@@ecko_lmtd I'm pretty sure it doesn't, I'm from Switzerland and I don't know that this mechanism exists but I see these types of "double" rail often on bridges and stuff. As far as I know it's a safety mechanism that keeps the train (in case of a derailment) still somehow on a more or less straight line, which should probably help so the train won't fall off the bridge. This looks like something similar. So incase the train derails it's just gonna hold it somehow on the line for a while so it might slow down before falling over or whatever.
@@MLGChaosreto you can clearly see that a support comes out in each side (the thing comes out in the right side from the blue labeled box for reference)
Honestly, more trains should be able to change their ride height. There are so many railways with completely chaotic platform heights, and the current solutions aren't that good
if you're wondering why we have different gauges: it's because the 1m gauge allows for tighter radii which helps with building tracks in the mountains. the narrow gauge is mainly used in Grisons (far eastern part of Switzerland) by the RhB railway company
Yeap, on the mountain paths you cannot really get away with the wider curves standard gauge requires, at this would require either more tunneling, more bridging and such. The smaller gauge allows for much tighter turns, which in turn made / makes the construction of these lines much more economical. Which was really important, cause these lines never were intended to serve large amounts of people per day like a line between large cities in the flatter countries of Europe. But did serve a very important purpose of connecting the very isolated parts of Switzerland, and arguably it's most beautiful parts of nature to the rest of Switzerland and in turn allowed Switzerland to later flourish as a tourist economy, so those investments paid off I would say haha.
Right, and the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn, formerly Furka-Oberalp-Bahn (FO) and Brig-Visp-Zermatt Bahn (BVZ) which runs in the upper parts of Uri and the Wallis/Valais, known as Goms. Or the Montreux Berner Oberland Bahn (MOB) which links the Katons of, Bern, Waad (Vaud) and Genf (Geneva/Genève) in central and western Switzerland. The BOB or Berner Oberland Bahn in the Bernese Uplands/Berner Oberland in Central Switzerland. Then there's the Zentralbahn which is, as the name implies, also in Central Switzerland. And those are just the major networks, which are unlike the RhB Rack assisted Railways. Admittedly Graubünden/Grischun/Grigioni also known as Grisons has the highest percentage of narrow gauge track as part of the whole network. Honorable mention Transports Publics de Chablais, not as big but a decent metre gauge network in Canton Geneva/Genève.
And here I thought it was just a matter of two different companies establishing themselves before the idea of standardization really took hold, and nobody wanted to pay for adapting either system to the other. It's fascinating to hear that there's actually a pragmatic reason.
the hell do you mean test car? no that's just how it looks after all the parts have come back from service. ALL the parts on a train have 1 or 1.5 or 2 years shelf lives. and will be replaced after that period. or when during checkups it's seen as required. those parts get sent to a service centre (that's where i work) where they get completely cleaned with acid's or other heavy chemicals. and every rivet and rubber gasket and everything that needs replacing gets replaced. then it gets repainted. and it looks as new. gets sent back. and then it sits there in storage waiting for the next train car to be serviced. (because it costs about 100k per day to not have a train running) this whole contraption on the bottom will be "1 part" so to speak. like how a toilet is a single "part" or the (don't know the proper english name for this but) bars that rise up to touch the power wires. i guess part is the wrong word. it's an assembly. in any case that entire mechanism would be replaced as one single unit. wich means everyhting on there got repainted or replaced at the same time. wich is why everything is so clean. it's just new.
@@EpicThe112 From what I know, Japan did take a look at the Spanish system, but space was an issue. Spain went from standard gauge to broad gauge. From Japan, it's the other way. You're right and I forgot about the GCT, but I wonder what happened.
The problem here is that JR Kyushu GCT failed because they wanted a Gauge Change Train that was an EMU, capable of Shinkansen Speed (240kph minimum) and Changing Gauge from Standard to Cape Gauge . The challege was that while the Spanish Talgo system that Japan used as a basis satisfied the speed requirement, it changed from an an already Broad gauge Iberian-gauge to the internationally recognize standard gauge (a difference of 233mm), while Japan needed to change from Standard Gauge to a even narrower Cape Gauge(difference of 368mm), which caused Concern that such drastic gauge change can impact on safety and reliability, espacially to an even narrower gauge. Add to that all Talgo trains are Push-Pull which are not operated by Japanese as Shinkansen (or in passenger trains general), Implimanting that to a multi-car distributed power proved to be two challenging [IIRC, onlt the 3rd and last GCT prototype was distributed power across 4 cars, while the first 2 was Push-Pull]. Nevertheless, what Stadler did here is is awesome as it is the first time a commercial application of a Gauge Change went from Standard gauge to a Narrow gauge. Thou as of now this is only for non-powered passenger cars and is for low speed application, perhaps it can be use between Tokyo's many Standard-Narrow Gauge tracks but I dont see it applicable for Shinkasen usage.
