This is an excuse to show you a really good tunnel

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  • Опубліковано 28 тра 2023
  • The Catesby Tunnel, in the UK, is an old Victorian railway tunnel that has a new use: a secretive car testing facility, like a wind tunnel but in reverse. So rather than just show it to the world, I thought I'd answer a question: if you stick a camera on the outside of your car, how much does the drag cost you? ■ The tunnel: catesbytunnel.com/
    Camera: Jamie MacLeod www.jamiemacleod.co.uk/
    Editor: Michelle Martin / mrsmmartin
    This is not an advert, Catesby Projects and the tunnel team had no editorial control and I wasn't paid. (In fact, I paid quite a bit for the fire safety team!)
    Thank you to the many people who suggested this over the years, but in particular to David who was able to put me in touch with them directly!
    🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
    (you can find contact details and social links there too)
    📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: www.tomscott.com/newsletter/
    ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: lateralcast.com/ / lateralcast
    ➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: / tomscottplus
    👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: / techdif

КОМЕНТАРІ • 2 тис.

  • @TomScottGo
    @TomScottGo  11 місяців тому +8309

    There were so many possible titles and thumbnails for this video. "Does attaching a camera to your car cost money?" "It's a reverse wind tunnel." "Testing like this used to be impossible." In the end, I just decided I wanted to show you a good tunnel.

    • @tau9956
      @tau9956 11 місяців тому +36

      Thx I guess

    • @claytations
      @claytations 11 місяців тому +67

      Thanks for staying honest. 😊

    • @Spiretail
      @Spiretail 11 місяців тому +128

      A good tunnel it was.

    • @Aieieo
      @Aieieo 11 місяців тому +44

      It is a nice tunnel.

    • @Acre00
      @Acre00 11 місяців тому +32

      I am so happy you went with the thumbnail you did. The others feel really clickbait-y

  • @bonelesswatermelon420
    @bonelesswatermelon420 11 місяців тому +14178

    Tom somehow manages to continue his trend of train videos despite not having a single train in sight

    • @NeonCoding
      @NeonCoding 11 місяців тому +474

      "The accidental train special" would be much worse in this case

    • @ethanhoward389
      @ethanhoward389 11 місяців тому +131

      Train adjacent

    • @SylviaRustyFae
      @SylviaRustyFae 11 місяців тому +118

      And this is totes a trains vid, bcuz my train lovin arse even got to have a moment of glee when they used the turn table xD
      I dont think a single trainspotter wudnt be absolutely giddy to be able to ride on a turn table in a disused train tunnel, even if just to flip a u turn xD

    • @traviscesarone4786
      @traviscesarone4786 11 місяців тому +8

      Ghost train.

    • @DiegoGarcia-yl3im
      @DiegoGarcia-yl3im 11 місяців тому +2

      @@ethanhoward389 liked this reference😅

  • @n1ppe
    @n1ppe 11 місяців тому +3662

    You don't need an excuse to show us really good tunnels

    • @radekt.7843
      @radekt.7843 11 місяців тому +28

      His last excuse to show us really good tunnel was maglev train

    • @the21andonly
      @the21andonly 11 місяців тому +18

      especially since he's right. This is definitely one of the best tunnels I've seen

    • @EvanTownsend
      @EvanTownsend 11 місяців тому +3

      ​@Max Thrower that's your girls tunnel

    • @arandomcommenter412
      @arandomcommenter412 11 місяців тому +1

      Is this intended to sound sexual or is that just a byproduct

  • @NEPAAlchey
    @NEPAAlchey 11 місяців тому +3140

    Cool to see a professional in the automotive industry refer to it as an "Austin Powers turn".

    • @the_original_Bilb_Ono
      @the_original_Bilb_Ono 11 місяців тому +66

      I liked that

    • @Stexen
      @Stexen 11 місяців тому +82

      Hilarious reference. Always makes me laugh

    • @MonkeyJedi99
      @MonkeyJedi99 11 місяців тому +181

      The one time I got to drive a steam roller (just pulling into a repair bay) I shouted to the other employee, "Get out of the way!" and he just screamed in mock terror while 'stuck in place'.
      We laughed.

    • @narnigrin
      @narnigrin 11 місяців тому +43

      That little reference made me unreasonably happy

    • @BaldMancTwat
      @BaldMancTwat 11 місяців тому +15

      Everyone I know refers to anything more than a 5-point-turn as an "Austin Powers". We even use it as a verb, e.g. "I Austin Powered my way out of there." or "I might have to Austin Powers it to get out of this one."

  • @ryanpenrod1859
    @ryanpenrod1859 11 місяців тому +4468

    3mm in 2.7 km? That's an absurd level of precision even for today, much less Victorian England. What the hell?

    • @TheHobohobbit
      @TheHobohobbit 11 місяців тому +291

      The victorians were the best engineers in the world. much of their stuff is still in use today

    • @General12th
      @General12th 11 місяців тому +1009

      @@TheHobohobbit That's a description, not an explanation. You might as well just say "dwarves did it".

    • @pachychon
      @pachychon 11 місяців тому +226

      The techniques and skills have been lost to time and lowering of quality of material and workers. Money would be a big factor too, with governments using the cheapest options possible.
      There was also the factor of there being a high demand built around a whole industry for the country at large.

    • @modprog
      @modprog 11 місяців тому +152

      @@partraiserhc9351 I understood it to mean that it is a straight line within 3 mm, but that straight line isn't actually tangential to earth at the tunnel center.

    • @ildarion3367
      @ildarion3367 11 місяців тому +99

      @@partraiserhc9351 It's impossible to have a straight line running parallel to the earth's geoid so I don't know what you're smoking.

  • @avirubinoff7494
    @avirubinoff7494 11 місяців тому +765

    I really like that the solution to the problem of "there are bats in the tunnel" was "build a bat hotel".

