Train submarine

Turn DOWN your music, you are giving me a headache!

 

FMS
My vision is for these isolated places perhaps growing organic bananas etc. free from the problems that monocultures have on the mainland or perhaps making refrigerators which they then export in exchange for a container train consisting of a variety of consumables which can be swapped over within an hour.
As without world trade the population would be at a great disadvantage I feel they would not be too fussy about a 1km long railhead being built on a suitable beach also I think the train sub would be able to handle rougher weather than a tug and barge but I may be wrong.

NavalSArtichoke*
The container train would be able to change over in less than one hour, far quicker than unloading individual containers.
Standard gauge 1km long rail heads would be built on suitable beaches.

El_Guero
The weather would have to be favorable for loading and unloading but being below the waves I would imagine the weather would not be a problem getting there also due to its small cross sectional area it would travel at twice the speed with half the fuel use as a conventional ship.

rwatson*
If it had a diameter of 6m and length of 1km then I worked it out to displace 28,000t of water so the train at 2,000t plus the steel at 5,000t should easily float with only 3m draught with ballast pumped out.
With 25mm thick steel and a level bed to lower onto for loading and unloading I do not think it would snap.
I have read the concrete submarine thread but I do not care if it is concrete or steel.

 

How about a picture? I'm not understanding who has the wheels.

 

Squidly-Diddly
The wheels are on the container train inside the train submarine.

I have drawn it up in 3D here http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=ead2abd1f481665d11bf9cc1612b5175&prevstart=0 in 30m high waves which I believe are the highest recorded.

 

I am having trouble understanding why long and skinny vessels carrying very heavy and bulky container systems are favoured.

Ultra large carriers are only about 1/2 kilometre long, and have very big challenges in hull flexing. Wave effects dont dissapear until about 100 feet down, so running juts below the surface is no solution.

Large steel railways at the edge of the sea for low tech/ low economic base locations seems a very unlikely scenario.

Finally, basing the whole financial function on a product like bananas, which are neither strategic nor high value, and are prone to seasonal production problems, all seems to have an unlikely success index .

It seems like a case of someone falling in love with a technical concept, without any supporting economic or engineering fundamentals being calculated.

 

rwatson
The advantage of a long and skinny ship, canoe or rowing skiff is the same as a long skinny train or B double truck, it takes very little extra effort to propel it because the resistance is almost the same as one far shorter.
If a vessel is designed to float mainly submerged it can be built far heavier and therefore stronger and I am not too sure you would need to go to 100 feet down to avoid most of the wave effect http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Tw-Z/Waves.html and even if you did the intake snorkel could be that long or float on the surface connected by a strong hose.
The only cost for an isolated place would be twin 1km rail lines and a self loading container truck. Even isolated places need consumables and by selling whatever they produce they would have a way to pay for them.
You would be right that the concept would have to be economically viable but with so many isolated places in the world and land transport costs so great to some mainland places I think it would be worth looking into if was an engineering possibility.

 

RWatson,

I am with you. I think he is missing the forest because of the beautiful trees he sees. (and the easy profit he thinks he can make off those 'natives' who have lived for centuries without his submarine).

Wayne

 

El_Guero
Mate I am only a 68 year old pensioner with an idea that may make life better for many people in the world disadvantaged by their isolation, the last thing I would want to do is rip anyone off.

 

mmm .... Your first thought is profit is about ripping them off?

Interesting.

 

Sorry mate, I thought that was what you were suggesting.

 

Nice.

"Must spread rep before giving to PAR again."

 

I just do not understand this constant reference to coke.

 

Mate,

You drop in and ask an 'easy' question about a 5 to 10 billion dollar submarine .... and reasonable observation makes you think of ripping people off.

How would you present this business model to a banker, or to your Prime Minister? Because this is an expensive dream. And would need huge government subsidy to compete with existing systems - IMHO.

Or, how would your expensive delivery system compete with available systems? Delivery is already there, but they are using different delivery systems ... slow boats with docks already in place and aircraft with routes already in place.

If you are not thinking huge profit, no one will talk to you about funding. Profit is there, but I do not see your customers clamoring to replace the existing system .... So, you have a high bar to jump over.

wayne

 

So, how many business partners do you have currently?

 

Wayne
There would only be about $200,000 worth of steel so with such a simple design they would only cost a total of $10m each.

Being faster than conventional boats and with a one hour turnaround it could easily service many isolated communities in very short time.

If anyone wanted to cut our sea lanes (only 2 weeks fuel here) these could still maintain supplies so perhaps our government may kick the can a bit.