🚂What topics in railway engineering would you like to see me cover? 🚗 Infrastructure Road Trip Bingo is on presale starting today! Pick one up at store.practical.engineering/
Signaling Systems which is probably my favorite part of railroading. Some other suggestions (you probably already thought of these): - Hump Yards - Railroad Braking Systems - Last Mile Switching (local freights and switching industries). - How railroads haul various commodities (coal, corn, petroleum, etc) - Railroad Communications - Railroad Dispatching (another one of my favorites!) - Various parts of the roadbed and how they are maintained - How locomotives work Love your channel (also enjoying your new series on Nebula.. btw, it was your channel that got me to subscribe to Nebula). I figured you were also a railfan :) I highly recommend his book. It is great reading... planning on getting the bingo game :) Thanks!
Do collab on the economics of railways. In Germany the Railway looses money and needs to be subsidised heavily. Is that a general problem compared to highways ? Where is the break even point ?
Here in Germany, double deckers are actually very common on the busy commuter lines running from the minor to the major cities. Transporting that many people just wouldn't be possible without them!
@@mrsupremegascon he's not wrong, they do take longer to get in and out of, but usually they're used in places where the train will stop for several minutes anyway
In fact, double deckers are so common here, there are barely any lines that use locomotive hauled single deck coaches in the entire country. The only type I'm aware of are married pair wagons that run on a few lines north of Hamburg, and I think that's it. Every other line is either double decker cars, multiple units, or double decker multiple units. I think there are some old n-Wagen and x-Wagen still on standby (so they're mostly used as emergency replacements), but they've been phased out for the most part. Edit: I completely forgot that the old IC trains are still running, those are still loco hauled (although they're _very_ slowly being phased out in favor of IC2 trains, which are double decker multiple units). So my statement above is only true if you look at regional/commuter trains, not intercity trains. That was what the original comment was about, so I guess it holds up.
Yes bicycle rail cars exist! Dedicated to just storing bikes But they probably classify as luggage cars with some extra rails and hardware to mount bikes on.
In Germany, we have special rail cars to transport liquid pig iron from blast furnaces to steel works. They are designed to keep the iron liquid for hours and are called "torpedo cars".
They're also used in the US (or pretty much anywhere connecting blast furnaces to steel plants with rail transport). The terminology is also the same, though they're sometimes also called "bottle cars".
We have these in south Wales too. Every now and then a train full of molten steel will roll through Cardiff Central station as it goes between steelworks. Apparently you can feel the radiant heat as it goes by
yes, and in graz (austria), there was an issue with such a car. the steel smeltery "marienhütte" accidentally smelted scrap metal with an orphan source. then they had such a torpedo car with 60t of radioactive iron inside. wasn't a lot of fun for them.
They're, or similar versions of them, are used on most steel mills to carry both products and slug around the facility. Not surprising since metal vehicles running on metal tracks is the best way to carry molten metal. Also the whole operation is pretty metal too :)
@@Dovahkiti hate trains but i live in a town where if u want to drive from one side of the other you have to pass train tracks. If u dont hit a train on the way you almost certainly will on the way back.
That "End of Train Device" is super important for safety too. Here in the UK, every train must have some form of red light bringing up the rear. On multiple units or when a loco brings up the rear, you can use the tail lights, while most freight and non-MU trains have a lamp that flashes. Traditionally it was used by signal boxes to ensure the whole train was in tact (look for the light as it passed by) but obviously it's helpful for other trains, track workers etc.
When I hired on the railroad, they still called them F.R.E.D. F-ing - rear - end - device. The old heads started calling them that because they were upset about losing the caboose.
I don't think it's just about the flashing red light, it also transmits brake pressure readings to the head-end. I notice on BNSF trains with rear DPUs or pushers, there is no red light. The locomotive's headlight is on dim. On UP trains, there seems to be no red light at all half the time.
As an European/Italian who lives right above a railway and is very fond of trains, this video is a joy for the eyes! And it is really interesting to see the differences between rail services between The USA and what is done here in Europe. Double decker passenger cars are very common in many European countries, like in France and Italy for example, because people here tend to use the train a lot more than the car to commute between home and the workplace or school location, and double deckers obviously are more efficient in passenger throughput in a given amount of time. Low-level cars are also very appreciated because they are most of the time level with the platform, making embarking and disembarking a breeze especially for the disabled. European train manufactures produce mainly low-level rolling stock, double or single decked, these days. It seems that the main differences between USA and Europe is in a few cars: cabooses, autoracks and coil cars. For cabooses, the closest in Europe are the brake vans that were used mainly in the UK when cars had no brakes on them. The UK also had, between the 60s and the late 70s, the so called "brake tenders", which were very low and very heavy ballast cars, looking like big metal slabs on wheels, fitted with automatic brakes, meant to be connected to diesels and assist them with braking. Outside the UK, some European freight cars with brakes had a "braker's box", a very small cabin where the brake man sat during trips and provided him with a brake handle for that car. Continuous braking in all cars/wagons did away with all of these eventually. For autoracks, the main difference is that those in Europe are not enclosed like in The USA. The loaded cars are therefore exposed to the elements, like in a normal car carrier truck. Also, autoracks are at most double decked instead of triple decked. European coil cars are basically in two flavors: the "Shimmns" type and the "Rhlmms" type. The difference is wether the car is enclosed or not. The Rhlmms cars are basically flat cars with shaped seats for the coils, up to 5 usually, which are open to the elements. The Shimmns have a similar arrangement but are also enclosed, and there are two types of covers. One is a simple tarpaulin stretched all over the car from bulkheads and other support beams. The tarpaulin is opened by folding it one one side by moving said beams; the other cover type is a rigid telescopic metal cover, divided in three pieces, who slide into each other when opened. Thanks again for this treat, Grady. Keep it up!!
I do actually see a lot of covered autorack cars here in germany, mostly used to ship new cars from the factory to ports etc (BMW at least use them a lot)... they're also only double decker of course due to the smaller loading gauge.
I'm a retired railroader. Fairly good descriptions. Probably the most important thing about a U. S. freight car is that they are designed to hold the maximum allowable weight of material. The Association of American Railroads' typical weight limit for a car qualified for interchange between railroads is 143 tons (286,000 lbs.). This allows for 100 tons of cargo and up to 43 tons for the weight of the empty car. There are also standard sizes for cars, expressed as (tem)"plates" stenciled on the cars. They are letter designations starting with "A". The standard U. S. clearance for interchange between railroads is "plate C", so a couple of sizes bigger than the smallest. You might see one that says "exceeds plate C", which means it's a little bigger than standard, but not as big as the next standard size. Auto racks are often plate "F". Those limits largely determine the size of a particular car. The descriptions of the differences between open and covered hoppers and gondolas was a little garbled with the images, and the drawings of baggage and combine cars didn't include the larger doors for loading/unloading baggage. Dome cars are pretty much not used in regular Amtrak service in the U. S. anymore, although they are for excursions and private cars that Amtrak sometimes handles. You might have mentioned something such as an ore jenny, which is pretty much specialized to mining areas, like the U. S. upper Midwest, designed to hold heavy, very dense material like iron ore, in a small space.
They do, old heads usually have more money than they know what to do with. You just have to make it that long by not dying on the job, and there are a lot of awful ways to do that. @@opiumextract2934
A small correction, please: the typical 100-ton car is 263,000 lbs on 4 axles--200,000 for load and 63,000 for tare or the car. It works out to about 33,000 lbs per wheel on the rail with that distribution. This is similar to the semi truck of 80,000 lbs GVW on 18 wheels for most of the highway network.
@@royreynolds108 More of a clarification than a correction. the UPPER weight limit for car and cargo is 286,000 lbs., I didn't say most of them were that much. A freight car can carry up to as much cargo as three semi-trailers.
I gotta say, I've really been enjoying the variety of content you've brought lately, especially the practical construction series. Looking forward to the railway series as well.
