1. The reason Finland has 1524mm guage is becouse the Russian Empire had it, but Russia switched to 1520mm to run the newer trains more "tight" and smooth, but Finland stayed with 1524mm. There is a direct train from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg that has a wheel distance of 1522mm so that its compatible on both countries. 2. There is a narrow guage train half and hourly from San Sebastian to the french border called Topo that connects with the French national railroads. You dont need to walk the bridge from Irun. 3. Spain uses a wider track than the rest of Europe becouse Spain needed more powerful and bigger locomotives for its mountainous region. Also, they thought that european countries would eventually use wider tracks (like Ireland, Russia...). The invasion thing is a myth. You cant even invade a country with trains LOL (just use a switch to derail or divert them). Source: I live in San Sebastian, I'm half finnish and a train nerd. Please like so that people get their facts right. Thanks for reading!

@valeriavagapova

5 жыл бұрын

Good info!

@dropdatabase2569

5 жыл бұрын

That's cool. In fact, there are multiple trains between Russia and Finland. I myself used one from Moscow to Helsinki. I didn't know it had special wheel distance

@TheDancingHyena

5 жыл бұрын

good info. But trains help an invasion progress by facilitating the movement of reinforcements and supplies into conquered territory, so your final point sounds rather silly indeed.

@ILikePi31415926535

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, spending 10 minutes reading about the massive logistics issues Austria-Hungary had due to variable gauge rail during WWI will tell you how trains can contribute to an invasion.

@thePronto

4 жыл бұрын

Won't 'like' because of your silly 3rd point illustrating you zero understanding of military matters or history. Why did all sides spend so much energy bombing rail infra in WW2 if all they needed to do was 'divert the trains'.

I lost my *train* of thought when you made that smooth ad transition Isn't that *brilliant*

@theJordanof23

6 жыл бұрын

That Oboe You won

@pilotaddine

6 жыл бұрын

I expect to see more of these in further videos lol

@Jaabir21

6 жыл бұрын

My exact thoughts

@niveditamuthamani219

5 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha funny pun

@TheManiac-nw8ru

5 жыл бұрын

You and your *BRILLIANT* puns

"How long is the trip?" "Seventeen." "Minutes?" "No, Seventeen." "Hours?" "No." "Then Seventeen what?" *"DAYS."*

@Ro_Gaming

2 жыл бұрын

no? *It's a defunct train that will move when the world ends in some sort of explosion*

I mean seriously, Russia, How big are you? I can't believe Alaska was yours!

@Sci_X1

4 жыл бұрын

The Soviet Union didn’t use Alaska

@roshanbabus9597

4 жыл бұрын

@@Sci_X1 I'm not talking about use. It's about how big Russia is.

@Sci_X1

4 жыл бұрын

Fido Doggy yeah I meant as in the Soviet Union didn’t have Alaska yet it was still bigger

@roshanbabus9597

4 жыл бұрын

@@Sci_X1 Yep. I get your point

@tylerliu2632

4 жыл бұрын

@@Sci_X1 wasn't he talking about the Russian Empire?

Wow I'm getting super nostalgic, my husband's grandfather was obsessed with trains. He spent an entire Thanksgiving explaining track gauges to me one year.

@ewanduffy

4 жыл бұрын

Notwithstanding that I am a railway enthusiast, I feel sorry for you!

"Previous testing has proven that trains don't work well off the track."

@toast6494

3 жыл бұрын

@@Navikonline nice video

@danieldronzek8616

3 жыл бұрын

MAGLEV WANTS TO KNOW YOUR LOCATION

@adrianroed2178

3 жыл бұрын

@@danieldronzek8616 kinda still a track

@whathasmylifecometo2910

3 жыл бұрын

:0

@georgejetson1025

3 жыл бұрын

Same logic says airplanes don’t travel well in the ocean

I took that 65 hour Chicago-Los Angeles train in February. It’s a the Amtrak “Texas Eagle”, taking three nights end to end. It takes so long because, similarly to that NK/Russia sleeper, service to Los Angeles is only operated by two cars. At San Antonio, the Texas Eagle transfers a sleeper and coach to a different train that heads on to Los Angeles. It’s a wildly indirect route, but a lot of fun!

finland and russia have different tracks but same trains work on both of them becouse difference is so small

18 days on a cargo train sounds like a special kind of hell.

@mehol3

6 жыл бұрын

IKR

@MrWoodii

6 жыл бұрын

Some poor Chinese hobo might learn that lesson the hard way. :(

@jimsvideos7201

6 жыл бұрын

I guy I know did pretty much that in the Russian Army.

@jaxonvictoria4345

6 жыл бұрын

FutureNow sounds like a Killem video

@TheUselessStoner

6 жыл бұрын

in the us they are limited to 12 hours a day before a new crew must take over. i'm sure its something similar there so there has to be stations they stop at to refuel and change crew.

