Today's time waster: the train that never stops

Taiwan's government information office proudly announced last year that Peng Yu-lun, "a resident of Sanwan Township with a penchant for R&D," had unveiled his idea for a train that never stops.

"The system saves energy and reduces equipment costs among other advantages, and Peng has already applied for a patent on his invention," notes the release. "However, Peng himself believes that the technical challenges will still require expert assistance in order to make the plan a reality."

Bottleneckers -- an intelligent breed -- may be asking themselves: "But dude, how do passengers get off the train?" Peng Yu-lun has apparently thought of that, too. Access to the train is from a smaller train that runs on rails atop the train-that-never-stops and then sort of lands on the roof.

I highly suggest watching the video about the idea, which was added recently to YouTube. I've viewed it three times and still can't quite get my mind around it. It looks like there is a lot of potential for beheadings and cut-off body parts in general. What if you're in the stairwell and the bottom train leaves?

-- Steve Hymon

Comments

[Larry Scholnick]

This is not really a new idea at all. This was the heart of the Jetson cartoon family's daily mode of transportation. Dad (George Jetson) piloted the family vehicle, dropped off the kids at their respective schools by releasing single-person pods, similarly dropped off his wife for shopping, and continued to his office, whereupon the the vehicle folded up into his briefcase.

The key was that he didn't have to stop to let each passenger off. The family vehicle was like the nonstop train and the single-person pods were like the shuttle trains.

Thank you Hanna-Barbara.

[Irwin]

This solution is very interesting. The only problem is if you don't change cars immidiately after the train has "departed", you will get left behind at the next station.