In Switzerland we even have a prison train, which is sometimes used to transfer prisoners. It is based on an old commuter set, but the interior is modified with several holding cells, some seats where staff can sit and have a look on the cells, and the lavatory has been modified so you can't flee out of the window. Aside from snowblowers (btw, that snowblower at 12:04 is a historic model that is actually steam-powered. Rhaetische Bahn occasionally puts it to use for railfans) there are also snowplows. Some of them have a piece that can clear in between the rails and needs to be lifted up whenever a switch comes. Another wacky railcar is the picklebarrel car. They aren't arond anymore, but they were cars with a big wooden barrel on top. The idea was that the car could be filled with pickled food, and the vinegar would do its magic while the car was on the way. They went the way of the Dodo as the time saved by combining pickling and transport was no longer worth the extra effort from loading, unloading, and cleaning. And my last mention will be transporter wagons, which are basically wagons that use a set of rails as a frame, in order to transport other wagons or locomotives. This is done to transport rolling stock of a different gauge, for example when a train manufacturer wants to deliver some narrow gauge locomotive they made. Overall they are very rare but in my area they are a bit more common, as I live relatively close to a train manufacturer that produces lots of narrow gauge stuff
Yea, I've seen photos of the picklebarrel car.. I looked it up, there are many models of them you can get for your model train..I may get one for my HO layout
Finland doesn't have a prison train, but we have two unique prison cars that are coupled to a normal inter-city train four times a week to transport prisoners between Northern and Southern Finland. It's pretty common to spot one of them on the Savo railway line.
@@Slushee There are electric trains here too. And guess where the majority of that power actually comes from? "Fossil" fuels. Diesel locomotives are electric, too. Traction motors are electric motors! His train also had both passenger equipment and freight cars/wagons. That train doesn't really exist, either. That's not the point. The video is freight focused, and North America focused, but there are comparable freight wagons across the world. The video did not cover electric trolleys or trams, high-speed passenger service, specialized mining equipment, funiculars, or cog railroads either. It wasn't supposed to.
@@jovetj The majority of power comes from fossil fuels in north america and in germany. Not in the rest of europe where we have robust solar, wind, hydro and nuclear power plants :3 Also freight trains are electric here (I have pictures of them :o) and sd that it wasn't about passenger rail too because that one's the coolest >w
You should look into the special cars we had in the UK for transporting nuclear waste, they are bloody impressive. They crashed a class 46 loco into one at full tilt and it survived
East Germany used to have a Special Car to transport Nuclear Waste disguised as Transformer, because the Transports were highly classified. The Disguised was chosen because Transformers are very heavy too. Said Car also had quickly removable Bogies to ease the Break of Gauge when these Transports crossed the Polish-Soviet Border. It still was quite suspicuos how the two East German Nuclear Powerplants received new Transformers way too often and the local Residents quickly figured out the true Nature of these Transports. Btw. German Nuclear Waste Trains are hauled by Molotov-proofed Diesel Locomotives today.
That would be a cool topic. Where I lived we had a swing bridge across a boat channel. Watching the bridge swing a few minutes before the train was due. Then 'lock' into place and change the signals so the engineer could proceed. After the train, lots of kids would leave, but I'd hang around to watch it swing back. Fond memories of days gone by.
Career railroader here, still amazes me learning the ins and outs of every part of this industry even though I’ve been on the freight and passenger sides. Nicely done.
As an old Amtrak Trainman I'm happy to see you spend some time on one of the most efficient forms of transport and travel. This combination of steel wheels and a rail is just as smooth ball bearings. The touching surface area is about the size of your smallest finger. Think of a car or truck and the amount of contact between surface areas and it quite a difference more area for heat to be created through friction thus inefficiency. Well Done Grady
Great comment! This really is the secret sauce to efficient low-friction transport. The total wheel-to-rail contact patch for an entire "consist" (the whole train, head to tail) is far less than one square foot. Here's how to conceptualize that: Imagine a steel ball resting on a flat steel surface. How much of that ball is touching the surface? In mathematics, we'd call that a "point". Ignoring surface imperfections and flexion, that point is undefinably small.
You can combine both and switch from an electrical engineer in general to specifically electrical engineer either on railroads or in a locomotive design team.
I just got a job on the railroad about a month ago. Was gonna be an electric engineer, but saw NS was hiring. Why not? Pay's still pretty good, especially if I get to be an engineer in a couple years.
New Jersey Transit actually has quite a few double-decker passenger cars --but they are different than the one you showed! Their cars employ a "well" design, so that the lower level of seats is closer to the tracks. When you first step onto the car, you either take a few steps UP for the top level, or take a few steps DOWN for the lower level. This gives all the advantages of additional seating, yet keeps the top of the cars low enough to fit through the existing tunnels, bridges, and stations.
Do you also also have a car designed for bicycle storage, in addition to passengers in New Jersey? Most regional and Inter-City trains have those here in Germany.
I watched a video with someone going through a cold start of a steam locomotive. Took something like 2-4 hours. There are an AMAZING amount of elements to such an engine that I didn't even know about before! A fully functional steam locomotive from anything past 1880 is an absolutely marvel of engineering and really gives credence to the title "engineer" for the guy who has to operate it. You really do have to have some pretty extensive understanding of them to get them to run right and not one component was electrical. All steam and mechanical!
My dad designed bridges for the Texas and Pacific Railroad. As a teen, i got to go to a "roll-in" where a bridge was constructed next to the tracks so the old track or structure could be removed and the new one rolled into place and connected to the rails in a couple of hours to minimze disruption of rail traffic. I think a video on how this was accomplished would be interesting.
Grady, my 2yo son was begging to look at your "big train book" this morning (he loves the trains chapter), and then this video drops. I can't wait to watch this series with him!
As a transport refrigeration technician, im really glad you included the refrigerated rail cars. It would be cool to see a video about the history and all the different kinds of transport refrigeration units/methods.
After watching the hard work that goes into creating and maintaining machines like this, I understand why my old man always said that the stock market is the closest man has gotten yet to alchemy. Creating stupendous amounts of money out of thin air. Humanity always wanted it easy
Lol. Tell that to the Warren Buffet’s and Charlie Munger’s. Actually some others are good. Cathy Wood predicted a rise in oil prices due to the Ukraine situation. My own adviser Mary Elizabeth Huxley also predicted that precious metals will go up during a recession after the pandemic. My portfolio has grown over $400,000 in 8 months so I guess some are better at prospecting stocks than others
She’s as personal as it can get. Worked in Merrill Lynch and manages private por,tfolios. She’s the best bet if you are looking for something personal. I can't drop her number here but she has a public cntact website where you can reach her
He did mention most cars, but he forgot about road-railers and hoppers, both open-top and standard. Cabooses are typically known today as "shoving platforms". There's also road-slugs and yard-slugs.
@@goober239 He certainly did include hoppers (covered and open) at 8:20. He's going to cover the different kinds of motive power in a later episode. A shoving platform can be any kind of surplus car that has been modified to provide a trainman a safe place to ride temporarily during a long back-up move (as in serving a long customer spur that might have crossings, switches, etc.), instead of having to hang on a side ladder. Since ex-cabooses have end platforms, they are ideal for this. They often have their interiors removed and doors welded shut, which makes them nothing but a platform.
@@goober239 I mean, he also "forgot" all the other cars/wagons that have fallen out of common use since the dawn of time. He covered just enough, especially considering its towards North American freight operations.
Passenger cars like you showed at the start of the video have become a thing of the past here (Netherlands), except for some international trains. Nowadays passenger trains always are train sets without a separate locomotive. Powering the train is done along the entire length (e.g. in half of the cars), and there is a special car at each end of the set with a driver stand. The train can run in both directions without having to re-arrange it.
Yeah, American passenger rail infrastructure is hopelessly behind the times. Actually, it's gone backwards. A century ago there was a large, and growing, amount of long-distance electrified passenger rail (just days before he died in 1923, President Warren Harding fulfilled a boyhood dream of driving a train, on an electric passenger train in California, where today there is no such service), today there's basically none outside of the Northeast Corridor.
I used to work for a connector railroad, the RF&P (now part of CSX Transportation), 40 years ago. So I knew of and have seen up close most of the kinds of cars you featured, but it's been a long time and I'm not sure I could've still listed them from memory. It was nice to have this refresher because I'll always be a railfan at heart. Looking forward to the rest of this series! Topics you could cover: Signals and signal communications; switches, junctions, and switchyard technology; major accidents and how safety improved as a result; dynamics of trains crossing peaks and valleys and how these problems are solved; diesel vs. electrified operations; safety and failsafe design at crossings; right of way engineering (grades, drainage, trestles, tunnels, etc.).
In the era of internet pedants and wannabe experts, "depending on where you live" is the perfect way to avoid the discussion entirely and keep the focus on the important thing: trains. I just wanted to give you props for that bit of script writing.