Actually, you *don't* need to cross the bridge to Irun. To the left of the main (SNCF) Hendaye train station is a smaller, narrow-gauge station operated by the Basque Government's own railway company, Euskotren, that runs direct trains to San Sebastián every half-hour. The only walking necessary is a 1-minute trek through the main station's parking lot. Oh yeah, and there's no buses to San Sebastián from Hendaye. Well, there are, but they're long-distance buses - the same ones that go to Madrid, and you'll probably have to cough up 7 euros for the ride. Not exactly cheap. source: i live in irun

@jonistan9268

6 жыл бұрын

Vasconium Is it a narrow gauge line? It appeared quite wide to me. (I visited Hendaye and Irun in autumn). As for the buses: Isn't there a bus company that runs services from Biarritz to Hendaye? (Beyond that would be pointless because the trains run so often but there aren't many local trains between Biarritz and Hendaye.) There are a few TGV trains to Hendaye every day and I think one of them continues over the bridge to Irun. Why is that?

@toposebi95

6 жыл бұрын

Jonistan Yup, it's 1000 mm (aka metre gauge) which is considered narrow.

@jonistan9268

6 жыл бұрын

Vasconium ok thanks... That is also considering narrow gauge here in Switzerland.

@EkainMunduate

6 жыл бұрын

Jonistan both in Irun and Hendaye they have both nations track guages

@bossikblack3118

6 жыл бұрын

I read that as "i live in ruin" lol

In the Spain explanation, I definitely missed the talk about Talgo trains and how you CAN cross from Spain to France with a modern system that change the gauge on the fly and it doesn't take hours.

Finnish rail gauge is so little off from Russia that same trains can operate. 1524mm and 1520mm. It’s a relic from Tsar era.

@aydoyt

3 жыл бұрын

4mm?

@felixbeutin9530

3 жыл бұрын

sounds unstable to me

@theTHwa3tes11

3 жыл бұрын

@@felixbeutin9530 the line from Russia to Finland is 1,522mm Gauge.

@ZaHandle

3 жыл бұрын

Solution: wider wheels like only 2mm wider

@tarpattituopponen7783

3 жыл бұрын

@@theTHwa3tes11 On Russian side it's 1520 and in Finland it's 1524. It works. Railroads have a 5 millimeter tolerance anyway.

*I love this guy's train of thought*

@JuanTorres-nx4hp

6 жыл бұрын

Chris Montoya Get out.

@chrismontoya7831

6 жыл бұрын

Juan Torres K

@ethanchou4906

6 жыл бұрын

Whats the matter? He was so on *track!*

@eighty_more_or_less

6 жыл бұрын

de-railed

@cliftonbanks5590

6 жыл бұрын

Chris Montoya. He's had lots of training.

"Finland being Finland..." Great quote.

@lassemanninen430

6 жыл бұрын

xWood4000 And false. Finland and Russia have same trackwith.

@6272355463637

6 жыл бұрын

Weeeeelll... Finland does use Russian broad gauge. But then the Soviets changed it (from 1524 mm to 1520 mm) - and Finland kept it at 1524 mm.

@VicMcFly111

6 жыл бұрын

Lasse Manninen no we don't. but the difference is so small that Finnish trains can operate in Russia and vice versa

@Afdch

6 жыл бұрын

HAD same width. Finland still uses old Imperial units 5 ft gauge, USSR has moved to rounded metrics, hence 1520 mm.

@FizzyToni

5 жыл бұрын

I lmao'd a little bit. / hajosin vähän :p

The Talgo used to depart Madrid in the evening and arrive in Paris the next morning. It would change gauges on the go. It was only a first class service

In the 1980s, my neighbour took a train from Paris to Madrid, sleeper from Paris. He was a bit alarmed when he woke up in a shed with the carriage jacked 10 feet or so up in the air as they changed the wheels for the Spanish tracks.

I'm a spanish engineer and the reason of the different width of the railway was not the fear of a french invasion. The real reason was that Spain is a very mountainous country and for that reason spanish train engines had to be bigger than the rest of europe. As the spanish trains were bigger, railways had to be bigger too.

@stuartstrachan1784

4 жыл бұрын

How does Austria manage?

@SFKelvin

4 жыл бұрын

I think it was actually to protect Spanish industry - rail car manufacturers, etc. Spain has a long tradition of this. For example, books imported into Spain had their covers cut off to protect Spanish bookbinders, etc.

@russellgxy2905

4 жыл бұрын

@@SFKelvin That makes a bit more sense. For running trains through mountainous terrain which normal trains can't seem to manage, the normal practice would've been to shrink the gauge, not widen it!

@ewanduffy

4 жыл бұрын

Logically, mountainous territory should give rise to a narrower gauge to allow for sharper curves.

@OnkelJajusBahn

4 жыл бұрын

​@@stuartstrachan1784 You can still operate mountain railways with standard gauge. You might need two locomotives in cases where Spain just needs one, but nowerdays this is not such a big issue any more. Austria even build a 760mm narrow gauge moutain railway called Mariazellerbahn. But I have no idea, why Austria sticked bith narrow gauge and Spain didn't propapelly Austria wanted to be compatible with the rest of central Europe. But also for excample Switzerland has many mountain railways in narrow gauge of 1000mm or Italy in 950mm. Narrow gauge, also has the advantage to allow for smaller curves, and has lower construction cost. But there is also a weird instance in the city of Linz: Linz built a tramway in the gauge 900mm, when they built the Pöstlingbergbahn, one of the steepest mountain railways in the world, connecting Linz to an adjacent mountain, they built that railway in 1000mm gauge, because they thought this 100mm smaller gauge wouldn't allow for strong enough motors. However they switched the railway to 900mm a few years ago, so trains from the mountain railway can run on tramway tracks to the city-center.

