty cool. The high speed rail section even has a PDF for the Texas corridor.

[gc]

Interesting. Looks like an infomercial...

[crescentboi]

I think this would be a great idea if they could get it to work. My only concern is that the cars or whatever seem really small. a bit too cramped to be in for a while on a hot summer day.

[bloodandpopcorn]

I agree crescentboi. And allowing personal vechicles to eventually go along the system could lead to some harrowing traffic problems (trains not being able to get back on the track because there are so many personal vechicles moving, etc.).

Take that out, and it seems like a very nice idea. Have they built a mock-up? Some pictures looked like there were at least life-size models.

[drumguy8800]

bleach. yeah, they have made a mock up.. on the right column, it says 'pictures..' it has pictures of all the little dinky tonka cars there. i don't like this idea: seems like the getting on/getting off would be way more difficult than an automobile.. and it would be very inconvenient.. what do you do with your car when you get off at some restaurant? and the cars themselves are mini and bah. mini and bah.

[mikedsjr]

That's just plain goofy. Tricked up car ferry on a rail on the megarail in front of and behind the megarail vehicles? First off, they need to represent it truthfully. That ain't rush hour traffic there and it represents traffic in a town in the middle of nowhere almost.

The one thing I absoluately adore about this is that it is off the ground. Replace DART rail lines with this. I don't want to see any DART rail on the ground, except at stations. This way you protect people and bambi.

[bloodandpopcorn]

if DART had the money to do it that way, they would agree with you mike ;). It's sadly not as easy as just building elevated, it's a significant added cost.

[texman]

has anyone loooked at the frieght and high speed rail component? Those i think are probably the only thing megarail has got going for it.

[URBAN GURU]

Is Spacely Sprockets behind all this?

[SpaceCityDood]

It looks like a big joke! Seriously, though- how feasible is this thing?
We could NEVER have this down here, as the cars would crash into the nearest 99,000 lb object.:p

[texcolo]

I heard a city concilman in Minneapolis has a serious bid to get something like this going in the Twin Cities.

Apparently these vehicles can navigate really sharp turns and can work in dense DT areas really well... at least that's what they claim.

[DFWCRE8TIVE]

Any news about this company? Their website hasn't been updated since 2005.

[RobertB]

Looking at the "company info" page gives an inkling:
MegaRail Company Information
Organization
Incorporated as a Texas corporation in October 1997.
Currently operating as a privately held, sub-chapter S corporation.
Background - Founded specifically to develop, market & operate advanced transport systems covered by U.S. and foreign patents.
I think some engineer had an idea, patented it, and waited for the world to beat a path to his door. Unfortunately, patents *expire* after seven years... if you don't make your fortune up front, it's up for grabs. And that's assuming it was truly unique to begin with.

I don't have time for a bunch of USPTO research, but I suspect if the company was founded in 1997, then the patents were probably finalized in 1998. That makes the company's expiration date 2005. The site will likely remain a cobweb until 2010, when the megarail.com and .net domain names expire.