    • @654jimbob654
      @654jimbob654 11 місяців тому +114

      Bats are a protected species in the UK. As they often make homes in abandoned buildings or other structures, it's common to see issues arising where renovations or demolitions are delayed because it's against the law to disturb/kill bats, damage their resting places or obstruct access to their shelters. Relocating them to a hotel is a great way of giving them a suitable replacement home!

    • @aim-to-misbehave5674
      @aim-to-misbehave5674 11 місяців тому +99

      And a reminder to people not in the UK that bats are rabies-free here! So while you don't have to worry about deadly diseases if you upset bats, you _do_ have to worry about the fine of up to £5k per bat for disturbing them

    • @kenmcfa
      @kenmcfa 11 місяців тому +9

      When life gives you bats...

    • @Sophiebryson510
      @Sophiebryson510 11 місяців тому +19

      @@kenmcfa make battade…?

    • @snepNL
      @snepNL 11 місяців тому +9

      @@Sophiebryson510 make a bat hotel

  • @MoehClon
    @MoehClon 11 місяців тому +1368

    I love that last sentence "this is the closest I´ve gotten to science in a long time".
    I´m especially remembering the "toaster numbers don´t mean minutes" and the "I want to destroy my fingerprints with pineapple-based torture" videos as examples of Tom Scott ´doing science´.

    • @mistermist634
      @mistermist634 11 місяців тому +101

      Don't forget "throwing drums and a cymbal off a cliff"!

    • @lucarr1041
      @lucarr1041 11 місяців тому +36

      meanwhile, the recommended video at the end is literally Tom standing on a science instrument.
      Different kind of "close", but good enough for me

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 11 місяців тому +38

      I think Tom's greatest scientific work is his audience surveying. He determined important results like the best thing, how weird his audience is, and the variations of "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells".

    • @MoehClon
      @MoehClon 11 місяців тому +9

      @@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 and how to call that owl! UN-General secretary Ban Ki-Moon

    • @Shaun.Stephens
      @Shaun.Stephens 11 місяців тому +1

      He didn't say "gotten", he said "got". Tom speaks English.

  • @normang3668
    @normang3668 11 місяців тому +390

    I love how the multi-point turn has become universally recognized as the 'Austin Powers' turn.

    • @markfryer9880
      @markfryer9880 11 місяців тому +14

      It's a great universal, non offensive, easily communicated concept. Most Western people have by now seen the film or at least the short of the multi point U turn, so it now works as a shorthand description.

    • @leopold7562
      @leopold7562 11 місяців тому +3

      Me too. I used to think it was just me and my mates who used that, but it seems everyone uses it

    • @RCAvhstape
      @RCAvhstape 11 місяців тому +1

      Not to be confused with the old "Rockford Files" flying J turn.

    • @supremebuffalo6322
      @supremebuffalo6322 6 місяців тому

      I also like to use Austin Powers as a verb for getting a car stuck.
      "I've Austin Powers'd the car while trying to turn in the alley"

  • @shinyagumon7015
    @shinyagumon7015 11 місяців тому +2607

    I liked that Tom used the fact that he uses different cameras as a way to thrown some science into the video.

  • @batterietyp4059
    @batterietyp4059 11 місяців тому +4105

    3mm deviation off the laser is absolutely crazy to me. How did they do that?

    • @hongk0ngfu3y
      @hongk0ngfu3y 11 місяців тому +731

      flat earth

    • @glenngriffon8032
      @glenngriffon8032 11 місяців тому +790

      More stringent adherence to set measurements and probably a very accurate plumb line.

    • @Djorgal
      @Djorgal 11 місяців тому

      If you want crazy, look up the Ligo and Virgo experiments. They are like rulers in that they are devices that measure their own length. These tubes are about 4km long, but this length is known to a precision of a tenth of the width of an atom.

    • @stefanmadzharov9170
      @stefanmadzharov9170 11 місяців тому +830

      my guess would be literal thread under tension

    • @DanielQRT
      @DanielQRT 11 місяців тому +433

      especially when considering the fact that over 2.7 km due to the curvature of the earth the tunnel rises 57 cm (22 inches) (making some assumptions)

  • @Zebra_M
    @Zebra_M 11 місяців тому +274

    Loved the editing on that cut from "we don't want to see the cameraman in the back - because he isn't there." Like a magic trick but not exactly secret as to how it works haha

  • @binbob9
    @binbob9 11 місяців тому +160

    I used to work there. Jon is a great guy and a great boss. I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s achieved and for how he’s running that place.

  • @g00dbyemisterA
    @g00dbyemisterA 11 місяців тому +994

    Gonna be honest Tom, I am mostly upset that this video isnt about the Bat Hotel

    • @Tsudico
      @Tsudico 11 місяців тому +84

      Hopefully that's the next one. I wonder where the largest bat hotel is on Earth?

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому +55

      ​@@Tsudico Transylvania?

    • @bonecanoe86
      @bonecanoe86 11 місяців тому +28

      Someone get the Tim Traveler to go to it!

    • @frzstat
      @frzstat 11 місяців тому +18

      @@TsudicoGotham City?

    • @geoffroi-le-Hook
      @geoffroi-le-Hook 11 місяців тому +3

      Louisville, Kentucky ?

  • @somebystander9465
    @somebystander9465 11 місяців тому +323

    This indeed is a good tunnel

    • @slink66
      @slink66 11 місяців тому +1

      Abracadabra

    • @MonkeyJedi99
      @MonkeyJedi99 11 місяців тому

      I wonder what happens if you drive a car in the tunnel up to 141.622kph?

