Hey!
You ready for the ride of your life?
You'll climb on board the first, the fastest, and the most luxurious trains out there.
Along the way, you'll find out why trains can't go uphill and how some go without wheels!
But are you sure you’re ready?
We’ll board a couple of ghost trains!
We begin in 16th-century Europe.
Doesn’t feel like you’re riding a train, huh?
That’s because you’re on its prototype.
It’s a trolley that moves on wooden blocks instead of a railway.
You won't be on it for long since it was built to transport goods between a village and a
mine.
Horses and people were used instead of an engine.
Later, they started connecting trolleys with each other for greater efficiency.
You arrive in the nearest village on this locomotive ancestor and…
You're in the 19th century now!
You take the first steam engine train.
Thick sooty smoke pours from it.
A muscular stocker is working in a special compartment – he throws coal into the engine.
You ride at a measly speed of about 30 mph.
(Measly compared to our next stop, anyway!)
If it's hot outside, then inside it becomes simply unbearable.
Air conditioners haven't been invented yet.
Fortunately, you ride through a time tunnel and find yourself in present-day Shanghai.
You transfer to a comfortable modern train, and it’s one of the fastest types in existence
– Maglev.
And, yes, we have AC now!
You're sitting on a soft chair as the train travels so quietly and smoothly that you wouldn’t
even know you’re currently moving about 268 mph.
But this isn’t the train’s main feature.
It's unique in that it travels without wheels, but levitates with the help of electromagnetic
forces.
It doesn't even touch the rails!
Take the equal sides of two magnets and try to press them together.
Feel the resistance?
That's the power Maglev moves with.
And will you look at that – you’re now in Scotland!
You catch a train in the small town of Fort William.
It seems familiar to you, but you can’t quite recall where you’ve seen this thing
before.
As you’re passing through picturesque meadows along the high Glenfinnan Viaduct, you realize
that you’re chugging along on the real Hogwarts Express!
No time to go to magic school, though.
We’ve got many more stops!
We’ve arrived in Edinburgh.
You go to a special station to catch an equally special train.
You come up to it, and the red carpet is immediately spread in front of you.
"They must’ve confused me with some kind of superstar?" – you think.
Before you board, you’re handed a book with the descriptions of the places you’ll pass.
You hear live music playing in the fashionable carriage.
Attendants offer you drinks and food.
You’re admiring the beautiful view from the window when you notice a bus following
the train.
A strange sight it is, but it’s there in case you suddenly want to get off and enjoy
a local attraction.
And don’t worry about the train leaving without you – the bus will take you to the
next station where this luxurious locomotive will stop.
You're hungry, and fortunately, there are two restaurants on the train.
But you can only dine there in your best evening wear.
In the restaurant, you'll be served local dishes of the region you’re currently passing
through.
This train is called the Royal Scotsman.
You can ride in it for a whole week, but you need to get off now…
We’re in England, at the railway station in the small town of Snaith.
But it looks…deserted?
There are no ticket machines, no ticket offices, not even taxi parking.
Just when you’re starting to think you’re stuck in a ghost town, the train arrives.
You hop inside the car only to realize you’re the only passenger on board!
“It really is a ghost train!”
Nah, no mysticism here.
Empty trains travel around the UK all the time.
They pass through stations that have long been abandoned.
So, why not close them?
Well, for that, a rail company would need to go through a bunch of expensive bureaucratic
procedures, and that doesn’t exactly sound like a good time.
Plus, these ghost trains aren’t bothering anyone!
Kinda cool, in fact!
You reach a hill, and now your party of one must deboard because there’s no more railroad
ahead!
They can’t just keep laying the line up the slope – they’d need to cut through
the hill.
Long and explosive story short, you need to do everything so that the rails are straight
and flat.
Because the train can't go uphill, and here’s why:
Tracks and train wheels are steel.
There's very little friction between these smooth steel parts.
It's less than between your car’s rubber tire and the road, in fact!
Yet there’s still a firm grip, and the train can accelerate quickly since its mass is heavy
and it lies on a thin rail's area.
But as soon as the train rises uphill, its weight distribution changes, the frictional
force weakens, and the wheels begin to spin in place.
It can go up an elevation of only 2°.
Or you can increase the train mass, and then it’ll climb a small hill.
But there's another way.
You need to put “teeth” on the rails and wheels so that the train moves like a gear.
The highest gear railroad is in Switzerland – a place known for its mountainous terrain!
So, you take this gear train and ride along one of the most scenic routes in the world.
But the beauty of these places is soon shrouded by a darker tone.
You’re heading to Italy in 1911, and you get on a train of the Zanetti railway company.
The train, which isn't destined to reach its destination, will become the most famous ghost
train ever!
You and about a hundred other passengers enter a mountain tunnel in Lombardy…but you don’t
make it out the other side!
No one saw the train after that.
A couple passengers managed to jump out at the last minute.
They said that a thick white fog formed around the train inside the tunnel.
Then the whole thing just disappeared.
But records dated 1845 were discovered all the way over in Mexico City.
According to them, about a hundred strangely dressed Italians appeared out of nowhere in
the city.
Rumors soon spread that this train didn't just vanish – it passed through time and
space!
Ok, fine, it’s likely only an urban legend given its questionable lack of reliable sources.
But I’m just trying to have some fun here!
Let’s get back to the real world – Sweden, to be precise.
You, along with 250,000 other daily commuters, enter the Stockholm Central Station.
And this station is extraordinary: it recycles all those people’s body heat!
All that warmth is collected by heat exchangers in the station’s ventilation system.
It then gets converted into hot water, which is pumped into the heating system of a neighboring
building.
That’s pretty futuristic and efficient, but hurry along – our next stop is…
Japan.
You arrive at the station with pinpoint accuracy.
Seriously, the average delay time is under a minute for the entire year!
Ever been so punctual in your life?
Me neither!
If this train was ever late for some reason, you can get a special delay certificate at
the station that you can present at work as a valid reason for being tardy.
Of course, our train arrives right on time, we sit inside, and head to…
Cambodia.
If you love adventure, then you'll appreciate a ride on the Norry bamboo train.
People gather wide bamboo slabs and lay them on a square frame with wheels.
The makeshift train takes you through the Cambodian jungles along old railway tracks.
Such a journey resembles a trip on trolleys in mining tunnels.
The coolest thing is that you can build your own carriage.
Equip it with a motorcycle motor, or you can simply accelerate using the oars.
Locals make such carriages in about 4 days.
You get to the next station going a surprising 31 mph.
The heat of the jungle is replaced by snow meadows and alpine mountains.
We’re back in Switzerland.
You board the Glacier Express.
One of the most beautiful routes in the world.
There are wagons with panoramic windows showing breathtaking views of white fields, hills,
snowy villages, frozen lakes.
A real winter wonderland!
And that concludes our journey!
Get off my train!
Nah, just kidding.
No really.
Get off now.
ha
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