I'm really looking forward to this series! I'm hoping you'll also take a bit of a look internationally too, the US freight railroads operate quite differently from the rest of the world :)
@@BattleshipOrion I think there’s only a couple he didn’t bring up that you would see in Europe regularly. Tower cars, maintenance cars with cranes an scissor lifts to maintain electrical catenary wire. Unlike mainland Europe very little track is electrified in the US. And Electric/Diesel multiple units where every passenger car is powered instead of having one or more big powerful locomotives. Which increases acceleration.
@@BattleshipOrion That's not true at all. The operations are drastically different in North America. Nearly no electrification, extremely strong focus on bulk cargo instead of speed, lots of manual switching, very primitive signalling and train control. I think it will make a bigger difference in other videos, but you can see it from this video a bit already. It didn't mention EMUs and DMUs, catenary maintenance vehicles and other things that are a common sight outside of the US.
a word about the different coubling and resulting train lenght would be a good addition and ye, i also would say that are also quite some more type of Boxed Cars on european rails
I learned much of this from Union Pacific personnel when I was a firefighter. We not only had stations near railroads, we also were host to a UP railroad yard in our territory, so we needed to know how to stop a locomotive, shut one down, address possible threats based on the types of cars, etc. Naturally, some of the specialty ones discussed here we didn't learn about and I've never seen, but hoppers, flats, wells, pressurized and unpressurized, boxes, and a few others were common sights for us. On a side note, because of where I grew up, the sound of a distant train is really relaxing to me!
I truly admire your channel. You've transformed a topic that might typically elude the casual viewer into something captivating. Your presentation style is engaging, and the duration of your videos strikes the perfect balance. The new train series resonates with me; I've always been curious about the evolution of trains and the notable missteps along the way. Keep up the fantastic work!
Thanks for the mention of Schnable cars. They were (are) important for moving transformers from the factories or port to the Powerplant or pumping plants where they were used. Often requiring Schnable trucks for the “last” mile to the facility.
Haha the US centric view is big in this one! Many passenger trains in Belgium don't have a clear locomotive. They are fully electric so I guess many of the axis have their own engine. Secondly, double deckers are pretty common in countries that actually use trains a lot for commutes.
_“Haha the US centric view is big in this one!”_ And that's okay. The US is definitely the king of freight railroading, and this video (and Grady) is more focused on that.
Up here in the Pacific Northwest we regularly see special rail cars that deliver aircraft fuselages to the Boeing factory for final assembly from the Kansas factory where they're built. Definitely not something you would see in most parts of the US though.
One of my favorite things to do while waiting for a train to pass is to search the hazmat number on passing cars, there are some interesting and pretty dangerous chemicals being shipped around us, it can be staggering to see the sheer volume of these chemicals we consume.
Was a Sulfuric Acid car spill not too long ago here in Florida supposedly, and that was just considered mild/boring news! (Granted probably less “persistent” compared to some of the real nasties, but wild nonetheless; I can’t imagine what an *entire tank spilling* looks like!)
Another interesting maintenance rail vehicle are lifts cars, mostly used for installing and maintaining overhead equipment like electrified lines They often come along with another specialized rail car that holds, unwinds and lifts cables for the workers on the lift to fasten and install, i got to see them while they were electrifying a rail line next to where i live
Something I love is watching the rail spikes move as a train goes over it. Such immense weight that it causes them to move even though they impossible to move by hand.
Similarly, I liked watching how the rails themselves dipped as the trucks rolled over (and how the ties sank into the ballast). Of course, I also enjoyed flattening pennies on the rails too.
6:01 Is a town called Priest River. It is in North Idaho Its main economy is the lumber industry. Across the river is one of the many lumber mills in the area. Never thought I would see my small little home town shown on a video. Especially one on trains.
Some good content on this already on UA-cam by others, but i would love a video as well! “Pipeline Pigging” and “Hot Tapping” are especially interesting in my opinion.
Grady I had no idea you were a railfan! That's pretty cool. As a lifelong railfan myself, and now a co-owner of a shortline freight railroad, I'm really excited to see this upcoming series! A LOT of the public has very little understanding of railroads, so I hope you can help folks learn some things. My railroad is located in North Idaho, about an hour and 1/2 south of Spokane Washington. I realize that's a long way from Texas, but if an opportunity arises we'd love to help you make some content! Our biggest challenge right now is rebuilding track after the line has been out of service for the last 5 years, that closure happened because of an over 20 year maintenance neglect by previous owners and operators. I've had to learn a lot about track and bridges, the inspection and certification thereof, and what it takes to keep a seemingly simple thing in operation. Some of our track dates back to the lines construction in 1905, so that's a challenge to repair in the modern era where trains locomotives and the loads they carry are MUCH Heavier!
the modern version of the caboose is the control car which allows trains to travel in the other direction without needing to change the position of the locomotive
Another couple types of railcars you don't see these days are armored trains and railway guns. The last and biggest one to be used was the german Schwerer Gustav. Needing two sets of tracks and being 47 metres long, that thing was a massive piece of moving infrastructure.
You could do a whole video on the intermodal containers. I've seen containers that are modular water treatment plants, offices, armored boxes for transporting ammunition, open top, containers that are just folding ends with no side or top, lined containers to move liquids, and on and on.
While the West Seattle Bridge was closed, the detour went past the Alaska Marine Lines terminal, where you could frequently see all manner of one-off special-purpose intermodal containers, I suspect due in part to the larger role of rail transport in Alaska.
I’ve been waiting patiently for you to cover the engineering behind trains! As a fellow railfan myself - I’m quite pleased to see my city of Pittsburgh represented! Awesome video and I look forward to expanding my knowledge on trains 😊
HELL YEAH RAILWAY ENGINEERING!!!! I've always been obsessed with trains and railroad logistics for a long time! Thank you for making this :) Edit: Cabooses (Cabeese?) Are also sometimes called Brakeman's Cars. They were used before airbrakes to manually apply brakes!
The amount of footage used in this video from Pittsburgh, my hometown, is awesome. It was like a little treasure hunt for me to spot all those clips! Great video!
I ran a trucking owner-operator business for a little while, and I was lucky enough to be able to haul a traction unit (the motor and axle assembly that goes under the locomotive) for a freight locomotive. It was super cool to see them hoist the thing 4-5 feet up in the air, roll the old, seized up one out and then roll the new one in. One of the coolest hauls I have ever done.
As someone from Hawaii I have a very limited understanding of trains. Hawaii does have a rich history of using trains for agriculture and transportation though. Mahalo for sharing 🤙🏽
I am a railway enthusiast and also spent a few months working as a conductor trainee (before I truly understood what the lifestyle was). I am super excited to see that you're making a bunch of videos on the topic! I've even learned a few things myself already. Only thing I want to mention (having worked with them extensively while I was there) is that while you may be technically correct that coal cars are gondolas, I'd give them their own classification on account of being built so specially for rotary duimpers. Typically all the gondolas I've seen have short sides like the illustration presented, although I do recall seeing one or two with full height sides. I'm excited to see what you have prepared! I know I'm just another viewer, but I'd be tremendously excited to help you out if you need it!
One of my best childhood memories is getting to ride the switch engine at a local rail yard outside Chicago on the weekends. Saw just about every freight car you mentioned plus some cranes mounted on flat cars, not to mention the occasional result of an accident or two, and one or both cars being considerably shorter as a result! This was back in the 60s and shock absorbers built into the couplers was a big thing, with newer improvements all the time.
I grew up next to a freight railroad and like to travel by train when it’s possible, so I’ve seen almost all of these, so it’s really cool to learn what all of them were for!
Great video! I am really excited about this series. The only mistake I noticed was the scale at 12:36. Shown in the picture is actually a rail brake used in hump/classification yards. And in the MOW section you didn't mention vehicles to install/maintain overhead wire, although they are of course less common in the US.
You just gained one extra subscriber. I am very impressed by how in-depth you covered railcars. I've been a railfan my whole life, and I still was able to learn something. Looking forward to seeing what you post next!
I was waiting for the one type of rail car that I used to have a great deal of contact with - the dry bulk transport car. I dealt with the cars that transported type II Portland cement but I imagine any dry product could be shipped in these types of railcars; plastic pellets, grains and even dog food come to mind. What intrigued me was the fact that these rail cars were basically large versions of the dry bulk trailer that I used to deliver product to the concrete companies.