  • @microwave221
    @microwave221 11 місяців тому +447

    As someone who used to work in notoriously more active tunnels, l can say that the procedure for turning around the wrecker/fire trucks was full lock turn until you hit the wall, full lock the other way until you hit the other, then full lock again into the wall once more if you set yourself up well and twice more if you didn't. The trucks were build with this procedure in mind, the difference those last few inches made was astounding

    • @JackieBright
      @JackieBright 11 місяців тому +98

      So a well engineered Austin Powers turn

    • @charleslambert3368
      @charleslambert3368 11 місяців тому +18

      Reminds me of the time I had the misfortune to go down a no-through-road in Oxford.

    • @semurobo
      @semurobo 9 місяців тому

      So you actually physically touched the Wall? Or you Just went as close as possible without touching anything?

    • @microwave221
      @microwave221 9 місяців тому +9

      @@semurobo actually contact it. You didn't hit it at speed, and the trucks had bumpstops or a pushpad so there wouldn't be any damage. There wasn't all that much space on either side when the rig was perpendicular, so every inch mattered

  • @MikeV8652
    @MikeV8652 11 місяців тому +138

    In case anyone is confused by the tunnel being "flat," yet having a gradient: "Flat" is not the same as "level." A level line is a curved line (constant distance from Earth's center of gravity). This tunnel is instead "flat," meaning straight, not curved. It has gradient, because one end is higher in elevation than the other (probably to facilitate drainage), and the elevation difference between the ends would have to exceed the difference of the middle from level. In the absence of gradient, all water that seeps into a flat tunnel would drain to the middle, because that's the point lowest from level.

    • @GRosa
      @GRosa 11 місяців тому +1

      What do you mean by "vertically straightly"?

    • @MikeV8652
      @MikeV8652 11 місяців тому +7

      @@GRosa That's a slight editing error. I meant "vertically straight," and by that I mean not curved in the vertical axis, as a level line or a line on the surface of the earth is. A straight line is, of course, the shortest distance between two points, or the trajectory of a laser beam.

    • @leopold7562
      @leopold7562 11 місяців тому +1

      I'd have said "flat" as in there are no undulations in the surface

    • @PownyRider
      @PownyRider 11 місяців тому

      Depends on where your tunnel start. It could also run out from one end.

    • @MikeV8652
      @MikeV8652 11 місяців тому +13

      @@PownyRider Only if a flat tunnel has gradient could water run out one end or the other. If both ends of a flat tunnel had the same elevation, water would drain (or marbles would roll) to the middle, because the middle sags relatively lowest from level (deepest within a spherical earth). The effects of gravity are balanced by levelness, not by flatness. Imagine a hypothetical straight (flat) tunnel from London to New York. Both ends would emerge from the earth at an angle, and its middle would be many miles deep into the earth. Clearly, any water or marbles would pool in the middle.

  • @Mumpy
    @Mumpy 11 місяців тому +580

    I love how Jon Paton had to remind us that the surface of the earth is curved, just in case a certain group of people unironically cite the laser light as proof the earth is flat...

    • @MonkeyJedi99
      @MonkeyJedi99 11 місяців тому +47

      "A... fifteen degree per hour drift..." - "Thanks, Bob!"

    • @Grim_Beard
      @Grim_Beard 11 місяців тому +14

      "Interesting."

    • @Runescaper1357
      @Runescaper1357 11 місяців тому +2

      In principle, it's not a dumb argument; there *must* be a distance at which the curvature should be noticeable.
      How long of a perfectly-level run would one need to observe (or not observe) the phenomenon?
      I know of the canal and mast test, and that those results can be disregarded due to not factoring in refraction from air and water.
      I know of a test done on a frozen lake at a distance of roughly 6km that demonstrated no curvature.
      I recall several other long-distance shots (10+ km) of buildings and landscapes from a camera (Nikon P900 I think?) which purportedly ought not to be possible on a curved earth.
      What do you think about the idea?
      What evidence do you know of?

    • @ashman187
      @ashman187 11 місяців тому +3

      2.7 Km is = 8 inches per mile squared, or 52 inches of curve.

    • @Creaform003
      @Creaform003 11 місяців тому +52

      @@Runescaper1357 The easiest way to see the curvature with the naked eye, is in our shadow on the moon.
      There is also a place in Australia you can see it quite nicely. The Nullarbor Plains, I spent a few hours going across it in a train and it messes with your head. You can't see beyond about 10-20km in any direction. It feels like the world hasn't rendered correctly and your view distance is set to medium.

  • @ecospider5
    @ecospider5 11 місяців тому +604

    Excellent reuse of infrastructure. I feel there are a lot of old abandoned things that could be reused. It’s just that the people that could use it don’t know it exists.

    • @goosenotmaverick1156
      @goosenotmaverick1156 11 місяців тому +28

      Agreed! Reuse of infrastructure could save so much in building materials alone, much less once you consider all the environmental costs that would be reduced significantly by not having to build from an empty lot. Not to mention the cool history that can be saved in ways like this!

    • @DJenerate
      @DJenerate 11 місяців тому +16

      It reminds me of something similar near me in Dudley, there's a former rail tunnel that's not being used by the new tram line, so they've repurposed it into part of a test track for 'Very Light Rail'. I guess using a railway tunnel for something running on rails isn't as interesting, but it's still great to see the infrastructure being used again.

    • @goosenotmaverick1156
      @goosenotmaverick1156 11 місяців тому +10

      @@DJenerate in my opinion, anything like that is interesting, I see any reuse of large scale anything, interesting. I mean, bringing back anything as even the same thing as it was, can be a process. Plus, anything developing in rail transport is also interesting 😎

    • @garganchua
      @garganchua 11 місяців тому +1

      reusing train tunnels for cars is such an amazing idea its a shame we dont do it more often. most people who drive cars like to go out of their way just to use the path with tunnels because vroom

    • @DarkSkay
      @DarkSkay 11 місяців тому +1

      Well-built stuff can save so much time, money, resources.

