Can Maglev Coasters Revolutionize Amusement Parks?

[LURCH]

Maglev Coaster

I posted a thread regarding this concept in PS 2.0, but I'm going to bring it up again in hopes of getting additional feedback.

First, to those who are unfamiliar with the inductrack concept, there is a brief explanation http://www.skytran.net/press/sciam02.htm .

The motion of the train over the track induces the magnetic field by which the train levitates. I believe that the main problem which renders this technology undesirable to the transportation industry is that this type of maglev cannot use its magnetic field for both levitation and propulsion. But a roller coaster does not need propulsion. The thing about coasters is, well, they coast!

But it seems obvious to me that if such a ride were easy to build, they would already exist in abundance. Can anyone see any prohibitive difficulty in the practical application of this technology to coasters?

 

[damgo]

I think they might already exist -- not sure. Maglev trains are just recently becoming cost-effective enough for real-world deployment... there's a big one in China, and some smaller ones in Britain.

I've been on coaster rides that use inductive propulsion to launch a car up an almost vertical track -- like a giant railgun -- but not heard of any coasters per se. I wouldn't be surprised to hear of some under development, though!