I love the Minneapolis skyline used in the animation. Reminds me of when Minneapolis was the center of rail in the Upper Midwest with the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads. Also, the flashing red light on the end of freight trains in the US are affectionately called F.R.E.D (Flashing Rear End Device)
Great video, but I do want to point out that double decker cars are actually very common around Europe, particularly on regional trains, but also on intercity and even some high speed services (notably the TGV Duplex). They're quite common as EMUs as well
They're not uncommon on heavy commuter rail in the US, either - Chicago Metra and the Seattle-area SoundTransit use them, for example. Amtrak has a variant they call the "superliner" that is two-level, but the lower level is mostly baggage storage and restrooms, with a small number of seats for passengers with mobility concerns that would make the stairway to the upper level problematic.
I'm a locomotive engineer for BNSF railroad, so I'm always on the lookout for errors on videos like these, but your descriptions were almost 100% accurate. Anything you want to know from a professional railroader's perspective, feel free to ask.
Here in the UK, well cars (as well as double deckers) are seldom seen as the tunnels are too short. You're far more likely to find flat cars with containers on them on intermodal freight trains. Interesting to know the stuff they use in the US though! Look forward to future videos!
On cable TV in the US, the UK TV show, 'Top Gear,' did a show on the steam powered locomotive still operating in the 21st Century, where Jeremy Clarkson informed the viewers that 30 pounds of coal was needed per mile to keep the steam locomotive's boiler properly heated. That was mind-boggling to hear.
Well done, Grady! After a long career in the Firefighting field, including 20 of those 35 years as a member of the Hazmat Response Team, I can say that I learned a lot more in the last 15 minutes. We, of course, concentrated on the types of rail cars transporting hazardous materials and were very familiar with the different DOT designations and significant differences in how to access and treat each in the event of a derailment or leak. I'm looking forward to your next video.
This is just the kind of thing I was hoping for in a follow up to the every construction machine in 15 minutes episode! Thanks Grady! Do you think you could do one for overland transport as well? The various kinds of semi-trailers?
So cool. For me trains are a great intersection with my other hobby, radio. So much fun to listen to railroad comms while watching them roll by. Also very impressed with how you've turned this into quite a side-hustle! The game is a great idea. I have a Christmas idea for some of the kids in the neighborhood, and me!
This was a nice overview of the many types of train cars we might see every day. I look forward to the rest of the series on trains. I grew up in a small town next to a grain terminal and I currently live in a city next to a switching yard, so it's interesting to know more about what goes in to these trains that I see every day.
One of my favorite channels. This type of content is rarely, if ever, done as great as Grady does it. Amazing content, and I love the practical construction series! Goes great with my lunch break haha. Thanks!
Thank you for the checklist! I really appreciate the work you do, I am a retired carpenter and lived right next to the tracks for many years, and love trains.
I live near Albany, NY and one of the most fascinating cars I've seen roll through town was, what I believe to be, a CSX related car that was burning up dried brush towards the front and wetting it down with hoses near the rear. It rolled through years ago in the fall. Lots of sparks.
Fantastic video Grady. The brand you are building is wonderful! I hope you all the best. Looking forward to seeing you grow this into an engineering education empire!
I am from Nepal and I first time ride train in India. I saw different types of train car for first time and I amazed to see such big train and how much it can carry when it pass nearby platform whole station shake too scary and amazing too
Fantastic video and looking forward to rest of the series. I am a railway engineer and I think you did a very good job explaining everything. If you at some point plan to do a part two if this then I would suggest look into track layering trains (sleepers and rails) as well as a complete track rehabilitation train. And one of the things that still impress me to this day is the simplicity but yet advanced techniques that can be found at a marshalling yard. Keep up the good work!👍😄
While I really enjoy the multitude of railroads converted to bike trails around my midwest home town, this video got me to thinking about the last time I actually saw a train. it has been a long time. Growing up, it was not uncommon at all to be delayed by a train. 30 years ago, I needed to time my morning commute to avoid a train crossing. My mom's much younger cousin said that it was not uncommon for the trains to stop and block their driveway in the wee hours-and there were two tracks that crossed the driveway.
In the last 50 or so years, there has been a lot of consolidation and streamlining of railroads. Back "in the day" (like, 100 years ago or so), railroads saw several periods of huge growth booms which were not later sustainable by their business realities. Contrary to the opinions of some in these comments, railroads are constantly innovating and rejuvenating in order to keep up with profit margins, safety regulations, or general business goals. The ones that don't do this or don't do it well will go bankrupt quickly. Because railroading and railroad infrastructure is expensive, and they have to make and maintain it all themselves.
🚂What topics in railway engineering would you like to see me cover?
🚗 Infrastructure Road Trip Bingo is on presale starting today! Pick one up at store.practical.engineering/
Please explain why morons are compelled to vandalize every single rail car.
At least a video about ERMTS or more in general: how safety standards work
Different standards in Europe and problems they've caused.
Signaling Systems which is probably my favorite part of railroading.
Some other suggestions (you probably already thought of these):
- Hump Yards
- Railroad Braking Systems
- Last Mile Switching (local freights and switching industries).
- How railroads haul various commodities (coal, corn, petroleum, etc)
- Railroad Communications
- Railroad Dispatching (another one of my favorites!)
- Various parts of the roadbed and how they are maintained
- How locomotives work
Love your channel (also enjoying your new series on Nebula.. btw, it was your channel that got me to subscribe to Nebula). I figured you were also a railfan :)
I highly recommend his book. It is great reading... planning on getting the bingo game :)
Thanks!
Do collab on the economics of railways. In Germany the Railway looses money and needs to be subsidised heavily. Is that a general problem compared to highways ? Where is the break even point ?
Here in Germany, double deckers are actually very common on the busy commuter lines running from the minor to the major cities. Transporting that many people just wouldn't be possible without them!
Yeah, same in France, I take one of those twice a day. And honestly, I don't see a lot of congestion from it, even when it's full.
@@mrsupremegascon he's not wrong, they do take longer to get in and out of, but usually they're used in places where the train will stop for several minutes anyway
They're very common in the us too.
@@mrsupremegascon in places like the USA, people arent really used to trains. they just drive
In fact, double deckers are so common here, there are barely any lines that use locomotive hauled single deck coaches in the entire country. The only type I'm aware of are married pair wagons that run on a few lines north of Hamburg, and I think that's it. Every other line is either double decker cars, multiple units, or double decker multiple units. I think there are some old n-Wagen and x-Wagen still on standby (so they're mostly used as emergency replacements), but they've been phased out for the most part.
Edit: I completely forgot that the old IC trains are still running, those are still loco hauled (although they're _very_ slowly being phased out in favor of IC2 trains, which are double decker multiple units). So my statement above is only true if you look at regional/commuter trains, not intercity trains. That was what the original comment was about, so I guess it holds up.
Now this is my kind of content.
you forgot to mention "America bad" when writing this comment.
@@olska9498America bad. There, happy?
Missing the railway bike in this overview
Yes bicycle rail cars exist! Dedicated to just storing bikes But they probably classify as luggage cars with some extra rails and hardware to mount bikes on.
@@olska9498 he's Canadian
Will be showing this to my two year old everyday for the next 16 years. Thank you ❤😂
PHLOP! I 100% agree, I had the exact same thought. Grady needs to make a kid's book series like the "How It Works" ones we grew up with.
W parent moment lmao
No. You will only have a two year old for a year. After that you will be showing it to your three year old for a year, etc.
@@Oberon4278 if you keep making new ones, you can have a two year old for more than a year, but its not precisely the same one
@@TrumpeterOnFire but he did! 14:45 he talks about it announces a new bingo game as well.
I love how the animation shows all the cars as one absolutely insane train
In Germany, we have special rail cars to transport liquid pig iron from blast furnaces to steel works. They are designed to keep the iron liquid for hours and are called "torpedo cars".
They're also used in the US (or pretty much anywhere connecting blast furnaces to steel plants with rail transport). The terminology is also the same, though they're sometimes also called "bottle cars".
We have these in south Wales too. Every now and then a train full of molten steel will roll through Cardiff Central station as it goes between steelworks. Apparently you can feel the radiant heat as it goes by
Just looked em up and they look just like a torpedo. If they were double-sided
yes, and in graz (austria), there was an issue with such a car. the steel smeltery "marienhütte" accidentally smelted scrap metal with an orphan source. then they had such a torpedo car with 60t of radioactive iron inside. wasn't a lot of fun for them.
They're, or similar versions of them, are used on most steel mills to carry both products and slug around the facility. Not surprising since metal vehicles running on metal tracks is the best way to carry molten metal. Also the whole operation is pretty metal too :)
This series should be a huge hit, from kids to adults, I feel like we all love trains
what must compel corporateers to target only the baby audience as well as fuckingly morph youtube into theirtube..?
@@trainrover what are you on about? Not a single thing you just said made any sense
As someone who is a certified train conductor, I feel like we all hate trains.
@@Dovahkiti hate trains but i live in a town where if u want to drive from one side of the other you have to pass train tracks. If u dont hit a train on the way you almost certainly will on the way back.
@@cojack5080 you must be exercising the unimportant bits, the ones that really only privateers take to fancying...this production's corny 💡💡💡
That "End of Train Device" is super important for safety too. Here in the UK, every train must have some form of red light bringing up the rear. On multiple units or when a loco brings up the rear, you can use the tail lights, while most freight and non-MU trains have a lamp that flashes. Traditionally it was used by signal boxes to ensure the whole train was in tact (look for the light as it passed by) but obviously it's helpful for other trains, track workers etc.
When I hired on the railroad, they still called them F.R.E.D. F-ing - rear - end - device. The old heads started calling them that because they were upset about losing the caboose.
@@schinbone0nowadays they're more politely known as "flashing" read-end devices. :)
@@PaulCashman Im sure there are still a few old head brakeman/conductors that might argue with you. : )
I don't think it's just about the flashing red light, it also transmits brake pressure readings to the head-end.
I notice on BNSF trains with rear DPUs or pushers, there is no red light. The locomotive's headlight is on dim.
On UP trains, there seems to be no red light at all half the time.
@@jre617 Yeah eot also lets you dump the air too. By dump it I mean place the train into emergency.
As a railroad employee, and a huge fan of Practical Engineering, I am very much looking forward to this series! Happy to contribute if needed.
His announcement of a railroad series was a happy surprise for me too.
Keep unionizing! Biden crushed rail workers and that's actual fascism
As an European/Italian who lives right above a railway and is very fond of trains, this video is a joy for the eyes! And it is really interesting to see the differences between rail services between The USA and what is done here in Europe.
Double decker passenger cars are very common in many European countries, like in France and Italy for example, because people here tend to use the train a lot more than the car to commute between home and the workplace or school location, and double deckers obviously are more efficient in passenger throughput in a given amount of time. Low-level cars are also very appreciated because they are most of the time level with the platform, making embarking and disembarking a breeze especially for the disabled. European train manufactures produce mainly low-level rolling stock, double or single decked, these days.
It seems that the main differences between USA and Europe is in a few cars: cabooses, autoracks and coil cars.
For cabooses, the closest in Europe are the brake vans that were used mainly in the UK when cars had no brakes on them. The UK also had, between the 60s and the late 70s, the so called "brake tenders", which were very low and very heavy ballast cars, looking like big metal slabs on wheels, fitted with automatic brakes, meant to be connected to diesels and assist them with braking. Outside the UK, some European freight cars with brakes had a "braker's box", a very small cabin where the brake man sat during trips and provided him with a brake handle for that car. Continuous braking in all cars/wagons did away with all of these eventually.
For autoracks, the main difference is that those in Europe are not enclosed like in The USA. The loaded cars are therefore exposed to the elements, like in a normal car carrier truck. Also, autoracks are at most double decked instead of triple decked.
European coil cars are basically in two flavors: the "Shimmns" type and the "Rhlmms" type. The difference is wether the car is enclosed or not. The Rhlmms cars are basically flat cars with shaped seats for the coils, up to 5 usually, which are open to the elements. The Shimmns have a similar arrangement but are also enclosed, and there are two types of covers. One is a simple tarpaulin stretched all over the car from bulkheads and other support beams. The tarpaulin is opened by folding it one one side by moving said beams; the other cover type is a rigid telescopic metal cover, divided in three pieces, who slide into each other when opened.
Thanks again for this treat, Grady. Keep it up!!
Also, at 11:59 the crane (Rauma-Repola Rc 200) is definitely European - it was built in Finland and operated by a Finnish company (NRC Group)
American auto decker Waggons are covered because kids started throwing stones at the cars
thank you, that was very informative!
@@henrystoll9402stones and stealing them
I do actually see a lot of covered autorack cars here in germany, mostly used to ship new cars from the factory to ports etc (BMW at least use them a lot)... they're also only double decker of course due to the smaller loading gauge.
I'm a retired railroader. Fairly good descriptions. Probably the most important thing about a U. S. freight car is that they are designed to hold the maximum allowable weight of material. The Association of American Railroads' typical weight limit for a car qualified for interchange between railroads is 143 tons (286,000 lbs.). This allows for 100 tons of cargo and up to 43 tons for the weight of the empty car. There are also standard sizes for cars, expressed as (tem)"plates" stenciled on the cars. They are letter designations starting with "A". The standard U. S. clearance for interchange between railroads is "plate C", so a couple of sizes bigger than the smallest. You might see one that says "exceeds plate C", which means it's a little bigger than standard, but not as big as the next standard size. Auto racks are often plate "F". Those limits largely determine the size of a particular car. The descriptions of the differences between open and covered hoppers and gondolas was a little garbled with the images, and the drawings of baggage and combine cars didn't include the larger doors for loading/unloading baggage. Dome cars are pretty much not used in regular Amtrak service in the U. S. anymore, although they are for excursions and private cars that Amtrak sometimes handles. You might have mentioned something such as an ore jenny, which is pretty much specialized to mining areas, like the U. S. upper Midwest, designed to hold heavy, very dense material like iron ore, in a small space.
Hope railroad retirement is paying you well👍🏻
They do, old heads usually have more money than they know what to do with. You just have to make it that long by not dying on the job, and there are a lot of awful ways to do that. @@opiumextract2934
Thanks for the additional info
A small correction, please: the typical 100-ton car is 263,000 lbs on 4 axles--200,000 for load and 63,000 for tare or the car. It works out to about 33,000 lbs per wheel on the rail with that distribution. This is similar to the semi truck of 80,000 lbs GVW on 18 wheels for most of the highway network.
@@royreynolds108 More of a clarification than a correction. the UPPER weight limit for car and cargo is 286,000 lbs., I didn't say most of them were that much. A freight car can carry up to as much cargo as three semi-trailers.
(10:00) If anyone was wondering, the DOT codes for the tank cars are DOT-111 for pressurized tank cars and DOT-105 for non-pressurized ones.
Thanks, now I can identify the tanker cars I see in Nebraska.
however the dot-111 cars will be replaced by the dot-112's in 2025 ( stronger versions of the dot-111s )
Thank you! 🫡
And both of them can wipe out a city block!
So can Semi Trucks though.
DOT-111 are also being replaced by newer DOT-117 tank cars model with some DOT-111 being rebuilt
I gotta say, I've really been enjoying the variety of content you've brought lately, especially the practical construction series. Looking forward to the railway series as well.
In Switzerland we even have a prison train, which is sometimes used to transfer prisoners. It is based on an old commuter set, but the interior is modified with several holding cells, some seats where staff can sit and have a look on the cells, and the lavatory has been modified so you can't flee out of the window.
Aside from snowblowers (btw, that snowblower at 12:04 is a historic model that is actually steam-powered. Rhaetische Bahn occasionally puts it to use for railfans) there are also snowplows. Some of them have a piece that can clear in between the rails and needs to be lifted up whenever a switch comes.
Another wacky railcar is the picklebarrel car. They aren't arond anymore, but they were cars with a big wooden barrel on top. The idea was that the car could be filled with pickled food, and the vinegar would do its magic while the car was on the way. They went the way of the Dodo as the time saved by combining pickling and transport was no longer worth the extra effort from loading, unloading, and cleaning.
And my last mention will be transporter wagons, which are basically wagons that use a set of rails as a frame, in order to transport other wagons or locomotives. This is done to transport rolling stock of a different gauge, for example when a train manufacturer wants to deliver some narrow gauge locomotive they made. Overall they are very rare but in my area they are a bit more common, as I live relatively close to a train manufacturer that produces lots of narrow gauge stuff
That's excellent information. Thank you!
Yea, I've seen photos of the picklebarrel car.. I looked it up, there are many models of them you can get for your model train..I may get one for my HO layout
Finland doesn't have a prison train, but we have two unique prison cars that are coupled to a normal inter-city train four times a week to transport prisoners between Northern and Southern Finland. It's pretty common to spot one of them on the Savo railway line.
Not going to lie, but a prison railcar seems metal af
he just dropped one of the best videos ever
It's missing all the electric cars, truly a US fossil-fuel burning moment
@@Slushee What?
@@jovetj All the ones he mentioned were towed by a diesel locomotive. Everywhere else in the world that isn't north america we use electric trains.