"Previous Testing has Proven Trains Don't Work Well OFF the Track." Hmmm thanks Wendover I learnt something today.

@gtgokujr

4 жыл бұрын

lisanya23 same person

@sirk603

4 жыл бұрын

abraham carino no

@gtgokujr

4 жыл бұрын

The Kitten Gamer yes

@sirk603

4 жыл бұрын

abraham carino there was a video where they were in the same room together. I forget the link but I know it exists.

@sirk603

4 жыл бұрын

abraham carino scarily nvm I was thinking of real life lore

Me When I See The Title And Thumbnail: *it was time for thomas to leave, he had seen everything*

"Now you can actually change the guages of trains but it's massivly difficult. At best it takes hours for a full length passenger train." Talgo: "Allow us to introduce ourselves."

0:55 Freedom units. I laugh whenever I read or say that.

@FairyCRat

6 жыл бұрын

POLARTTYRTM Metric system for the win though. Logic will reign supreme someday.

@zedramer

6 жыл бұрын

The only units used by humans on the moon!

@Roxor128

6 жыл бұрын

Americans and their Orwellian terms... [shakes head]

@podoju

6 жыл бұрын

Doesn't the US customary unit come from their former British masters? The irony is staggering.

@konata736

6 жыл бұрын

I laughed way harder than I should have lmao

I'm afraid 2:04 is not true. There are systems which automatically convert a trains gauge simply by driving over a special designed part of tracks and the train has to have a special set of wheels. Although the train has to slow down, it only takes maybe minutes to do and the passengers mostly don't even notice it. It is for example used on trains from Europe to Moscow

@DiThi

6 жыл бұрын

Came to say this. I travelled from Madrid to Paris 18 years ago. I didn't notice the change because I was sleeping in a bunk bed on the train.

@dsaneusp

6 жыл бұрын

We actually have this all over Spain. It's used to switch between the standard gauge high-speed tracks to the conventional iberian gauge tracks, to take advantage of high speeds on certain journeys.

@pauulthefair

6 жыл бұрын

Where's your evidence????

@captainevenslower4400

6 жыл бұрын

Dumb Kid on KZread i hope that question is based on your channel name

@magichands135

6 жыл бұрын

Alberto Torres I díd notice it 25 years ago. We got kicked out of the train in the middle of the night at the border. Glad I still had my pants on in my sleeping bag.

Talgo and CAF trains have systems that allow to change the gauge without even stopping. There are even high speed trains (Renfe 120, 121, 130 and 730 series) with that system, and Renfe ordered 2 years ago 15 350 km/h dual gauge trains, wich are expected to be in service in 2020.

I took the train from Moscow to Beijing, stopping off in a few places. That stop at the Mongolian border so they can change the train gauge is no joke. I remember I was bursting for a pee but they close the toilets because they don't want you peeing straight onto a track in a station and I've never been closer to pissing myself in my life. Ended up having to pee into a bottle, not fun! Definitely an experience though...

@rickd3777

3 жыл бұрын

I’m a railfan from China (lives in California), they use the really old China Railway Class 18 coaches designed specifically for international trains, in 1995.

*Fun Fact:* Even when neighboring countries use the same track gauges, they are not always using the same voltages for power, resulting in a lack of overhead cables in border regions. This means the standard protocol for a train travelling through the French-German Border is to: 1. pick up a lot of speed, 2. retract the pantograph mid journey, 3. reconfigure the train for the new voltage, 4. wait for the overhead cables to reapear 5. extend the pantograph again.

@mihirv2574

6 жыл бұрын

Apace you could use diesel engines for the trains

@ApaceLp

6 жыл бұрын

Way to slow, expensive, loud and incompatible with modern high speed trains.

@mihirv2574

6 жыл бұрын

Apace they'll still probably go at around 150 KMPH. However it will remain a last ditch option.

@varana

6 жыл бұрын

They've been using multi-system engines at least since the 1960s, though, so the technology is quite well-established these days.

@kempo_95

6 жыл бұрын

Apace or stop and switch locomotives.

Actually, according to Amtrak’s timetables, the longest American passenger route is the California Zephyr from Chicago, IL to Emeryville, CA, which is 2438 miles. The Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles is 2265 miles.

In August I got the overnight train from Chisinau, Moldova to Bucharest, Romania. Cranes picked up the carriages and changed the wheels under us.

The real reason for Finland having different tracks is actually because Finland was a part of Russia when our first railroads were built and thus we used the same size as Russia.

@yegorgribenuke6853

5 жыл бұрын

Why do i get to know this stuff from Bon-russian People instead Of history lessons

So, Wendover is about planes. HAI is becoming about trains... Is there gonna be a third channel in the future?

@HerodotusVon

6 жыл бұрын

ArpholomuleNutt Yes, and it’s about back pains

@joseperalta6235

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, Wendunder Productions; it's about submarines.