  • @kice
    @kice 11 місяців тому +117

    Tom's obsession with tunnels or just a big hole underground is comparable to the obsession of Sam from Wendover to airplane/logistics.

    • @Airbourne92
      @Airbourne92 11 місяців тому +12

      Tom Scott is a hobbit confirmed

    • @DarkSkay
      @DarkSkay 11 місяців тому +1

      It would also have been interesting to see the tunnel as a kind of canal, with vehicles speeding on the water surface instead of asphalt.

  • @euansmith3699
    @euansmith3699 11 місяців тому +60

    Adam Something is correct, even when it comes to designing cars, railways are the answer.
    Another weird, entertaining and informative video from Tom and his crew.
    Now I want to see the same experiments being run with different breeds of dogs with their head out of the window.

    • @zoom3184
      @zoom3184 11 місяців тому +6

      pugs gotta be the least efficient is my guess

    • @pattheplanter
      @pattheplanter 11 місяців тому +10

      And different sizes of evil henchmen hanging on to the roof with varying weapons.

    • @laurencefraser
      @laurencefraser 11 місяців тому +8

      Nah, if you're saying that about cars, you're wrong. There are real world use cases where a the car is, in fact, the best option. Just a lot less of them than is assumed when designing infrastructure in most of the world these days.
      On the other hand, it would be entirely correct to say 'when it comes to designing Roads, railways are the answer (most of the time)'.

  • @glenngriffon8032
    @glenngriffon8032 11 місяців тому +25

    "Austin Powers 37 point turn" had me rolling

  • @izzieb
    @izzieb 11 місяців тому +212

    I've heard of this tunnel before, it very much seems they were inspired by Chip Ganassis's testing tunnel (the Laurel Hill Tunnel in Pennsylvania) which was used by his various race teams for testing. I believe Chip Ganassi began using it for testing in 2004.

    • @davidz2690
      @davidz2690 11 місяців тому +20

      And this one is in Northamptonshire, at the heart of world motorsport

    • @SmD-ff5xd
      @SmD-ff5xd 11 місяців тому +5

      I don't think so. This tunnel is much larger and is available for hire, I believe the only one in the world. used not just for aerodynamics & emissions testing they also have Sunday's where it's available to the public for cycling and the like

    • @McAdamSandwich
      @McAdamSandwich 11 місяців тому

      @@davidz2690 Fairly certain Red Bull's F1 team has/does use it.

    • @davidz2690
      @davidz2690 11 місяців тому

      @@McAdamSandwich Not surprised - seven F1 teams are based nearby

  • @MrGreatplum
    @MrGreatplum 11 місяців тому +14

    The Great Central railway main line was built to a phenomenally high standard; it’s no surprise to me that tunnel is so well engineered.

  • @uumlaut-
    @uumlaut- 11 місяців тому +30

    1:07 made me unbelievably happy. I'm glad that they opted to relocate the bats while still getting access to the tunnel

    • @sarahlouisebutler
      @sarahlouisebutler 11 місяців тому +9

      I love that too, but legally they cannot disturb the bats. Bats and their roosts are protected under law in the UK (possibly internationally but I'm not sure).

    • @uumlaut-
      @uumlaut- 11 місяців тому +1

      @@sarahlouisebutler happy non the less. The last thing we need is more meddling with bats, haha

    • @binbob9
      @binbob9 11 місяців тому

      I used to work there and it was the biggest hurdle before starting work, more so than any of the engineering bits. Took a looooong time to get sorted.

  • @gilly_the_fish
    @gilly_the_fish 11 місяців тому +123

    With all the times Tom and crew have mentioned Thunderbirds over the years, I feel like I've watched the whole thing by now.

  • @garfythecat
    @garfythecat 11 місяців тому +136

    I visited both tunnel heads about 20 years ago as I had an interest in the old GCR. A fascinating piece of engineering and it's pleasing to see you don't have to fight through decades of neglect to get to the tunnel now!

  • @minprez
    @minprez 11 місяців тому +8

    yesterday i didn't know that it would cost you roughly 10 cents per 100 miles in added fuel consumption if you stick a go-pro to a car. but today i do, this is knowledge that I will carry with me for the rest of my life (or until gas prices change)

  • @Crosier5961
    @Crosier5961 11 місяців тому +62

    I had a friend who would only put $20 worth of fuel in his car because his logic was "more fuel = more weight. More weight = less gas mileage" so he saw that as the perfect balance. This just made me think of that.

    • @paulhaynes8045
      @paulhaynes8045 11 місяців тому +7

      But it would have meant gradually putting less and less fuel in his car. Keep that car long enough, and you're not even going to make it to the shops!

    • @edopronk1303
      @edopronk1303 11 місяців тому +6

      He's got a point. Although it is probably negligible, 20 liters more or less.

    • @Robert-cu9bm
      @Robert-cu9bm 11 місяців тому +42

      But then you waste more detouring to the petrol station.

    • @bubblinebee
      @bubblinebee 11 місяців тому +11

      @@Robert-cu9bm This exactly! Stopping to get more fuel costs fuel, but my mom would never listen...

    • @vylbird8014
      @vylbird8014 11 місяців тому +8

      @@Robert-cu9bm The solution is to illegally keep a big tank of fuel in your garage and fill up from that as needed.

  • @PietroNobili
    @PietroNobili 11 місяців тому +206

    This could help answering whether it's more efficient to lower your car windows or use air conditioning, I've always wondered about that

    • @fireaza
      @fireaza 11 місяців тому +25

      The Mythbusters did an episode on that.

    • @TSZatoichi
      @TSZatoichi 11 місяців тому +40

      Mythbusters already did that, use your AC.

    • @RJFerret
      @RJFerret 11 місяців тому +95

      Mythbusters tested this via measuring fuel usage over a long time around a racetrack, obviously the exact threshold varies based on vehicle, but essentially AC more efficient at high speeds (highway), open windows at low speeds (city).