@@Slushee There are electric trains here too. And guess where the majority of that power actually comes from? "Fossil" fuels. Diesel locomotives are electric, too. Traction motors are electric motors!
His train also had both passenger equipment and freight cars/wagons. That train doesn't really exist, either. That's not the point. The video is freight focused, and North America focused, but there are comparable freight wagons across the world. The video did not cover electric trolleys or trams, high-speed passenger service, specialized mining equipment, funiculars, or cog railroads either. It wasn't supposed to.
@@jovetj The majority of power comes from fossil fuels in north america and in germany. Not in the rest of europe where we have robust solar, wind, hydro and nuclear power plants :3
Also freight trains are electric here (I have pictures of them :o) and sd that it wasn't about passenger rail too because that one's the coolest >w
With over 40 years on the railroad, I am impressed with the accuracy and information contained in this video. Not a "normal" U-Tube video.
11:30 the correct german word for this kind of machine is "Gleisschotterbettungsreinigungsmaschine" and i think its beautiful
You should look into the special cars we had in the UK for transporting nuclear waste, they are bloody impressive. They crashed a class 46 loco into one at full tilt and it survived
Operation Smash-Hit, what a test of engineering
That's amazing that the class 46 survived.
You see the nuclear waste trucks here on the interstate regularly. Very impressive containers.
East Germany used to have a Special Car to transport Nuclear Waste disguised as Transformer, because the Transports were highly classified. The Disguised was chosen because Transformers are very heavy too. Said Car also had quickly removable Bogies to ease the Break of Gauge when these Transports crossed the Polish-Soviet Border. It still was quite suspicuos how the two East German Nuclear Powerplants received new Transformers way too often and the local Residents quickly figured out the true Nature of these Transports.
Btw. German Nuclear Waste Trains are hauled by Molotov-proofed Diesel Locomotives today.
@@Genius_at_Work Germany as always being hysterical and ridiculous about it.
I'm a mechanical engineer who designs lift bridges (draw bridges) for railroads across the country. Hope you do a video on lift bridges!
That would be a cool topic. Where I lived we had a swing bridge across a boat channel. Watching the bridge swing a few minutes before the train was due. Then 'lock' into place and change the signals so the engineer could proceed. After the train, lots of kids would leave, but I'd hang around to watch it swing back. Fond memories of days gone by.
That would be a great topic! I always enjoy watching the lift bridge in Duluth whenever I'm up there
Didn't even know they till make those kind of bridges... intresting
Need some pointers to do your job better?
I've always been curious about that. How often are new bridges commissioned? Sometimes, it feels like all the bridges and lines have been built
Career railroader here, still amazes me learning the ins and outs of every part of this industry even though I’ve been on the freight and passenger sides. Nicely done.
As an old Amtrak Trainman I'm happy to see you spend some time on one of the most efficient forms of transport and travel. This combination of steel wheels and a rail is just as smooth ball bearings. The touching surface area is about the size of your smallest finger. Think of a car or truck and the amount of contact between surface areas and it quite a difference more area for heat to be created through friction thus inefficiency. Well Done Grady
Great comment!
This really is the secret sauce to efficient low-friction transport. The total wheel-to-rail contact patch for an entire "consist" (the whole train, head to tail) is far less than one square foot.
Here's how to conceptualize that: Imagine a steel ball resting on a flat steel surface. How much of that ball is touching the surface? In mathematics, we'd call that a "point". Ignoring surface imperfections and flexion, that point is undefinably small.
My dad was a train engineer, and now I'm an electrical engineer. I always loved trains -- super happy to see you starting a series about them!!
You can combine both and switch from an electrical engineer in general to specifically electrical engineer either on railroads or in a locomotive design team.
3:27 I am a huge fan of trains,especially they are Mexican trains like Ferromex and Ferrosur
I just got a job on the railroad about a month ago. Was gonna be an electric engineer, but saw NS was hiring. Why not? Pay's still pretty good, especially if I get to be an engineer in a couple years.
New Jersey Transit actually has quite a few double-decker passenger cars --but they are different than the one you showed! Their cars employ a "well" design, so that the lower level of seats is closer to the tracks. When you first step onto the car, you either take a few steps UP for the top level, or take a few steps DOWN for the lower level. This gives all the advantages of additional seating, yet keeps the top of the cars low enough to fit through the existing tunnels, bridges, and stations.
That‘s exactly how they are in Germany
Both modern German Rail cars and the New Jersey cars are built by Bombardier.
They share the same basis, but can have different interiors.
Do you also also have a car designed for bicycle storage, in addition to passengers in New Jersey?
Most regional and Inter-City trains have those here in Germany.
@@NoOne-ef7yuyes, however when the train is busy it just means standing room only 😢
I watched a video with someone going through a cold start of a steam locomotive. Took something like 2-4 hours. There are an AMAZING amount of elements to such an engine that I didn't even know about before! A fully functional steam locomotive from anything past 1880 is an absolutely marvel of engineering and really gives credence to the title "engineer" for the guy who has to operate it. You really do have to have some pretty extensive understanding of them to get them to run right and not one component was electrical. All steam and mechanical!
My dad designed bridges for the Texas and Pacific Railroad. As a teen, i got to go to a "roll-in" where a bridge was constructed next to the tracks so the old track or structure could be removed and the new one rolled into place and connected to the rails in a couple of hours to minimze disruption of rail traffic. I think a video on how this was accomplished would be interesting.
Grady, my 2yo son was begging to look at your "big train book" this morning (he loves the trains chapter), and then this video drops. I can't wait to watch this series with him!
As a transport refrigeration technician, im really glad you included the refrigerated rail cars. It would be cool to see a video about the history and all the different kinds of transport refrigeration units/methods.
It would indeed be ‘cool’
If you're familiar with the Tropicana reefers, I helped the team with the structure and fatigue calculations for it
@@Snowmunkee i mostly work on diesel powered trailer and box truck refrigeration systems
After watching the hard work that goes into creating and maintaining machines like this, I understand why my old man always said that the stock market is the closest man has gotten yet to alchemy. Creating stupendous amounts of money out of thin air. Humanity always wanted it easy
Hahaha. This is my favorite comment!
Not so fast. I have done my fair bit of prospecting in there. Lost over $30,000. I can conclusively say that it didn’t PAN OUT well for me :)
Lol. Tell that to the Warren Buffet’s and Charlie Munger’s. Actually some others are good. Cathy Wood predicted a rise in oil prices due to the Ukraine situation. My own adviser Mary Elizabeth Huxley also predicted that precious metals will go up during a recession after the pandemic. My portfolio has grown over $400,000 in 8 months so I guess some are better at prospecting stocks than others
Sounds great. I can’t get into Warren’s por,tfolio anyway to see how he does it. Does Mary attend to individual clients or is she institutional
She’s as personal as it can get. Worked in Merrill Lynch and manages private por,tfolios. She’s the best bet if you are looking for something personal. I can't drop her number here but she has a public cntact website where you can reach her
7:24 Here in India double stack containers on flat cars run on WDFC, hauled by electric locomotives.
Aye im Indian too and i like trains
As a long-time rail enthusiast, I want to thank you for doing this and for getting it right.
He did mention most cars, but he forgot about road-railers and hoppers, both open-top and standard. Cabooses are typically known today as "shoving platforms". There's also road-slugs and yard-slugs.
@@goober239 He certainly did include hoppers (covered and open) at 8:20. He's going to cover the different kinds of motive power in a later episode. A shoving platform can be any kind of surplus car that has been modified to provide a trainman a safe place to ride temporarily during a long back-up move (as in serving a long customer spur that might have crossings, switches, etc.), instead of having to hang on a side ladder. Since ex-cabooses have end platforms, they are ideal for this. They often have their interiors removed and doors welded shut, which makes them nothing but a platform.
@@goober239 I mean, he also "forgot" all the other cars/wagons that have fallen out of common use since the dawn of time.
He covered just enough, especially considering its towards North American freight operations.
Passenger cars like you showed at the start of the video have become a thing of the past here (Netherlands), except for some international trains.
Nowadays passenger trains always are train sets without a separate locomotive. Powering the train is done along the entire length (e.g. in half of the cars), and there is a special car at each end of the set with a driver stand. The train can run in both directions without having to re-arrange it.
Yeah, American passenger rail infrastructure is hopelessly behind the times. Actually, it's gone backwards. A century ago there was a large, and growing, amount of long-distance electrified passenger rail (just days before he died in 1923, President Warren Harding fulfilled a boyhood dream of driving a train, on an electric passenger train in California, where today there is no such service), today there's basically none outside of the Northeast Corridor.
