NYC M-497 – Buzz Lightyear on rails

Ralph

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Jun 18, 2002
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That's neat stuff! I've seen photos of that NYC jet powered RDC. The illustrations of other futuristic ideas for trains are fascinating! Its fun to see the images designers had for our future. Where's my jet pack?! :)
Ralph
 

cnw1961

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Jan 7, 2006
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It is funny to see, how much people in the 1950s thought everything would change, and how much stayed the same – no jet pack, no flying car, no atomic power pack in your hair dryer...:mrgreen:

I found a (PDF) book of 44 pages about this US speed record of the M-497 with lots of information and pics (the file is 6.3 MB): http://www.midwesthsr.org/pdfs/M-497online.pdf
 

Russ Bellinis

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Feb 13, 2003
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It is funny to see, how much people in the 1950s thought everything would change, and how much stayed the same – no jet pack, no flying car, no atomic power pack in your hair dryer...:mrgreen:

I found a (PDF) book of 44 pages about this US speed record of the M-497 with lots of information and pics (the file is 6.3 MB): http://www.midwesthsr.org/pdfs/M-497online.pdf

When you consider how much everything changed in terms of technology between 1939-46 and the 1950s, it is understandable that people in the 1960s expected great change by the 1980s.
 

Pitchwife

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Apr 23, 2001
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A quote from the article: "Wetzel and his team reused the jet engines for another research project, a high-powered snow blower for opening winter track. In tests at the Central’s Buffalo yards, the jet blower efficiently cleared the rails; it also blasted most of the ties and ballast from under them."
:roll1::roll1: