I hope you all enjoy the new sig I've made myself. *chuckles*

Have a good one, CheeseEater.

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"Theres at least 28MB left under the hood, I swear."

The Associated Press is reporting that President Bush has signed off on $45 million to explore the possibility of designing a maglev train from California's Disneyland to Las Vegas. Here's the article:

Levitating train from L.A. to Las Vegas gets boost

WASHINGTON (AP) - Plans for a levitating train from Las Vegas to Disneyland can move forward under a transportation bill signed by President Bush on Friday that frees up $45 million for the futuristic project.

Derided by critics as pie in the sky, the train would use magnetic levitation technology to carry passengers from Disneyland to Las Vegas in well under two hours, traveling at speeds of up to 300 mph. It would be the first MagLev system in the U.S.
The money is the largest cash infusion in the project's nearly 20-year history. It will pay for environmental studies for the first leg of the project.

The money had been delayed by a drafting error in Congress' 2005 highway bill, which was corrected along with some other changes by the legislation signed Friday by Bush. The delay had allowed a competing and cheaper diesel-electric plan to emerge as an alternative, but with the money now freed up supporters hope to move forward with the MagLev plan.

Above: Shanghai's Maglev train, capable of speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour

The train is meant to ease traffic on increasingly clogged Interstate 15, the main route for the millions of Southern Californians who make the 250-plus-mile drive to Las Vegas each year. There is no train on the route - Amtrak's Desert Wind between Los Angeles and Las Vegas was canceled in 1997 because of low ridership.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised passage of the law, saying the MagLev project "will safely and efficiently move people between Southern California and Las Vegas."

For the record, the distance between Disneyland in California and Las Vegas, Nevada is about 270 miles. In a car, with traffic and pit stops, you could probably cover that in about four hours, give or take a half hour. The maglev train can theoretically do it in less than an hour.

Of course, it's important to remember that maglev trains and tracks are apparently ridiculously expensive to build. $45 million probably wouldn't cover 10 miles of track, let alone 270-plus.

. Awesome. I'd so love to ride that!