Was reading the Obituaries last night (something people tend to do when they get to be my age) and spotted one for William L. Alden of Falmouth, MA. Since Falmouth isn’t an area normally covered in my paper I started reading and was surprised to learn of his accomplishments. Like Al Amatuzio, the founder of AMSOIL, Mr. Alden saw future needs and developed systems to meet them. In the 1960’s he developed staRRCAR (Self Transport Road and Rail Car), a system of electric vehicles that could be driven on the road or onto a rail system if going longer distances. It was installed in Morgantown, West Virginia and for over 44 years has carried over 15,000 passengers per day without a single accident. Imagine what a system like this could do for commuters, especially if updated to modern technology.
Mr. Alden’s entry on Wikipedia can be found here and a good article on the staRRCAR system is on THE VERGE or just do a Google Search on staRRCAR.