@MrxstGrssmnstMttckstPhlNelThot

6 жыл бұрын

You folks are missing the joke I was trying to go for. :(

@sylvanransom704

6 жыл бұрын

is the third one going to be about automobiles?

@kunlin579

6 жыл бұрын

ships or spaceships?

Spanish Talgo trains have flexible axles and can easily change gauge. They do it in a few minutes when going from standard gauge high speed lines to the wider Iberian gauge.

The Finnish 1524 mm and the Russian 1520 mm gauges are actually fully compatible although they are nominally different. The loading gauge is the same as well. The exception is that HST trains running between the two countries have a nominal 1522 mm gauge.

from 1:20 to 1:25 thats not true. It was done like that because of spanish mountainous relief. Wider track could hold more powerful train engines (with bigger boilers) so trains could overcome larger slopes. The other thing is just an urban myth of that time, as france had invaded spain not much before (with terrible consequences for Spain) I actually had an exam about this today lol😂 Pleases like this so other people know about it

@DanielFernandes-fd5ml

6 жыл бұрын

This is correct. Spain (wrongly) considered larger tracks to be more efficient to overcome slopes. Why use different train tracks when a simple switch would be enough to derail an entire army on a train?

@FrancescoDoronzo

6 жыл бұрын

I may be wrong, but I thought the limit for slopes is due to the low friction between the steel wheels and the steel rails, not because of low power engines: over a certain angle, the wheels slip and the train can't go up

@errementari7190

6 жыл бұрын

It's absolutely true. I don't know who teach you history that way but the mountainous relief was just an excuse. In that time Spain preferred a protectionist economy because its industries were less developed than the European ones, so one way to avoid French and European products to "invade" the Spanish market was the adoption of a wider track gauge.

@luisbreva6122

6 жыл бұрын

Francesco Doronzo Yes that may be true (im not fully sure tho) but having more powerful engines definitely helps a lot in progressively increasing slopes. And Spain has loads of those specially when u want to go from the periphery to the capital.

@luisbreva6122

6 жыл бұрын

A6Bilbao Well that might be another reason but the point is that no land invasion was feared (in fact that is the kind of stories that people usually make up). Btw no one has tought me that was is in my text book, which indeed isnt very accurate.

Not sure if anyone else has said this before, but the Spanish-made Talgo train called “Strizh” that the Russians run between Berlin and Moscow actually switches gauges automatically in a matter of minutes with a special transfer track. There are some cool videos of the process here on YT! It sort of scoots along the rail on what look like skis on a bit of track that’s kept wet with sprinklers to keep things lubricated as the wheels change to a broader/narrower gauge.

@ilyapetoushkoff8362

6 жыл бұрын

What is also fun is that the other overnighters go through bogey change procedure, and the daily Minsk-Warsaw train established in 2018 in fact suggests passengers just change trains in Brest, and no wheel changing procedures are involved.

@ignaciomoreno9655

Жыл бұрын

We have a lot of them in Spain.

@pizzaipinya2442

Жыл бұрын

That's Spanish technology my friend, used here a lot :)

@Nooticus

10 ай бұрын

Sad that Strizh is no longer. And neither is any train from Russia to the EU, Mongolia, China or North Korea. ):

Research a bit before you claim things. Variable gauge trains don't take hours to change gauge.

Half as Interesting: In the United States its the 65 hours, 2,700 mile trip from Chicago to Los Angeles Actually, HAI is only Half as correct. The train Sam's talking about is the Texas Eagle, which runs from Chicago to LA. The major difference is while the Southwest Chief, the daily train between Chicago and LA goes through Southern Colorado, the Texas Eagle runs daily between Chicago and San Antonio, TX, and a few through cars are hooked onto the Sunset Limited(3 times a week) for the trip to Los Angeles. Similar scenario with the Pyongyang through-car.

I laughed hard at the "Foreign French units" vs "Freedom units"! 0:50

@francisburke4240

6 жыл бұрын

Marcus Malmberg turn off

0:46 Yay, it looks like Finland is truly alone in this category.

@POLARTTYRTM

6 жыл бұрын

According to some idiots, Finlands doesn't even exist.

@seneca983

6 жыл бұрын

The difference to the Russian gauge is only 4 mm though.

@Volodimar

6 жыл бұрын

Before 1970s russian gauge also was 1524mm, then USSR switched to 1520 but Finland didn't. Anyway, 4mm is not a big deal - even high speed trains, like Allegro pathtrought the border without changing wheels.

@laju

6 жыл бұрын

Fun fact: The Allegro trainset has actually 1522 mm wheelsets, so it's equally 2 mm off at the both sides of the border. :)

@Heksu99

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah and even all other trains can cope with the 4mm. And the width comes from the time Finland was part of Russian Empire. I think it came there from USA?

Is that train from Pyongyang is a escape train?

"Freedom Units"...LOL! Bravo, Graphic Designer...whomever you are.

FYI: calculus doesn't teach you numbers. you mostly deal with letters actually. you should probably consider retaking calculus.

@KasabianFan44

4 жыл бұрын

Luckily, he can learn all about it at brilliant.org!

