From Kingfishers to... Bullet Trains

36 Pages·2012·2.4 MB·English

by  Wil Mara

by Wil Mara
InnovatIons From nature
Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.cherrylakepublishing.com
Content Adviser: Mariappan Jawaharlal, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, California State
Polytechnic University, Pomona, California
Design: The Design Lab
Photo Credits: Cover (main) and page 1, ©Hxdbzxy/Dreamstime.com; cover (inset) and page 18,
©Mircea BEZERGHEANU/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 4, ©Darren Hedges/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 6,
©R Carner/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 7, ©iStockphoto.com/mura; page 9, ©Tristan Scholze/
Shutterstock, Inc.; page 10, ©Stefan1992/Dreamstime.com; pages 13, 23, and 27, ©Thomas
Nord/Shutterstock.com; page 14, ©Dennis Donohue/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 16, ©iStockphoto.
com/peart; page 17, ©Karel Gallas/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 20, ©SeanPavonePhoto/
Shutterstock.com; page 21, ©egd/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 25, ©World History Archive/
Alamy; page 28, ©Everett Collection Inc/Alamy.
Copyright ©2013 by Cherry Lake Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means
without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mara, Wil.
From kingfishers to . . . bullet trains/by Wil Mara.
p. cm.—(Nature’s inventors) (Innovation library)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61080-498-1 (lib. bdg.) — ISBN 978-1-61080-585-8 (e-book) —
ISBN 978-1-61080-672-5 (pbk.)
1. High speed trains—Juvenile literature. 2. Birds—Flight—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
TF1455.M37 2012
625.2'3—dc23 2012005747
Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge
the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
Please visit www.21stcenturyskills.org for more information.
Printed in the United States of America
Corporate Graphics Inc.
July 2012
CLFA11
Chapter one
Speeding Through History 4
Chapter two
Hey, Turn That Down! 9
Chapter three
What in the World Is Biomimicry? 14
Chapter Four
The Future of Bullet Trains 20
Chapter Five
The All-Star Team 25
Glossary 30
For more Information 31
Index 32
about the author 32
InnovatIons From nature
4
cHApTer one
H
ave you ever watched
a train go by? It’s pretty
fast, isn’t it? For centuries,
humans have been trying to
develop better methods of
shipping cargo and people
that are both fast and safe.
We’ve been successful so far.
But continuing to unlock the
secrets of nature is a key to
improving things even more.
Railroads, in one form or
another, have been around
for thousands of years. The
steam locomotives are still used in
earliest type was probably
some places.
From Kingfishers to . . . Bullet trains
speeding through History 5
the Diolkos pathways of ancient Greece. They were built
and operated during the 6th century bce. Wagons were
pulled along the Diolkos by either people or animals.
The wagons’ wheels rolled through grooves that the
Greeks made in the road. The grooves were not exactly
the same as rails, but their purpose was similar. They were
made to keep the wagons in place so they wouldn’t veer
off course.
In the 1500s, wooden rails were used in the European
nation of Austria. Surprisingly, the earliest known line
in that country is still in use today, although it has been
upgraded with modern materials and equipment. Metal
rails began to replace wooden ones in the 1700s. The
wheels of a vehicle rolled better on a metal surface, and
metal lasted longer and required fewer repairs. Around
the same time, wheel design began to change. Most
flange
importantly, a was added to the wheel to keep
the wheel on the track.
By the start of the 19th century, the first steam-
powered locomotive had been developed, and a
steam-powered rail system was operating in England.
It was so successful that similar railway networks were
built in other parts of Europe. By this time, railroad
cars were carrying both cargo and people, who were
delighted with the opportunity to travel so quickly to
faraway places.
InnovatIons From nature
6
Asia and the Americas began to lay down their own
tracks in the mid-1800s, and by the end of the century
their systems were well established. Germany was the first
nation to power its trains with electricity, in the 1880s.
In the early 1900s, electrical power began to be used
Diesel locomotives are used to pull both cargo and
passenger trains.
From Kingfishers to . . . Bullet trains
speeding through History 7
the shinkansen line changed the way people
travel in Japan.
diesel
in combination with fuel as a way of powering
locomotives. By the middle of the 20th century, this
technology had become common in many areas.
In 1964, traveling by train entered a new era with the
now-famous Shinkansen line in Japan. Its high-speed
trains traveled at tremendous speeds, bringing people
InnovatIons From nature
88
Learning & Innovation Skills to their destinations faster than
ever before. The Shinkansen ran
between the Japanese capital
The oldest known method
of Tokyo and one of its busiest
of rail travel that still
industrial centers, the city of
exists today is probably
Osaka. Today, the Shinkansen’s
the Reisszug, in Austria. It is a funicular
“bullet trains” can reach speeds
railway, which means it is built on a slope.
of 185 mph (300 kilometers per
Cables positioned underneath pull the cars.
hour). They carry more than 150
The cars are fixed in place—meaning they
million passengers each year, run
cannot be removed—and are operated by a
solely on electricity, and have never
pulley system. The Reisszug was first built
had a passenger death because of
in about 1500 and used to transport goods
a crash or derailment. In addition,
to and from Hohensalzburg Castle, situated
the trains are environment-
high atop a hill. Today, the line is powered
friendly, emitting only 15 percent
by electricity. Until 1910, people or horses
of the carbon dioxide that’s
powered the railway.
released by an automobile on a
similar journey.
Other countries have used
the ideas behind the Shinkansen to develop their own
bullet trains. The popularity of bullet trains shows that
they are the future of rail service around the world.
But as with any human invention, bullet trains have
had their share of problems. And when designers had
to solve those problems, they found solutions in the
most amazing place.
From Kingfishers to . . . Bullet trains