    • @Atlessa
      @Atlessa 11 місяців тому +27

      Mythbusters did that in real world conditions a long time ago. Their method: Have a transparent tank on the outside of the car where they could see how much fuel they used, and drive around the perimeter of a parking lot several times in varying configurations.
      I believe their result was that the AC was quite a bit more efficient, but keep in mind that was more than 10 years ago so car aerodynamics and AC technology have certainly progressed since.

    • @benwisey
      @benwisey 11 місяців тому +2

      Mythbusters tested that.

  • @JoshuaHill182
    @JoshuaHill182 11 місяців тому +16

    As someone with a degree in physics, this work site really interests me. I love that it was built buy the victorians. Maybe i should send in my CV and see what happens

  • @wanderingrandomer
    @wanderingrandomer 11 місяців тому +9

    I love how "doing an Austin Powers" is immediately recognisable as a term. I and a lot of people I know refer to that when botching a 3-point turn

  • @emmahealy4863
    @emmahealy4863 11 місяців тому +7

    As a caver, I can appreciate a really good tunnel.
    Thanks Tom

    • @eadweard.
      @eadweard. 11 місяців тому

      As an absolute gash hound, me too!

    • @mrlithium69
      @mrlithium69 11 місяців тому

      gl spelunking to the both of you!

  • @mejiavince
    @mejiavince 11 місяців тому +27

    That is a really good tunnel.

  • @tapio_m6861
    @tapio_m6861 11 місяців тому +87

    Oh god I thought Tom had gone to the silly Tesla tunnel.
    The result is interesting, and I can only imagine that they have also done tests for those roof boxes for skis. They are known to be bad for fuel efficiency, but I would like to know how much.

    • @BuzzinsPetRock78
      @BuzzinsPetRock78 11 місяців тому +6

      I think the scientific answer to that would be: very. 😋

    • @web4639
      @web4639 11 місяців тому +5

      I do think that driving back and forth at a constant speed in a straight line would actually be an ideal situation for a computer controlled car (not a tesla, don't want to ruin the tunnel).

    • @SirDragonClaw
      @SirDragonClaw 11 місяців тому +1

      How are those tunnels silly? They seem to be used by 1000's of people per day.

    • @finngardiner5358
      @finngardiner5358 11 місяців тому +15

      @@SirDragonClaw single lane, no fire exits, build a tram are the main ones iirc

    • @tapio_m6861
      @tapio_m6861 11 місяців тому +7

      @@web4639 Make a queue out of all those cars and put more seats in them. And ditch the word "car", use something more to the point. Like an underground or a subway. Or a metro.

  • @abarratt8869
    @abarratt8869 11 місяців тому +11

    That's a fabulous facility. It strikes me that it's the kind of thing that nobody thought they needed, until someone built it. And then they all realise they need it. And there's not many dead straight, long, spare tunnels around the world...
    Reminds me of the road testing facility Tom went to in France, with a massively heavy high speed merry-go-round on lorry tyres. Crazy, until you see the results.

    • @zr4937
      @zr4937 11 місяців тому +2

      I live near this facility, and only just now realised what it was for. Growing up in Northampton, saw lots of random places which had abandoned railway tracks from the old railway line that was abandoned in favour of the Northampton-Milton Keynes/London line. We also have a lift tower that, well, was used to test lifts. Now we just abseil down it because we don't need to test lifts here anymore apparently, and at Christmas time we put a tree on top of it. Midlanders are weird.

    • @abarratt8869
      @abarratt8869 11 місяців тому

      @@zr4937 I know the lift tower - driven round it. Listed building now - that's going to cost the owner a lot of money one day.
      Terry Wogan used to refer to it as the Northampton lighthouse. "Why," he would muse, "are they building a lighthouse in Northampton so far from the sea?".

  • @davidf2281
    @davidf2281 11 місяців тому +30

    I'm waiting for the video in a couple of decades where Tom just sits down in front of the camera and says, "Sorry folks, I've run out of interesting things having made a video on every single one of them. Let's play cards or something."

    • @BunkerFox
      @BunkerFox 11 місяців тому +7

      That would, in itself, be interesting

    • @godzillas6301
      @godzillas6301 11 місяців тому +6

      In 1945 in mexico 4 men sat down to play cards and each of them was delt a royal flush ........
      True tale ...... now try to work out the odds which are mind boggling .

    • @thegurw1994
      @thegurw1994 11 місяців тому +5

      ​@@godzillas6301 well, the odds of being dealt a royal flush is 4 in about 2.6 million. So the odds of 4 royal flushes dealt in one hand would indeed be astronomical.

    • @otterylexa4499
      @otterylexa4499 11 місяців тому +5

      He's already announced that he will be retiring in a few years time.

    • @kaspernbs
      @kaspernbs 11 місяців тому

      I think he already did a running out of ideas video.

  • @rud
    @rud 11 місяців тому +38

    Legends has it that if you go in there at midnight on the shortest day of the year, you can still hear ghosts of trains past, going though the tunnel, their whistles blaring right though your soul.

  • @otterylexa4499
    @otterylexa4499 11 місяців тому +16

    I've seen videos on the Catesby tunnel before but this was definitely the best. And a fascinating little bit of science as well, which demonstrates the advantage of the set-up. You'd need a lot more runs to get that data in the open.

    • @otterylexa4499
      @otterylexa4499 11 місяців тому +5

      As someone else also mentioned, you could also film a very Tom Scott video on the bat hotel. With an interview with an Environmental Conservation officer.