@jamesbizs

4 жыл бұрын

FYI: he said it seems like a bunch of nonsense numbers, until he took the brilliant course. So your comment doesn’t actually make sense

Gauge change doesn't have to take hours. Swapping out the wheel sets is doing it the hard way. Some trains in areas like Spain and Japan are equipped with telescoping axles. The train drives across some specialized machinery at about 10 km/hr and the axles are unlocked, stretched or compressed to fit on the new track gauge, and relocked. Takes less than a minute to process the entire train. See kzread.info/dash/bejne/jJ18ls2tYZffd9o.html for an example.

Hey Sam, good job on this!! Even if a few few details were a bit of, you clearly put in a lot of effort to understand a complicated topic, and I appreciate you.

I've traveled in a normal train from my city to Paris through Irun/Henday. It doesn't take that long to change from one width to the other. The train stopped for less than an hour at the border.

Previous testing has shown trains don't work well off the track. Interesting observation

@Banzybanz

6 жыл бұрын

And that fish don't have legs.

@MrDannyDetail

6 жыл бұрын

To use the vloggers humour/grammar: Fish don't work well out of the water.

you should do a collaboration with wendover productions.

@lordmattis94

6 жыл бұрын

This is made by Wendover Productions.

@meowdy..

6 жыл бұрын

Lord of Eru woooosh

@AlexCuevas190

6 жыл бұрын

Lord of Eru r/wooosh

@shlok975

5 жыл бұрын

Wendover Productions and half as interesting are both channels made by the same guy whose name is Sam

@lel2015

5 жыл бұрын

@@shlok975 Oh really wow I've watched both channels and I didn't notice Thanks for telling us!!!!

A few years ago my father and I did an around the US train trip. What a great time! Over 10,000 miles in 2 weeks.

In Spain and Portugal there's a different gauge because in Iberian Peninsula there are lots of mountains and the steam locomotives haven't got enough power to cross them. So a bigger gauge means more capacity in it's boilers, and more power. Also, between 1969 and 2012, there were some international services between Spain and France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, which has got a tecnology made by Talgo. They made a system that allowed bogies to change gauge easily. If you want for more info, look for "Catalan Talgo" in Google or KZread. Also, some French trains arrive to Irun, and some Spanish trains (in this case are from the vasque country operator EuskoTren and not from the Spanish national operator, Renfe) arrive to Hendaye

0:54 Who made that map, deserves a cookie.

1:25 ILLEGAL PHOTOGRAPHY

@AA11196

6 жыл бұрын

∞ ǝʇᴉuᴉɟuᴉ its illegal at night chill tf out

@jayasuriyas2604

6 жыл бұрын

Only photos of the Eiffel tower at night are illegal.

@bubblegumneko3432

6 жыл бұрын

still, the buildings around it

@lynxfl

6 жыл бұрын

it's not of a lit up eiffel tower at night, so no

The longest train is the train that stops you when your in a rush, I can confirm.

The Alvia Train in Spain can change its track with from 1435mm to 1668mm while its driving (to get from Spain to France)

The train stops at Hendaye and you have to run to *IRUN* to catch the next one

@Daniel.RF.Davidson

3 жыл бұрын

This comment is underrated. LOL. Loved the pun, mate.

Thank you so much for using km

@alexj1650

6 жыл бұрын

some will prefer freedom units *america fuck yea intensifies*

@evs251

5 жыл бұрын

Metric is only for smart people

@romankazinets1759

5 жыл бұрын

@@evs251 Nah.

ANOTHER fun fact, UK franchises are split into different different sections Here are the operators: London and South East: Chiltern railways c2c Govia Theamslink railways London Overground Southeastern South Western railway Tfl rail West Midlands trains Long distance: Caledonian sleeper Cross country East Midlands trains Great western railway Transpennine express London North Eastern railway Virgin trains Regional: Arriva trains Wales Merseyrail Northern Scotrail Other: London North Western railway Heathrow Express Heathrow connect Freight: Colas rail freight DB cargo (EWS) Euro cargo rail (only in Britain during autumn) Direct rail services Royal Mail GB railfreight (GBRF) Freightliner Mendip rail Passport needed: Eurostar Euro tunnel Infantstructure: Network rail Train making companies: CAF Alstom Bombardier Hitachi Siemens Railtour companies: West coast railways

when you said spain and Portugal at the start,both Irelands have the same kind of track as iberia

Actually, modern Talgo trains can change their gauge relatively rapidly

At 2:05 that is not always the case. As you pointed out, most spanish railway tracks are "iberian gauge", but the newer ones are being built with the european gauge. Therefore Spain is the largest user in the world of variable gauge systems: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_gauge#Spain . They are quite convenient, as they consist in a small building placed above the tracks with entrances at both ends, and the gauge change mechanism inside. The Spanish-built Talgo trains have what is called a "Self Propelled Bogie of Variable Lenght" system (Sistema BRAVA in Spanish). This allows to perform the gauge change seamlessly, by just slowin the train to about 10km/h and crossing the facility, which is a bit longer than a train car. I have gone through many of these myself, since when I go from Madrid to my hometown in the peripheria of the country I have to switch from a high-speed railway line to an iberian gauge one. It takes about the same time as a regular stop in a station.

@presidentetrump496

6 жыл бұрын

Ha ha you trust Wikipedia

@OnkelJajusBahn

6 жыл бұрын

Hope this comment will be upvoted. This technology is a lot easier than changing the entire systhem, as some stupid politicians sugested.

