Magnetic Levitation

A 300 mile-an-hour train that could whisk Baltimore commuters to Washington (and vice versa) in 15 minutes would help energize and transform the two cities' economies into one large regional metropolis, the project's supporters said yesterday, but it will never happen without $500,000 for a feasibility study.Funding for the $1 billion prototype magnetic levitation -- or "maglev" -- train, is being considered by Congress as part of the mammoth transportation reauthorization bill, according to William Boardman, a Washington consultant who is head of a coalition working to persuade Congress to build the prototype ,, line between Baltimore and Washington.

The United States can whoosh past Japan and Germany in the development of a commercially successful 300 mph train by pursuing a low-tech solution to a high-tech problem, a key proponent of building such a link between Baltimore and Washington said yesterday.Richard J. Gran, a technical expert for the MAGLEV USA consortium, said the group's breakthrough in the development of a magnetic levitation railroad system is more a matter of concrete than exotic systems for suspending and propelling the vehicles.

Some options to get you out of the house and shake the shivery winter doldrums:SALUTE SOME ENGINEERS:It probably sneaked up on you again, but National Engineers' Week is almost upon us, and the city has several things you can do to celebrate:* Tour the USS Boulder, a 500-foot-long, tank-carrying Navy landing ship docked at Inner Harbor's West Wall. (Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow.) The Navy sent the ship to host receptions for the seventh annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards, sponsored by Mobil Oil and Black Engineer magazine, which is published by Baltimore's Career Communications Group.

A COMMITTEE of the National Research Council, in a recently released study for the Federal Aviation Administration suggested wide-ranging improvements in the nation's air transport system, from expanding many airports to increasing plane size to accommodate as many as 1,000 passengers each.This report, entitled "Airport System Capacity: Strategic Choices," followed a one-year study of the requirements imposed by projected air traffic volumes into the early and mid-21st century. To be sure, improvements in air transport are called for especially in high density corridors such as between Washington and Boston, New York and Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

GLENWOOD MIDDLE School held its annual Enrichment Fair on May 20. More than 300 pupils exhibited projects related to classroom work on topics in science or social studies, and participation in service groups, peer mediation, outdoor education and school bands. They also exhibited projects involving independent research and problem-solving.County Executive James N. Robey was one of the hundreds who visited the displays and talked with pupils. Priscilla Geisler, the fair's organizer, said, "The kids were just ecstatic that Robey was there."

Maglev trains could unite region, northeast corridor"The Outlook" column in The Sun recently addressed prospects for high-speed magnetic levitation (Maglev) train service in the Baltimore-Washington area (" `Maglev' trains could speed growth over Md., some say," May 30).A 1994 study of Maglev service between Camden Yards and Union Station demonstrated that it would increase tourism and economic, social and recreational interaction between the two urban areas.Since the Maglev trains would travel betweeen the cities in 16 minutes, they would make it feasible for people who work in Washington to live in the lower-cost Baltimore area and for Baltimoreans to have lunch in Washington and perhaps visit a museum before getting back to work.

BILL WITHUHN took his first and only ride on a magnetic levitation train in 1989 while visiting the test track of a prototype train in Germany. The Smithsonian Institution's longtime transportation curator was impressed with the system, which uses magnetic fields to quietly propel cars along a friction-free rail at speeds nearing 300 mph. "It was like an airplane on takeoff - without the rumble," he says. "Smooth as glass." At the time of his visit, the train had undergone a decade of testing.

In the race for federal money to build the nation's first high-speed magnetic levitation train, Maryland will take a big step forward next week as one of a handful of states awarded funds for formal studies."

An incomplete map accompanied an article Tuesday in the Maryland section on a feasibility study of a prototype 300-mph magnetic levitation train. These are the four alternative routes for a regional maglev system, a project that currently lacks federal support.

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