In which I rant about nothing

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 10/15/2015 at 18:10 • Filed to: None

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So I was watching Back to the Future part 3 the other night and a couple of things bothered me. I know its just a show but there was one big thing that I couldn’t figure out. Lets just ignore the stupidest ending ever with that damn hover train and here it is:

The main reason that they concocted the whole train pusher concept was because they couldn’t fuel the engine, right? oh..spoilers if you haven’t see it...what are you a troll?

Anyway, so I was thinking about how they conveniently solved the plot issue of plutonium with Mr. Fusion and then it hit me...they have a damn fusion reactor! Its capable of at LEAST 1.21 Gigawatts so what was to stop them from using that as a power source?

“well they would have to build an electric motor and they couldn’t do it back then.”

AH HA!

You’ve got me! NOPE

The model train he built has a working electric motor, Yes I know it would have to be huge to generate the kind of power needed for 88 mph AND built using the tooling of the time, but weight isn’t an issue on a railroad track, and there is plenty of room in there once you dump the engine...

I know its just a story but how did Electricity savy Doc Brown not think of this solution first thing?

end rant.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > HammerheadFistpunch 10/15/2015 at 18:19

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They only had a couple of days before Doc, or Clint Eastwood would be shot by Buford Tannen... not a lot of time to re-engineer a drivetrain.

Besides, they never asserted why the road wheels needed to be going 88 miles per hour in the first place.... and then with the hover conversion, ground-speed isn’t even measured by wheel speed... and air-speed could easily exceed 88 miles per hour.

Frankly, if you are getting into it... forward motion while traveling through time is problematic, anyway... as it is easy to run into, or off of things across the time displacement.... like if they had gone the other way through time over the Eastwood Ravine, or like crashing into the downtown theater across the street from the clock tower... or running into the farmer’s barn in 1955.

Frankly, I would think it would be easier to disable the 88mph triggering mechanism, and engage the flux capacitor while the car stands still.

There is a lot to dissect, if you don’t suspend disbelief on these movies. ;-)

Like how the 1885 train wheels fit on a car with a hover conversion... or how a PRV V6 powered a hover conversion, if it was still separate from Mr. Fusion’s electrical system for the flux capacitor and the time circuits... or how the car is reliable enough to fly and a fusion reactor doesn’t melt down, but the time circuits glitch if you tap the console wrong.

-this space for rent- > HammerheadFistpunch 10/15/2015 at 18:23

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I’m sure in 2015 you can just go into any corner store and buy all the copper wire you’d need for a motor large enough to push a delorean to 88mph, but back in 1885 it was a little harder to come by.

Also, that’d make for a boring movie.

Mercedes Streeter > HammerheadFistpunch 10/15/2015 at 18:28

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I don’t know? His trainset was powered by the mains, right?

He’d not only need to design a huge colossal electric motor but also an equally powerful battery?

It was probably just easier to steal a train, modify that, then push the car.

HammerheadFistpunch > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 10/15/2015 at 18:37

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They had time to build that scale model and to fix the train and everything seems like it wouldn't be that much different

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 10/15/2015 at 18:38

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That's my point, he doesn't need a battery if he has an onboard fusion reactor

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 10/15/2015 at 18:56

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But no...he doesn’t need a battery for the car, it has it’s own power source...thus no reason to store power. We know this power source works to because it powers the flux capacitor

jariten1781 > HammerheadFistpunch 10/15/2015 at 19:08

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There’s some issue with using Mr. Fusion like that. Doc Brown specifically states that it’s not even running the car’s electronics. If future Doc with all his tools couldn’t figure that out it’s doubtful 1800s doc could. Also, remember 2015 world was still running its cars on gas and Mr Fusion was used to power homes.

What the issue is? Who knows. Perhaps it gets unstable when run a high loads for long times.

Anyway, I’d aim at making it into a heat source for the boiler rather than trying to kludge together the materials to make a train pushing electric motor.

HammerheadFistpunch > jariten1781 10/15/2015 at 19:25

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Good point on the boiler. Doc never says mr. Fusion doesn’t power the cars electronic but it’s a safe bet since there would be no need. In any case is it’s just railroad car they don’t matter anyway.

Mercedes Streeter > HammerheadFistpunch 10/15/2015 at 19:32

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Good point. Then I suppose that in the time he had, he couldn’t design an electric motor to move the car. Or maybe he just went with the first idea he came up with?

d15b > HammerheadFistpunch 10/15/2015 at 20:42

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Electrical storm from the end of the second movie.