We're finally starting to move that way in the US with complete trainsets rolling out in the coming years ua-cam.com/video/V3-EIFeM27U/v-deo.html
I used to work for a connector railroad, the RF&P (now part of CSX Transportation), 40 years ago. So I knew of and have seen up close most of the kinds of cars you featured, but it's been a long time and I'm not sure I could've still listed them from memory. It was nice to have this refresher because I'll always be a railfan at heart. Looking forward to the rest of this series!
Topics you could cover: Signals and signal communications; switches, junctions, and switchyard technology; major accidents and how safety improved as a result; dynamics of trains crossing peaks and valleys and how these problems are solved; diesel vs. electrified operations; safety and failsafe design at crossings; right of way engineering (grades, drainage, trestles, tunnels, etc.).
0:51 Note to self: That's the Jacobite steam train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
In the era of internet pedants and wannabe experts, "depending on where you live" is the perfect way to avoid the discussion entirely and keep the focus on the important thing: trains. I just wanted to give you props for that bit of script writing.
I'm really looking forward to this series! I'm hoping you'll also take a bit of a look internationally too, the US freight railroads operate quite differently from the rest of the world :)
While true, every country has almost the exact same equipment, just different laws, and names for the exact same thing.
yes! That would be very cool.
@@BattleshipOrion I think there’s only a couple he didn’t bring up that you would see in Europe regularly. Tower cars, maintenance cars with cranes an scissor lifts to maintain electrical catenary wire. Unlike mainland Europe very little track is electrified in the US. And Electric/Diesel multiple units where every passenger car is powered instead of having one or more big powerful locomotives. Which increases acceleration.
@@BattleshipOrion That's not true at all. The operations are drastically different in North America. Nearly no electrification, extremely strong focus on bulk cargo instead of speed, lots of manual switching, very primitive signalling and train control.
I think it will make a bigger difference in other videos, but you can see it from this video a bit already. It didn't mention EMUs and DMUs, catenary maintenance vehicles and other things that are a common sight outside of the US.
a word about the different coubling and resulting train lenght would be a good addition
and ye, i also would say that are also quite some more type of Boxed Cars on european rails
I learned much of this from Union Pacific personnel when I was a firefighter. We not only had stations near railroads, we also were host to a UP railroad yard in our territory, so we needed to know how to stop a locomotive, shut one down, address possible threats based on the types of cars, etc. Naturally, some of the specialty ones discussed here we didn't learn about and I've never seen, but hoppers, flats, wells, pressurized and unpressurized, boxes, and a few others were common sights for us. On a side note, because of where I grew up, the sound of a distant train is really relaxing to me!
I truly admire your channel. You've transformed a topic that might typically elude the casual viewer into something captivating. Your presentation style is engaging, and the duration of your videos strikes the perfect balance. The new train series resonates with me; I've always been curious about the evolution of trains and the notable missteps along the way. Keep up the fantastic work!
Oh my god an ENTIRE SERIES on railway engineering?! Its like all my christmasses have come at once, spread out over several weeks, lol.
Thanks for the mention of Schnable cars. They were (are) important for moving transformers from the factories or port to the Powerplant or pumping plants where they were used. Often requiring Schnable trucks for the “last” mile to the facility.
Schnabel not Schnable
Haha the US centric view is big in this one!
Many passenger trains in Belgium don't have a clear locomotive. They are fully electric so I guess many of the axis have their own engine.
Secondly, double deckers are pretty common in countries that actually use trains a lot for commutes.
_“Haha the US centric view is big in this one!”_
And that's okay. The US is definitely the king of freight railroading, and this video (and Grady) is more focused on that.
Up here in the Pacific Northwest we regularly see special rail cars that deliver aircraft fuselages to the Boeing factory for final assembly from the Kansas factory where they're built. Definitely not something you would see in most parts of the US though.
One of my favorite things to do while waiting for a train to pass is to search the hazmat number on passing cars, there are some interesting and pretty dangerous chemicals being shipped around us, it can be staggering to see the sheer volume of these chemicals we consume.
Was a Sulfuric Acid car spill not too long ago here in Florida supposedly, and that was just considered mild/boring news!
(Granted probably less “persistent” compared to some of the real nasties, but wild nonetheless; I can’t imagine what an *entire tank spilling* looks like!)
most chlorine gas used in water treatment plants is transported via rail
Another interesting maintenance rail vehicle are lifts cars, mostly used for installing and maintaining overhead equipment like electrified lines
They often come along with another specialized rail car that holds, unwinds and lifts cables for the workers on the lift to fasten and install, i got to see them while they were electrifying a rail line next to where i live
Something I love is watching the rail spikes move as a train goes over it. Such immense weight that it causes them to move even though they impossible to move by hand.
Similarly, I liked watching how the rails themselves dipped as the trucks rolled over (and how the ties sank into the ballast). Of course, I also enjoyed flattening pennies on the rails too.
L😂L
6:01 Is a town called Priest River. It is in North Idaho Its main economy is the lumber industry. Across the river is one of the many lumber mills in the area. Never thought I would see my small little home town shown on a video. Especially one on trains.
This is going to be an amazing series
I'd love to see an episode on pipeline construction.
Some good content on this already on UA-cam by others, but i would love a video as well! “Pipeline Pigging” and “Hot Tapping” are especially interesting in my opinion.
Worked as a carman, repaired and maintained railcars was facinating how simple their designs are yet clever. Awesome video
I absolutley CANNOT WAIT for your railroad videos! Here's hoping you make 100 of them and each one is three hours long.
I love the variety of topics you cover on this channel, and the way you explain things. Your work is much appreciated, Grady!
Grady I had no idea you were a railfan! That's pretty cool. As a lifelong railfan myself, and now a co-owner of a shortline freight railroad, I'm really excited to see this upcoming series! A LOT of the public has very little understanding of railroads, so I hope you can help folks learn some things.
My railroad is located in North Idaho, about an hour and 1/2 south of Spokane Washington. I realize that's a long way from Texas, but if an opportunity arises we'd love to help you make some content! Our biggest challenge right now is rebuilding track after the line has been out of service for the last 5 years, that closure happened because of an over 20 year maintenance neglect by previous owners and operators. I've had to learn a lot about track and bridges, the inspection and certification thereof, and what it takes to keep a seemingly simple thing in operation. Some of our track dates back to the lines construction in 1905, so that's a challenge to repair in the modern era where trains locomotives and the loads they carry are MUCH Heavier!
Somewhere around Moscow I presume?
@@PierceTrey just a tad north of there.
Was cool to see Priest River, idaho at 6:00
4:38 Ah, autoracks, or as i use to call them "car cars"
the modern version of the caboose is the control car which allows trains to travel in the other direction without needing to change the position of the locomotive
I thought I was alone out there spotting infrastructure and machines until I found this channel! Now I'm in good company! Keep up the great work Grady
would be cool if you broke the video chapters one for each basic type. Loved it!
Another couple types of railcars you don't see these days are armored trains and railway guns. The last and biggest one to be used was the german Schwerer Gustav. Needing two sets of tracks and being 47 metres long, that thing was a massive piece of moving infrastructure.
You could do a whole video on the intermodal containers. I've seen containers that are modular water treatment plants, offices, armored boxes for transporting ammunition, open top, containers that are just folding ends with no side or top, lined containers to move liquids, and on and on.
While the West Seattle Bridge was closed, the detour went past the Alaska Marine Lines terminal, where you could frequently see all manner of one-off special-purpose intermodal containers, I suspect due in part to the larger role of rail transport in Alaska.
As a railfan myself, thoroughly enjoyed your video, and learnt a fair bit too! Looking forward to the next one!
8:54
I thought it was the Schwerer Gustav gun...
So off topic, but the MRSKIN graffiti tag on the side of a gondola car at 8:06 is too funny!
Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series! Thanks, also, for showing the silhouette of the Minneapolis skyline behind the animation ;)
made me smile
0:38 Multiple units: "Are you sure about that?"
I’ve been waiting patiently for you to cover the engineering behind trains! As a fellow railfan myself - I’m quite pleased to see my city of Pittsburgh represented! Awesome video and I look forward to expanding my knowledge on trains 😊
GRADY!!! So excited for the railroad series. Also, way to bury the lead. The bingo is exactly what we all needed. Thank you so much!
