So I did a little bit of wikiwalking today. I started from today's Did You Know article:

"... that the 200 km/h maximum speed of the Munich-Nuremberg Express (pictured) makes it the only regional train in Germany fast enough to not impede ICE traffic?"

Hmmm, I didn't know that... Anyways, so from Munich-Nuremberg Express article, I went to Shinkansen. Now these Shinkansen are amazing! The 500 series looks awesome, and even though they have up to 800 Series Shinkansen now, the 500 Series is still the fastest and powerful shinkansen ever built. Now, all these trains have super powerful brake that can reduce speed from 300 kph to dead still in less than 60 seconds. Yet still, to reduce the impact if earthquake suddenly occurs, the newest Shinkansen prototypes are equipped with an air braking plate, which looks like a neko (cat) ear thus in Japan people call it "Nekomimi Shinkansen" :p Ten or fifteen or maybe thirty minutes later, I found myself reading the Eurostar article. Eurostar is not as striking as Shinkansen, but I think their technology is comparable to the one used in Shinkansen (at least that's what I get from reading the two articles). I ride Eurostar once, when I was... hmmm.. 9 years old maybe? (Geez, that's more than a decade ago...) But even at that time Eurostar was fast enough to be called bullet train, and the fact that Eurostar connects UK and France through Channel Tunnel makes my journey a quite unforgetable experience. Well, maybe I kinda exagerate it, I can't see a thing actually - it's just like entering a normal tunnel for half an hour, and voila welcome to France! Japan, France, UK.. hmmm, I wonder what kind of train that United States have? I rarely saw a train in Columbus, and as far as I know, only a little part of midwest have trains, and they are not high-speed, just the regular ones.. Why US are so behind in railroad? Beats me, I've seen so many railroad construction in old cowboy movies.. heck how many times you see those Looney Tunes character running around in the wild wild west and ended up tied on a railroad.. yet here, trains are not as big as in Europe.. You know, I am sure having good railroad networks in US will benefit everyone. But hey, a dream is not just a dream. Apparently, even though US are behind, the government starts to realize the importance of railroad transportation. Well, it's about time! Check this website: The Ohio Hub. Yes baby, Ohio will have railroads! And it will connect Ohio to 7 nearby states, and CANADA! How cool is that! Seriously, Cleveland in 1:38, Chicago in 3:53 and Toronto in 6:20! Man, that's gonna be awesome! Currently the plan is still in research and development process.. I read somewhere in the website, that it is hoping for 3.2 million rail trips in 2025. Man, that means it won't be deployed until at least 2015 or 2020 maybe? Only God knows where I'm gonna be in 10 years, haha... I don't even know where I'm gonna be next year.