@dsaneusp

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, can confirm it's 100% true being Spanish myself. Takes less than a minute and saves quite a bit of travel time as it allows the train to use high speed tracks.

@OnkelJajusBahn

6 жыл бұрын

I am from Austria. And here on some small railways 1435mm freight wagons litteraly were placed on small 760mm wagons with the weels still on. I don't know if this is still in place but it would be another way to overcome gauge differences.

@becconvideo

4 жыл бұрын

@@OnkelJajusBahn In Germany it was quite common on all narrow gauge railways - and in Switzerland it still is. For the time beeing we don't have any freight trains on narrow gauge (750mm, 1000mm) But with us in Saxony there was a silly law that only the government was allowed to build standart gauge railways - leaving industrial sidings stranded with narrow gauge "Rollbock" - (small bogie under each axle) or "Rollwagen" - just a flatbed car to load the standard freight car on.

Nowadays there are trains that can switch gauge in a few minutes. They operate e.g. in Spain to connect High speed line on european gauge and conventional line on iberian gauge. They implemented this on a Berlin-Moscow service too.

1:15 Finland and Russia have pretty much the same broad track width. Finland adopted Russian 1524 mm, but nowadays Russia has adopted 1520 mm. The difference is within the tolerance, so you can travel from Finland to Russia easily in one train, Allegro, which travels from Helsinki to St. Petersburg.

How convenient that I'm on a 24 hour train trip and it gonna feel super long and this pops up

hahahaha "French foreign units" or "freedom units"

@l.k5244

6 жыл бұрын

Stevio Gaming But 'freedom units' wouldn't be actually called like that because the Americans freed themselves from the inventors of this system. Mindfuck

@StevioGaming1

6 жыл бұрын

Layth Alkhaer ... My mind..., IT HURTS FUCK AHAHHHHHHH

@BPJJohn

6 жыл бұрын

Have some "Freedom Fries" go with it ;)

@williamnghiem6890

6 жыл бұрын

And a freedom rifle with freedom™️ bullets

@BJGvideos

6 жыл бұрын

Layth Alkhaer Know what's funny is that the US isn't even the only country to use Imperial.

Australia actually has three different rail gauges. The rail networks in each state developed independently prior to federation in 1901, and each state was so pig-headed in keeping its own gauge that they still exist to thus day. It created such a huge problem in the Second World War and creates so many inefficiencies that the national government laid common gauge track for a very limited number of interstate routes after the war.

Very good AD segue ! I love it when people sneak them into vids (honestly).

Half as interesting is an incorrect name for your channel. It is at least twice as interesting. Great stuff.

1:26 That's the same picture of Paris as in your Eiffel Tower Copyright video. But this time not censored. Brace yourself for the lawsuits.

@echnaton123

6 жыл бұрын

no, it is about the light effects as far as I remember, not the tower itself

@bluelobster4847

6 жыл бұрын

that's correct, but in that video he also mentions that some of the buildings in that picture are technically still protected by copyright.

@echnaton123

6 жыл бұрын

BlueLobster yes and no, only buildings which have been built „recently“ need to be censored, but the Eiffel Tower is too old. Except for the lights. That is why it is legal in this video, because the lights are not shown. EDIT: Now I got it, you are talking about the other buildings. You re right, sorry.

@claqyagami6914

6 жыл бұрын

What what what??

In Switzerland you actually find a special kind of "traincar" that's essentially a set of wheels, so a narrow-gauge train drives up a ramp onto those ("Rollwagen"), and then uses those wheels instead of it's own. Only the locomotive has to be replaced.

Biarritz to San Sebastian, both lovely cities. Have family in Biarritz i would recommend a visit!

Errr... Half as Interesting, FYI there are gauge changers that allow Spanish trains to cross freely between different gauges. The *intercambiador* Talgo, or CAF, are two examples of such thing. That is how Portugal is currently planning to introduce high speed in the country, by installing these gauge changers on the border, and run high speed trains on broad gauge... anywhere. Except where the gauge is metric. :)

Damn...now I wanna know about that 4.5 mile long train!

Actually, the longest freight railway route is not the Yiwu-London but the Yiwu-Madrid, with almost 1000km more and takes between 19 to 21 days to arrive. Also is older than the Yiwu-London. Three years to be precise. Other detail is that the High Speed railway in Spain is interconnected with the standard gauge lines dinamically via gauge changers who extend or decrease the actual gauge of the bogeys in certain trains (Alvia and Avant services mostly) in less than 5 minutes, in fact, the train never stops, only having to decrease speed.