  • @jaydavis2839
    @jaydavis2839 11 місяців тому +9

    I’m so glad health and safety made you wear hi-vis vests because all the traffic on that roadway

    • @u1zha
      @u1zha 11 місяців тому +3

      More like to make rescuers see them more easily, in case of a freak accident with all lights going out lots of smoke accumulating

  • @invisiblewizard2538
    @invisiblewizard2538 11 місяців тому +13

    Used to live near there, it was on my regular jogging route. I remember when it was just a disused train tunnel - then all the construction, then the new road layout on the A364... Nice to see the inside of it!

  • @seanehle8323
    @seanehle8323 11 місяців тому +6

    Hey Tom! Such a random treat to "run into you" at Heathrow a few days ago. Can't believe I lost my footing like that.
    It's still a highlight of my trip to have met you, even if under unfortunate circumstances.

  • @phyphor
    @phyphor 11 місяців тому +6

    "how's that for timing?" - it's almost like you have been doing this for a while!
    Top work, Tom.

  • @tigershark2328
    @tigershark2328 11 місяців тому +13

    As an Aerospace student who's used a Wind tunnel:
    THIS IS SO COOL
    I wanna visit!!!

  • @techdaemn
    @techdaemn 11 місяців тому +17

    One interesting nit. Gradient aside, "perfectly flat" (or rather perfectly straight) is not flat for the purposes of coasting a car. Mentioned at the beginning, but earth's surface is curved, so if the tunnel were same elevation at both ends, but perfectly straight then effectively it's actually lower in the middle and you're going uphill slightly toward either end. If water leaked in, it would literally pool up in the middle of the tunnel eventually forming a curved surface.
    With the gradient and straight profile it means that the tunnel is effectively steeper at one end than it is at the other end, relative to the pull of gravity. All of this needs to be accounted for in their calculations.

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      Yes. They advertise a constant gradient of 1:176

    • @techdaemn
      @techdaemn 11 місяців тому +1

      @@smeeself Cept if it's truly laser straight, then it is *not* a constant gradient in the way that gradient matters (coasting in this case). A level will measure different values at one end, center, and other end.

    • @quillmaurer6563
      @quillmaurer6563 11 місяців тому +2

      This crossed my mind as well. Running these calculations (in a rough approximation that will at least give reasonable order of magnitude) I get a difference in angle of about 0.024°, .04%, or 1 in 2355. My guess is that this effect is so insignificant that it doesn't matter, even at the precision they are doing. Initially I figured this might be less than a rounding error for the given 1:176, but when I tried adding this new gradient I got 1:163, so it would be measurable in that given number - but still probably so insignificant they don't really care. 1:176 is probably the average through the tunnel.

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      ​@techdaemon Absolutely. Good point. But the gravitational difference between two ends of a 110km tunnel ( at sea level) is about 0.003m/s.
      For a 3km tunnel it is less than 0.000002. m/s
      ( I'm not sure but local gravitational somnolent might be greater than that so I'll let them pass this time)
      😃

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      ​@@quillmaurer6563 I got 1:169 ( done very roughly too) but either way, I think your right, it's not going to factor into their work. 👍

  • @listey
    @listey 11 місяців тому +8

    You had me at "Tom Scott" and "tunnel".

  • @joshuaburgess7727
    @joshuaburgess7727 11 місяців тому +24

    I bet the acoustic sound and potential in there is incredible 😅

    • @quillmaurer6563
      @quillmaurer6563 11 місяців тому

      Ask Richard Hammond about loud V8s and tunnels...

  • @officialmcdeath
    @officialmcdeath 11 місяців тому +32

    GCR was the last and best engineered mainline of the steam era and Catesby Tunnel is testament to that \m/

  • @rkan2
    @rkan2 11 місяців тому +4

    Fittingly after watching Technology Connection's video about the Ioniq 5's brake lights :P

  • @spblz
    @spblz 11 місяців тому +4284

    Wild how victorians built better tunnels than Elon Musk.

    • @jantschierschky3461
      @jantschierschky3461 11 місяців тому +465

      Everyone can

    • @BloodyMobile
      @BloodyMobile 11 місяців тому +93

      Nice burn xD

    • @barneylaurance1865
      @barneylaurance1865 11 місяців тому +20

      Also wondering how that's defined. Won't it depend hugely on which exact points on the tunnel you measure at the beginning and end? I wouldn't expect the shape to be that precisely the same at both ends. Or is it based on an average of measurements from all around the top bottom and side walls of the tunnel at the two ends?

    • @Alex-cw3rz
      @Alex-cw3rz 11 місяців тому +251

      ​​@@barneylaurance1865 he literally described how they did it they used a laser that put out a beam from one end to the other and it was 3mm difference.

    • @wellwell7950
      @wellwell7950 11 місяців тому +23

      That's not hard

  • @Craigels
    @Craigels 11 місяців тому +36

    Another great video as per!
    I love how, even whilst providing an interesting and informative video, Tom is still able to break the 4th wall and make you think about the filming process for thsoe whom are not in the know.

  • @Schmidtelpunkt
    @Schmidtelpunkt 11 місяців тому +6

    Aaaand there I am sucked into the rabbit hole of following the geographic patterns of a former railway line through England...

  • @NichtcrawlerX
    @NichtcrawlerX 11 місяців тому +5

    "This needs the music from Thunderbirds"
    I know that feeling, it always plays in my head when I see those stair single seat elevators and the like. I also always point it out and I am quite certain by now it always annoys the people I am with...

  • @ericlotze7724
    @ericlotze7724 11 місяців тому +5

    1:06 I was about to be bummed, but they made them their own little bat hotel how lovely!
    (UF Has some MASSIVE Ones)

  • @speedincooper
    @speedincooper 11 місяців тому +3

    7:42 - "that's the closest I've got to science in a long time"
    Guy from earthquake tower video: *cries*

  • @alucide
    @alucide 11 місяців тому +5

    Nice to see the deviation in the measurements is the same as the resolution of the measurement: 100 fps 0,01 s.
    And now to be as pedantic as Tom would appreciate; the mass of the car does change, as energy in batteries has mass, it's just low enough that the wearing down of the paint on the car by air friction is probably more than the change in weight if the battery, not to mention the moisture loss of the driver or the wear of the tires.