HELL YEAH RAILWAY ENGINEERING!!!! I've always been obsessed with trains and railroad logistics for a long time! Thank you for making this :)
Edit: Cabooses (Cabeese?) Are also sometimes called Brakeman's Cars. They were used before airbrakes to manually apply brakes!
Have you ever played Factorio? I think you'd like it
the factory must grow @@drakep271
The amount of footage used in this video from Pittsburgh, my hometown, is awesome. It was like a little treasure hunt for me to spot all those clips! Great video!
I ran a trucking owner-operator business for a little while, and I was lucky enough to be able to haul a traction unit (the motor and axle assembly that goes under the locomotive) for a freight locomotive. It was super cool to see them hoist the thing 4-5 feet up in the air, roll the old, seized up one out and then roll the new one in. One of the coolest hauls I have ever done.
As a railcar mechanic, you did pretty good for just doing the basics
As someone from Hawaii I have a very limited understanding of trains. Hawaii does have a rich history of using trains for agriculture and transportation though. Mahalo for sharing 🤙🏽
I am a railway enthusiast and also spent a few months working as a conductor trainee (before I truly understood what the lifestyle was). I am super excited to see that you're making a bunch of videos on the topic! I've even learned a few things myself already. Only thing I want to mention (having worked with them extensively while I was there) is that while you may be technically correct that coal cars are gondolas, I'd give them their own classification on account of being built so specially for rotary duimpers. Typically all the gondolas I've seen have short sides like the illustration presented, although I do recall seeing one or two with full height sides.
I'm excited to see what you have prepared! I know I'm just another viewer, but I'd be tremendously excited to help you out if you need it!
Aye that Pan Am box car looked slick! 4:32
I may be a fully grown adult, but this video made me feel like a little kid again! This was a very fun and informative video, thank you so much!!
One of my best childhood memories is getting to ride the switch engine at a local rail yard outside Chicago on the weekends. Saw just about every freight car you mentioned plus some cranes mounted on flat cars, not to mention the occasional result of an accident or two, and one or both cars being considerably shorter as a result! This was back in the 60s and shock absorbers built into the couplers was a big thing, with newer improvements all the time.
I grew up next to a freight railroad and like to travel by train when it’s possible, so I’ve seen almost all of these, so it’s really cool to learn what all of them were for!
I'm so glad you mentioned rail grinders.
They are very fun to watch at night and VERY LOUD. lol
I got so incredibly excited when I saw this video come up on my recommended. Please make more train stuff!
Great video! I am really excited about this series. The only mistake I noticed was the scale at 12:36. Shown in the picture is actually a rail brake used in hump/classification yards. And in the MOW section you didn't mention vehicles to install/maintain overhead wire, although they are of course less common in the US.
You just gained one extra subscriber. I am very impressed by how in-depth you covered railcars. I've been a railfan my whole life, and I still was able to learn something. Looking forward to seeing what you post next!
I was waiting for the one type of rail car that I used to have a great deal of contact with - the dry bulk transport car. I dealt with the cars that transported type II Portland cement but I imagine any dry product could be shipped in these types of railcars; plastic pellets, grains and even dog food come to mind. What intrigued me was the fact that these rail cars were basically large versions of the dry bulk trailer that I used to deliver product to the concrete companies.
I love the Minneapolis skyline used in the animation. Reminds me of when Minneapolis was the center of rail in the Upper Midwest with the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads. Also, the flashing red light on the end of freight trains in the US are affectionately called F.R.E.D (Flashing Rear End Device)
Great video, but I do want to point out that double decker cars are actually very common around Europe, particularly on regional trains, but also on intercity and even some high speed services (notably the TGV Duplex). They're quite common as EMUs as well
They're not uncommon on heavy commuter rail in the US, either - Chicago Metra and the Seattle-area SoundTransit use them, for example.
Amtrak has a variant they call the "superliner" that is two-level, but the lower level is mostly baggage storage and restrooms, with a small number of seats for passengers with mobility concerns that would make the stairway to the upper level problematic.
They’re pretty common here in the US, I know they’re not usually as common in the rest of the world. Maybe thats what he meant
Yeah, that comment bugged me. Here in Finland you have about a 50% chance of ending up on a double decker train if you're travelling long distance.
In Canada as well, any train I've been on is a double decker
Traction motors are actually really interesting too. As well as the control systems for them.
I'm a locomotive engineer for BNSF railroad, so I'm always on the lookout for errors on videos like these, but your descriptions were almost 100% accurate. Anything you want to know from a professional railroader's perspective, feel free to ask.
Here in the UK, well cars (as well as double deckers) are seldom seen as the tunnels are too short. You're far more likely to find flat cars with containers on them on intermodal freight trains. Interesting to know the stuff they use in the US though! Look forward to future videos!
On cable TV in the US, the UK TV show, 'Top Gear,' did a show on the steam powered locomotive still operating in the 21st Century, where Jeremy Clarkson informed the viewers that 30 pounds of coal was needed per mile to keep the steam locomotive's boiler properly heated. That was mind-boggling to hear.
Well done, Grady! After a long career in the Firefighting field, including 20 of those 35 years as a member of the Hazmat Response Team, I can say that I learned a lot more in the last 15 minutes. We, of course, concentrated on the types of rail cars transporting hazardous materials and were very familiar with the different DOT designations and significant differences in how to access and treat each in the event of a derailment or leak. I'm looking forward to your next video.
An engineer that not love trains is not really an engineer. This channel is superb!
I love how many of the shots of trains are in Pittsburgh, just across the river from downtown.
This is just the kind of thing I was hoping for in a follow up to the every construction machine in 15 minutes episode! Thanks Grady! Do you think you could do one for overland transport as well? The various kinds of semi-trailers?
So cool. For me trains are a great intersection with my other hobby, radio. So much fun to listen to railroad comms while watching them roll by.
Also very impressed with how you've turned this into quite a side-hustle! The game is a great idea. I have a Christmas idea for some of the kids in the neighborhood, and me!
I wish we had analogue rail radio in vk3, it's some form of digital and maybe encrypted from what I remember
My heart skipped a beat when you showed us the schnabel car, it honestly startled me
I can't believe I just watched an entire video about the different kinds of rail cars. This channel is somethin else.
This was a nice overview of the many types of train cars we might see every day. I look forward to the rest of the series on trains. I grew up in a small town next to a grain terminal and I currently live in a city next to a switching yard, so it's interesting to know more about what goes in to these trains that I see every day.
One of my favorite channels. This type of content is rarely, if ever, done as great as Grady does it. Amazing content, and I love the practical construction series! Goes great with my lunch break haha. Thanks!
Thank you for the checklist! I really appreciate the work you do, I am a retired carpenter and lived right next to the tracks for many years, and love trains.
I live near Albany, NY and one of the most fascinating cars I've seen roll through town was, what I believe to be, a CSX related car that was burning up dried brush towards the front and wetting it down with hoses near the rear.
It rolled through years ago in the fall. Lots of sparks.
Fantastic video Grady. The brand you are building is wonderful! I hope you all the best. Looking forward to seeing you grow this into an engineering education empire!
I am from Nepal and I first time ride train in India. I saw different types of train car for first time and I amazed to see such big train and how much it can carry when it pass nearby platform whole station shake too scary and amazing too
Fantastic video and looking forward to rest of the series. I am a railway engineer and I think you did a very good job explaining everything.
If you at some point plan to do a part two if this then I would suggest look into track layering trains (sleepers and rails) as well as a complete track rehabilitation train.
And one of the things that still impress me to this day is the simplicity but yet advanced techniques that can be found at a marshalling yard.
Keep up the good work!👍😄
While I really enjoy the multitude of railroads converted to bike trails around my midwest home town, this video got me to thinking about the last time I actually saw a train. it has been a long time. Growing up, it was not uncommon at all to be delayed by a train. 30 years ago, I needed to time my morning commute to avoid a train crossing. My mom's much younger cousin said that it was not uncommon for the trains to stop and block their driveway in the wee hours-and there were two tracks that crossed the driveway.
In the last 50 or so years, there has been a lot of consolidation and streamlining of railroads. Back "in the day" (like, 100 years ago or so), railroads saw several periods of huge growth booms which were not later sustainable by their business realities. Contrary to the opinions of some in these comments, railroads are constantly innovating and rejuvenating in order to keep up with profit margins, safety regulations, or general business goals. The ones that don't do this or don't do it well will go bankrupt quickly. Because railroading and railroad infrastructure is expensive, and they have to make and maintain it all themselves.