1:15 "That's just Finland being Finland" 😂😂

In spain, if you want to travel from Madrid to Pamplona (near San Sebastian), the Alvia train ( the not high-speed for long distance) starts the journey in high-speed rails (European wide), and then at half the travel it changes to spanish sized rails in a few minutes. Also, a train goes from China to Zaragoza, in Spain (funfact, near the place the train I mencioned early changes rails) not sure but I think is longest than the trip to London

Just to shed some light on the Spanish gauge situation, because what it is said on the video is not entirely accurate. 1 - Spain didn’t choose the 1668 mm gauge because of a hypothetical invasion by the French, that’s an urban myth. It’s on Wikipedia, a study was carried out in the 1800s that determined that a wider gauge would facilitate the introduction of bigger and more powerful locomotives that could prove useful due to the mountainous orography of Spain. A few years later technology would allow for such machines in the standard gauge, but Spain stuck to the new gauge. We’ve never prioritized changing the gauge of the entire network, which would eliminate a lot of headaches (Cough cough, I’m looking at you, Corridor Mediterráneo). 2 - We have trains that can change gauges, in fact the service provided by RENFE’s Alvia (i.e S-130) usually does that, it runs on the high speed network with speeds of up to 250 km/h and then it changes gauge (and electrical system) to run on the conventional network. On trains travelling across the border with France this capability has been present since the late 60’s (i.e. Talgo III RD), so passengers wouldn’t have to switch trains. 3 - We also have other gauges, the most extensive, of around 1000 km, belongs to the former FEVE network which has a width of 1000 mm. Metro de Madrid and some other local trains use different gauges as well. Anyway, I love your videos! Keep them coming!

@dsaneusp

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, Renfe Classes 120, 121, 130 and 730 all can change gauge without stopping, used across all of Spain.

@larrybreavman4864

6 жыл бұрын

Smart answer! Reasons for a wider gauge in Spain are collected in the Subercase Report. Subercase was the civil engineer who recommended that gauge in 1844, four years before the first railroad in Spain mainland. Military reasons are, just, an urban legend. A link to that report: www.grijalvo.com/Subercase/Informe_Subercase_modernizado.htm

In Poland they switch the tracks from Poland-Bylorussia everyday.

The longest cargo service to London actually involves loading containers from one train to another. The Chinese railways are standard gauge, but part through the ex Soviet states is broad gauge, and the from the Polish border to UK is again standard gauge.

The difference between Finlands and Russias is neglible and trains can go from finland to russia no problem. The reason for them being different is Ussr who 'modernised' their tracks in the 50s.

First of all yeah! you mentioned the Basque Country (we're I'm from) in one of your videos! Secondly, for the change between Irun and Hendaye, there is no need to cross the bridge on foot! The international bridge is fitted with dual gauge tracks, and most Spanish trains end in Hendaye, and most French trains in Irun. Finally, I'm sorry to say that you got it quite wrong with the gauge-changing trains. Since the late 2000s, the "Alvia" trains were put in service throughout spain. These special trains, can "drive through" the gauge changing without even stopping. The process takes a maximum of 5 minutes, while you don't even get off the train. With these new trains, RENFE could use the existing high speed lines (with speeds up to 250 kmh), and then branch routes to places with still no HSL and old track infrastructure. You can read more about them here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvia

@tpmiranda

6 жыл бұрын

That is how Portugal is currently planning to introduce high speed in the country, by installing these gauge changers on the border, and run high speed trains on broad gauge... anywhere.

@sm6allegro

6 жыл бұрын

The Talgo system was invented in the 60's, so it's been around for some time.

@tjjelmoni1389

3 жыл бұрын

the Alvia from Madrid to Santander does just that somewhere around Palencia. it takes only around 5 minutes where the train moves reaaally slow and you hear some loud noises but you don't have to get off it and it doesn't really add much to the travel time. And as you said this allows the train to go really high speed between Madrid and Palencia and then use the old tracks through the mountains all the way to Santander

Brave Dave. A British man who freight hopped from Montreal to Vancouver.

Spanish trains are wider because Spain is a very montainous country and having wider tracks allowed them to gain stability and go faster through difficult tracks. Spain, having to combine 2 gauges in the same country, developed the Alvia trains, which can change gauge in minutes and without having to stop the train at all. Source: I'm Spanish

Can we get a Wendover Production and Half As Interesting channel collaboration video?

@xXxMCmanxXx

6 жыл бұрын

are they not the same person?

@varana

6 жыл бұрын

------> joke ---------------- your head ;)

0:58 "Tests have proven that trains do not run well off the tracks." 😂

The service between Yiwu and Madrid is longer by around a thousand kilometres. It is 13052 km and takes 21 days. Also, changing the gauge width doesn't have to be complicated. In Spain we have high speed railways that use the european standard width as well as high speed railways that use the iberian width (temporarily) and regular, iberian width railroads. There are hybrid trains called Alvia that can go at high speeds using electricity and also run on diesel on non electrified tracks. This way the high speed parts of an unfinished line can be used before it's final completion. To change the separation of the wheels the trains are run through a small interchanger, no need to stop or dismantle the train. Spain is the biggest user of this technology, which has been used since the 1960s. Actually, the first width changer in Spain was built in Irun so a direct line could be run between Madrid and Paris without stopping or changing trains.

2:57 Thank god you mentioned India: From Dibrugarh (In Assam) to Kaniyakumari (In Tamil Nadu) !

There is a metre-gauge (1000mm) line from Hendaye to Irun and beyond; all the way to Ferrol, branching off here and there. From Ferrol to Bilbao it is run by Renfe(formerly FEVE), from Bilbao to Hendaye by Euskotren :)

@eljanrimsa5843

2 жыл бұрын

I need to go there next summer

I can't be the only one who watches the whole of the sponsor every time purely because of how unbelievably smooth you are in the transitions

@darthmonks

6 жыл бұрын

Would you say he's Brilliant at it.