  • @nitehawk86
    @nitehawk86 11 місяців тому +15

    Would love to see a series where Tom just visits tunnels. Nest time you are in Pennsylvania, visit the abandoned turnpike tunnel in Breezewood. :)

  • @mehalld
    @mehalld 11 місяців тому +5

    One of the few good outcomes of the Beeching cuts, though the "unnecessary duplication" of other lines sure could come in useful now when we're stuck on capacity.

  • @TheFatVeganOne
    @TheFatVeganOne 11 місяців тому +13

    The phrase "That's the closest I've got to science in a long time!" really tickled me 😅

  • @teodorrozej4344
    @teodorrozej4344 11 місяців тому +7

    4:01 As soon as he said deviation, my mind could only think of: "The missile knows where it is at all times"

    • @kindlin
      @kindlin 11 місяців тому +1

      Not by knowing where it is, but by knowing where it is not.

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      ​@@kindlin Forgive my ignorance but where is this quote from? Thanks.

    • @kindlin
      @kindlin 11 місяців тому

      @@smeeself
      The missile knows where it is....

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      @@kindlin Does that mean that you don't know...?

    • @incognitoaccount7510
      @incognitoaccount7510 7 місяців тому

      ​@@smeeself Its an explanation of how missile guidance systems work.
      Google "the missile knows where it is"
      Essentially, the missile subtracts where it is from where it isn't to find where it's going

  • @tdbla98
    @tdbla98 11 місяців тому +3

    The turn table at each end is brilliant! That's awesome. Also great timing Tom. Great video. Love this!

  • @DogsWithPurpose
    @DogsWithPurpose 11 місяців тому +2

    Glad Tom has been reunited with his true passion.. Tunnels

  • @KeppyKep
    @KeppyKep 11 місяців тому +3

    That's a nice tunnel.
    And I love how you gave us a little behind-the-scenes peek AND made that half the story of the video!

  • @DaLoveDonkey69420
    @DaLoveDonkey69420 11 місяців тому +2

    I always love the timing with your dialogs!

  • @SockGoblin801
    @SockGoblin801 11 місяців тому +2

    You turn some of the most mundane into stuff I find fun and interesting. Your energy is great for a smile. Thanks for your work.

  • @dmdragonfly
    @dmdragonfly 11 місяців тому +15

    Went on a couple of tours of this during its repurposing. Amazing environment inside. Of course, we walked through, so took a little longer.

    • @markfryer9880
      @markfryer9880 11 місяців тому

      Must have taken quite a while to reconfigure the tunnel and put in the ceiling and the lighting.

  • @bastiaan1150
    @bastiaan1150 11 місяців тому +7

    Fantastic approach to measurements!

  • @giraffon5487
    @giraffon5487 11 місяців тому +3

    It was a really good tunnel indeed

  • @procrastinathor4594
    @procrastinathor4594 11 місяців тому +1

    Yes, Tom this is great!
    Love your content ❤
    I never knew I was in a mood for tunnel today, but here we go.

  • @belg4mit
    @belg4mit 11 місяців тому +20

    I like this. Where possible, consider doing more "actually use the facility in some way", even if it is to test something silly.

  • @yellowblue_tt
    @yellowblue_tt 11 місяців тому +11

    that is a very good tunnel, 10/10

  • @mescad
    @mescad 11 місяців тому +35

    I wonder how much having Tom in the car as a passenger affected the tests. Being inside of the car, of course he wouldn't add any direct wind resistance, but I would think his additional weight would affect drag. Likely more than the GoPros, I'd think.

    • @abydosianchulac2
      @abydosianchulac2 11 місяців тому +10

      It would have been interesting since they'd have had the info from the run with the camera operator and equipment in the back, too, so they'd know how much he affected the run as well.

    • @toneddef
      @toneddef 11 місяців тому +2

      Perhaps they were doing a loaded vs unloaded run, to text the affect of weight. What you don't see are the six loaded suitcases and a bag of sand in the trunk.

    • @geoffroi-le-Hook
      @geoffroi-le-Hook 11 місяців тому

      did we see him outside the car during a test at all ?

    • @martijn9568
      @martijn9568 11 місяців тому +1

      Tom being in the car would also add 70 kilograms of mass, which means that the car will coast for longer.
      Tom being in the car probably both negatively, as well as positively affected the test.

  • @brianholmes1812
    @brianholmes1812 11 місяців тому +2

    I just love the thunderbirds style turntable setup they have

  • @Esperologist
    @Esperologist 11 місяців тому +3

    2:47 - Impressed me that you had to say the line about the camera operator not being in the back twice... to be able to get the shot from the camera operator of you saying that line to blend with the shot from the dash of you saying that line.

    • @eekee6034
      @eekee6034 11 місяців тому

      Haha! But I think there's a boring explanation: There was probably a camera stuck to the rear window or something.

  • @DaHaiZhu
    @DaHaiZhu 11 місяців тому +4

    I really appreciate that they were environmentally conscious enough to provide Bat Houses for those they displaced by the reconstruction. 👍👍👍

    • @aim-to-misbehave5674
      @aim-to-misbehave5674 11 місяців тому +1

      It's actually a legal requirement! Bats are a protected species, and you can face fines (up to £5k per bat) and jail time (up to 6 months) for disturbing their nesting sites, blocking entrances etc

  • @DaLoveDonkey69420
    @DaLoveDonkey69420 11 місяців тому +1

    Love every video Tom!! One of my favorite journalist! Thankyou for everything you do!

  • @Oba936
    @Oba936 11 місяців тому

    I really love it, when you show us the bits in the video where you are just happy about timing and such.

