The Rand Corporation
1971
The Very High Speed Transit System.
By: Robert M. Salter
Description of a very high speed transit (VHST) system operating in its own rarefied atmosphere in evacuated tubes in underground tunnels. Most cases considered took less time to go coast-to-coast (e.g., 21 min) than it takes an aircraft to climb to an efficient operating altitude. VHST's tubecraft ride on, and are driven by, electromagnetic (EM) waves. In accelerating, it employs the energy of the surrounding EM field; in decelerating, it returns most of this energy to the system. Tunnel systems would be shared by oil, water, and gas pipelines; channels for laser and microwave waveguides; electric power lines including superconducting ones; and freight systems. Environmental and economic benefits are substantial, and the technology for building and operating the system exists. 17 pp.
RAND Document No: P-4874 Year: 1972 Pages: 17
Title: The Very High Speed Transit System.
Author(s): Robert M. Salter
Keywords: Air pollution; City planning; Pollution; Urban transportation
Cover Price: $20.00
1972
Defense Technical Information Center
Accession Number: ADA032172
Citation Status: ACTIVE
Title: The Very High Speed Transit System,
Fields and Groups : 130600 - SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND EQUIPMENT
Corporate Author: RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CALIF
Personal Author(s): Salter,R. M.
Report Date: AUG 1972
Media Count: 19 Pages(s)
Report Number(s): P-4874 (P4874)
Descriptors:
*TRANSPORTATION, MAGNETIC FIELDS, SUPERCONDUCTORS, TUNNELS, DRIVES, VEHICLES, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, ENERGY CONSERVATION, ELECTROMAGNETISM, ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT.ZTRANSPORTATION, MAGNETIC FIELDS, SUPERCONDUCTORS, TUNNELS, DRIVES, VEHICLES, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, ENERGY CONSERVATION, ELECTROMAGNETISM, ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT.Z
Identifiers:
*Magnetically levitated vehicles, *Tubetrains, *Very high speed transit systems
Abstract:
The Very High Speed Transit or 'VHST' concept was put forward some years ago in response to the search for a pollution-free transport method that could operate at speeds competitive with aircraft. The general principles are relatively straightforward: Electromagnetically levitated and propelled cars in an evacuated tunnel. The VHST's 'tubecraft' ride on, and are driven by, electromagnetic (EM) waves much as a surfboard rides the ocean's waves. The EM waves are generated by pulsed or by oscillating currents in electrical conductors that form the 'roadbed' structure in the evacuated 'tubeway.' Opposing magnetic fields in the vehicle are generated by means of a loop of superconducting cable carrying on the order of a million amperes of current. The system is highly conservative of energy. Economic, environmental and technical aspects are briefly considered.
Distribution Limitation(s): 01 - APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Source Code: 296600
Document Location: DTIC AND NTIS
Geopolitical Code: 0628
Supplementary Notes: Previously announced as N73-13990.
Citation Updated: 06 MAR 2002
Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Members of the public may purchase hardcopy documents from the National Technical Information Service.
1978
Trans-planetary subway systems: a burgeoning capability
By: Robert M. Salter
Describes a subway concept called "Planetran" comprising electromagnetically supported and propelled cars traveling in underground evacuated tubes, able to cross the United States in one hour. It is designed to interface with local transit systems, and the tunnel complex also contains utility transmission and auxiliary freight-carrying systems. Tunnels represent a major problem area and most of the cost. They will be placed several hundred feet underground in solid rock formations. It will require advanced tunnel-boring machines, such as hypersonic projectile spallation, laser beam devices, and the "Subterrene" heated tungsten probe that melts through igneous rocks. Planetran is rated as a system high in conservation of energy. For every car being accelerated, there is one decelerating in an adjoining tube. The decelerating cars return energy to the system. The tubes have a reduced atmosphere, making drag losses much smaller than for aircraft. Coast-to-coast energy costs are expected to be less than $1.00 per passenger.
RAND Corporation Document No: P-6092 Year: 1978 Pages: 35
Title: Trans-Planetary Subway Systems: A Burgeoning Capability.
Author(s): Robert M. Salter
Keywords: Railroads; Tunnels; Underground structures; Urban transportation
Cover Price: $20.00
Note: This one does NOT come up at DTIC - may not be available for public release
LA Times Article Proposes
10,000 MPH Tube-Shuttle Network?
by John Rhodes
Imagine taking a trip from LA to San Francisco in 21 minutes! While it might sound too incredible to be true, in 1972 scientists publicly stated that it could be built and it should be built.
The following is a quoted article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times newspaper on June 11, 1972. It is an interview with the RAND Corporation's lead physicist, Dr. Robert M. Salter about the benefit of constructing an underground Very High Speed Transit (VHST) system across the United States. It describes the economical and environmental benefits of subterranean transportation and states that traveling at such amazing speeds can be achieved using conventional (1972) technologies.
Think About It: Our government's planning for Continuity Of Government (COG) includes underground bunker facilities located across the United States. It only stands to reason that the planners would have also considered how their supply lines could be protected from airborne attack. Someone involved in the planning, after reading the following article, would have realized that an underground VHST tube shuttle system would be perfect for protecting the distribution of vital personnel and supplies under an American Battlefield landscape without risk or interference.
If military strategists knew such a remarkable system could be built, not building it and leaving our national transportation infrastructure above ground, vulnerable to damage by military attack or natural disasters, would be neglecting national security objectives.
It's been over thirty-five years since this concept was first made public. I believe it is time for the Shadow Government to turn over the main lines to the surface population. If rumors are true, the Black Ops could begin using their hidden, "backup" tube shuttle systems full time instead.
(Blue Highlights by John Rhodes Red Highlights by Pegasus)
Nuclear Tunnel Boring Machines (NTBM's)
.
Method and Apparatus for Tunneling by Melting
Publication number: US3693731
Publication date: 1972-09-26
Inventor: ARMSTRONG DALE E; MCINTEER BERTHUS B; MILLS ROBERT L; POTTER ROBERT M; ROBINSON EUGENE S; ROWLEY JOHN C; SMITH MORTON C
Applicant: ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
Abstract of US3693731
A machine and method for drilling bore holes and tunnels by melting in which a housing is provided for supporting a heat source and a heated end portion and in which the necessary melting heat is delivered to the walls of the end portion at a rate sufficient to melt rock and during operation of which the molten material may be disposed adjacent the boring zone in cracks in the rock and as a vitreous wall lining of the tunnel so formed. The heat source can be electrical or nuclear but for deep drilling is preferably a nuclear reactor.
Apparatus and Method for Large Tunnel Excavation in Hard Rock
Publication number: US3885832
Publication date: 1975-05-27
Inventor: ALTSEIMER JOHN H; HANOLD ROBERT J
Applicant: US ENERGY
Abstract of US3885832
A tunneling machine for producing large tunnels in rock by progressive detachment of the tunnel core by thermal melting a boundary kerf into the tunnel face and simultaneously forming an initial tunnel wall support by deflecting the molten materials against the tunnel walls to provide, when solidified, a continuous liner; and fragmenting the tunnel core circumscribed by the kerf by thermal stress fracturing and in which the heat required for such operations is supplied by a compact nuclear reactor.
US Patent 3885832 PDF
so much going on below the surface