@northern_law738

3 жыл бұрын

@@darthmonks That was my train of thought.

2:02 Actually, wrong. Using the same example of Spain, the national train rolling stock company, Talgo, developed a gauge-changeable train that could switch between the Iberian gauge and the standard one in just seconds, without the train even having to stop. It just went through a small cabinet located within the journey, even with passengers, without stopping and at around 20km/h. The gauge changed, magic. It's still used nowadays.

Someone else has probably pointed this out by now, but the Chicago - LA route you showed as the longest train in the US isn’t actually the longest route. While the longest route is indeed between Chicago and Los Angeles, and is approximately 2700 miles (Wikipedia shows it as 4390 km), the map seems to show the Southwest Chief, while the actual 2700 mile service is in fact on board the Texas Eagle via San Antonio, hence its length.

It’s a rail shaped like a circle. That’s the longest train track

@sylvanransom704

6 жыл бұрын

I officially built the longest train track as a kid

@refk7875

6 жыл бұрын

The Spherical Earth Well according to a previous Half as Interesting video (first one), this would actually be the shortest train track.

@jasonforster9445

6 жыл бұрын

Really, the track would be infinite so comparing it to rational numbers would be like comparing pizza to automobiles.

@TheSniper9752

6 жыл бұрын

In terms of displacement, that would not be true.

@williamnghiem6890

6 жыл бұрын

*MIND BLOWN*

The graphic design on these videos of yours are great.

The reason that Brazil, South Australia and Victoria have the 5' 3"/1600mm Irish Gauge is because they employed Irish engineers to build their earliest railways! Also remember even if the track gauge is the same it doesn't mean that through running is possible. This is mainly due to "Loading Gauge" issues. For example the UK and most of Europe have the same track gauge. European rolling stock is physically bigger than UK rolling stock and as a result can only operate on the High Speed 1 line from the Channel Tunnel to London. This is the main reason why HS2 is now under construction. However there are other reasons that can limit inter-running. A good example of this was the two 3'/915mm gauge systems in north western Ireland. The County Donegal /CDJR and The Londonderry & Loch Swilly/L&LSR. The problem here was that each company used different coupling/braking systems/ coupling hight. So whilst in theory each companies trains could run on each other's track you couldn't inter mix the rolling stock!

This is my favorite "information" youtube channel by far!!! You take yourself just the right amount of serious XD

The sponsor transitions are beautiful yet extremely frustrating.

Tell me more about that 7.2 km train.

@Navikonline

6 жыл бұрын

Bandish Bhoir you watch this train travelling about almost and above 10,000 kms in 14 days kzread.info/dash/bejne/hKCYvJamn8fKeNo.html

@shebbs1

4 жыл бұрын

The longest passenger train in normal service, as of 2018, is the Ghan, running from Adelaide to Darwin, Australia. There have been longer one-off services. The longest non-passenger trains have exceeded 7,300m, BHP Biliton bulk mining trains, but these run on different tracks from Australian passenger trains. This is what makes it hard to assess, as it depends on whether you are considering a general track gauge or a specialist one. In terms of container trains, these usually run on common tracks with passenger trains, and have reached 2,400m in Canada.

At one point in time, humanity will *connect the continents* by the train tunnels. There will be trains that travel from London to Moscow to Tokyo to Vancouver to New York. That will be a long train ride :-)

@shroomzed2947

6 жыл бұрын

Have fun boring for hundreds of kilometers thousands of metres below the surface of the sea. It's not happening.

I’m from Spain and I have travelled from Madrid to Paris in a regular train. It took a while to change gauge in the border, but I remember they did in less than an hour. One hour in a 14 hour trip isn’t a really big deal

Longest train route* bait

@Chicken_o7

6 жыл бұрын

0:22 There it is

@hkr667

6 жыл бұрын

I'm disappointed by him. This isn't the first intentional incorrect title either. He explains right away that this isn't about the longest train, but about the longest passenger train service. So just name the video accordingly. This is childish. But I have no doubt his fans will come to his rescue with the "if you don't like it, leave" and "it's his channel, he can do what he wants" comments.

@MrJuanDover

6 жыл бұрын

what an autistic thing to be this upset about

@lindaxiong8111

6 жыл бұрын

Guys there is something called a thumbnail

@maxfeikss1583

6 жыл бұрын

Casper Guo yes and there is another thing called the fucking video title what’s your point

What is the longest boat route ever? Also, what is the longest underground (internet) pipeline? Heck, what is the world's longest isolated pathway/road/track?

@rexhunt4695

5 жыл бұрын

Why would anyone care????

Wow, now I’ve watched every one of your videos. Thanks for all the interesting, educational and humorous content!!

Tried to calculate longest rail distance that might be unreasonably possible on the American Continents. A Rail Line from Fairbanks, Alaska to Puerto Varas, Chile would be about 10000 miles long if it followed the west coasts and hit most of the most convenient major cities. The map at 0:49 suggest a minimum of 5 guage-change operations, and 11 border crossings.

I love how you made fun of the imperial system😂