  • @noelward8047
    @noelward8047 11 місяців тому +1

    This is intriguing.
    I have spent many hours in wind tunnels investigating things such as wind noise in vehicles.

  • @DrBluefox
    @DrBluefox 11 місяців тому +7

    This is how you make an empty tunnel interesting

  • @Soundhound101
    @Soundhound101 11 місяців тому

    Absolutely nuts. I love the science you do Tom. Thank you kindly for sharing this.

  • @simonjohncasey
    @simonjohncasey 11 місяців тому +2

    I love the concept of taking something from history and using it for advanced science

    • @simonjohncasey
      @simonjohncasey 11 місяців тому +1

      I actually watched their marketing video on UA-cam and their tagline is “The future is here, and it’s 125 years old” 😊

  • @LittleMountain90
    @LittleMountain90 11 місяців тому +3

    I was not ready for the phrase "Austin Powers 37-point turn" midway through the video 😂

  • @DirkFedermann
    @DirkFedermann 11 місяців тому +6

    That reminds me of (and I had to look it up) the Laurel Hill Tunnel, where a Racing Team bought(?) the tunnel and used it to develop a race car in (almost) complete secrecy.

    • @gordonrichardson2972
      @gordonrichardson2972 11 місяців тому +2

      Was that a race car that only goes in a straight line?

    • @otterylexa4499
      @otterylexa4499 11 місяців тому +2

      @@gordonrichardson2972 I think it might have been a racecar that only turns left.

  • @jlaortheshaman1451
    @jlaortheshaman1451 11 місяців тому +1

    Everyone of your videos are amazing, I know more about the world, thanks to your work.

  • @DigitalDiabloUK
    @DigitalDiabloUK 11 місяців тому +1

    Id heard about this a few months ago; great to see Tom give more details.

  • @commodoresixfour7478
    @commodoresixfour7478 11 місяців тому +3

    Everything about this is cool. Including a old historic tunnel still being used and the fact they still care about the bats.

  • @goatcat2737
    @goatcat2737 11 місяців тому +9

    Ok I love the tunnel but I want to hear more about the bat hotel at the end?

  • @billyruss
    @billyruss 11 місяців тому +2

    Walked through that tunnel back in the 1970s. Amazing piece of engineering.

  • @fsj197811
    @fsj197811 11 місяців тому +1

    That was cool, especially the end results. Thanks for sharing!

  • @jimbob3332
    @jimbob3332 11 місяців тому +5

    What, no footage of the bat hotel?

  • @Idontknow-ji2xr
    @Idontknow-ji2xr 11 місяців тому +3

    Never had interest in tunnels but thanks for showing me this Tom

  • @AdemOmerovicBA
    @AdemOmerovicBA 11 місяців тому +2

    0:41 oh bro, the fact that you had to make that disclaimer 😅🗺️

  • @jamwil200
    @jamwil200 11 місяців тому +1

    Nice to see Tom covering this, having seen Motorbase and Team HARD test in it for BTCC!

  • @RayquaSr.
    @RayquaSr. 11 місяців тому +3

    Tom, bustinh through the door shoort of breath, "I just found a really cool tunnel"
    Every sane human on earth, " I'm listening".

  • @SauronsEye
    @SauronsEye 11 місяців тому +8

    I'd like to see the Bat motel and then the golf ball dimples on a car versus no dimples experiment to see if Myth Busters' got it right.
    Then an episode on how the engineers got the tunnel so level when it was made in the 1800s.

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому +1

      Yes to the bats and the interesting tests, but the flat ( not level) part is the modern test tunnel, not the Victorians

    • @andrewalexander9492
      @andrewalexander9492 11 місяців тому +1

      @@smeeself Yes, I guarantee you that when they started rehabilitating the tunnel, the railbed whcih had been abandoned for 4 decades was not flat, +/- 3mm.

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      @@andrewalexander9492 Indeed.

    • @u1zha
      @u1zha 11 місяців тому +2

      ​@@andrewalexander9492 They weren't talking about roughness of the surface. Of course every dimple in the wall is also deeper than 3 mm, railbed matters equally little.
      Flatness as they refer to it means something like straightness, or - take the centroid of cross section at entry, take the centroid of cross section halfway in, take the centroid of cross section at the far end - and they would be on one line +/- few mm.

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      @Uldis Barbans The flatness means that if you shine a laser up the road, the surface ( not the 'direction') varies from the true straight laser by less than 3mm.

  • @ethanchiasson
    @ethanchiasson 11 місяців тому

    Absolutely brilliant as always

  • @Robot1c
    @Robot1c 11 місяців тому +1

    Absolutely love this! Didn't realise i wanted to learn about a tunnel but now I'm greatful I did :) I appreciated the more scientific elements of this too

  • @mheermance
    @mheermance 11 місяців тому +6

    The tunnel has bats and a turntable. It is obviously a superhero lair.

    • @eekee6034
      @eekee6034 11 місяців тому +1

      Ooh! Yes, it must be! 😂 (by the way, it's "lair")

    • @mheermance
      @mheermance 11 місяців тому +1

      @@eekee6034 thanks for pointing it out. I fixed it.

  • @HowlParanormal
    @HowlParanormal 11 місяців тому +5

    We have one of these in Pennsylvania at the abandoned turnpike. They used F1 vehicles in it for testing .

  • @TheBirchCreek
    @TheBirchCreek 11 місяців тому +1

    Simple and excellent. Thank you.

  • @yikes6758
    @yikes6758 11 місяців тому +1

    "we don't want to see the camera operator in the back, because he's... not there" was such a simple trick but it still got me. unmatched video editing
    the fact that you were doing that line in both shots must have been really funny for the shot where the camera operator was actually there

    • @smeeself
      @smeeself 11 місяців тому

      Are you sure that there ever was a cameraman? 😮