@@rwalex1212 Which means the only line this can possibly have a use for is the Tazawako Line near Akita, since all those other lines are between different companies... I still can't find material/video explaining the pros and cons between the different gauges....
Those train in standard gauge configuration is limited to 120 km/h, so not suitable for Shinkasen Lines which are the only stadard gauge lines in Japan all other are Cape gauge (1067mm)
They were doing this in Britain in the 19th century when moving from seven foot broadgauge to standard gauge and vice versa. Admittedly, the technique was slightly different in that it involved all the passengers getting off the train, along with their luggage, traipsing across a platform and getting on another train.
In normal use, flanges are not used. The train is centred on the tracks, because the wheels are tapered and gravity holds the train in the middle. The flanges are just a hard limit, to keep the wheel from going too far.
@@steveskeletonneii6336 Yes, unless you go too fast around too tight of a turn. The tapered shape of the wheels makes it so that the train will follow the curve even before the flange hits the rail. There are other videos on youtube that explain this really well with visuals, you should definitely search them up!
@@steveskeletonneii6336 They do get used during straights. Practical Engineering did a video on this recently explaining why the wheels are shaped they way they are and what purpose the flanges have. watch?v=Nteyw40i9So
This is still happening everywhere outside OECD area. On the ex border of USSR in particular (except maybe Sweden-Finland border). It's a major disruptance for transportation network of goods from China to Europe, and alternative routes are constantly researched, such as through Iran etc... But Iran is the closest you can get to China in 1435 mm, next is exSoviet Central Asia with 1520 or Afghanistan which has no railways or Pakistan which has Indian broad railways.
@@liliya_aseeva there are also some automatic gauge change facilities at the Russian border. However that’s more for passenger trains. For freight it would add to much weight and high tech to transport his tenthousend of kilometers through the country. It’s more economic to just change the wheelset
@@viktorm3840 Exactly! Also most goods are not time sensitive. It dosen't metter whether your order of coal arrives 12h earlier or later, as long as it arrives continuesly.
Our interstate rail transport is all standard guage ( Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth) and has been for over 25yrs. It's the intrastate rail services that are state captive.
@@markaylott1780 True. I know that in Brisbane the Sydney-Brisbane XPT uses dual gauge track, which does work. Having variable gauge trains though may be a cheaper way to open up more interstate routes instead of just between capitals.
Год назад+133
It's a great piece of engineering, I'd love to work on a project like this
Fam! That's so f**king cool! I know that Spain has variable gauge trains that can switch between standard gauge and Iberian gauge, but actually seeing this unfold is MIND-BLOWING.
quote: "can switch between standard gauge and Iberian gauge" From narrow gauge (1435 mm) to normal (1668 mm). In my opinion 1668 is narrow too, buses and tracks has 2,5m gauge, trains must have at least 2,5m too.
@@TheosTrainsWalesOfficial Common bus and truck has width 2,5m and height maximum 4,4 m, wheels gauge is 2,4-2,5 meters. Double decker train is 3,1 wide and 4,93m tall i.e. wider and taller, than biggest bus and truck, but gauge is just 1435 mm, it is not normal, gauge must be at least 2,5m. Everything narrower, than 2,5m is narrow.
It's been used since the 70 at the border between Spain and France. The night train comming from one country was pushed through such an installation, and then was pulled by a loc on the other side. The locs did not change gauge. It was at the beginning restricted to night trains equiped with specific bogies with variable gauge axles. Then Talgo buildt some specific trains for trafic between lands using 1.6 and 1.4 gauges Nowadays Spain has already build high speed lines with "continental UIC" gauge. Direct High Speed Trains run now over the border without any stop and gauge adjustment. At least southbound to Barcelona
The high speed trains don't need gauge adjustment, because even in Spain, their gauge is standard gauge. And the slower trains that do need to switch gauge have to deal with two gauges that are much closer to each other.
There are also high speed trains with gauge adjustment, like some in the Alvia service. From Madrid to Palencia it goes at 250 km/h with continental gauge, and then changes to Iberian gauge to Santander and at a more reduced speed (only one rail).
This concept is no where near new. It was used on trams in the 1930’s when adjacent systems had different gauges to allow through running in places like Britain.
When was that? I remember taking the train into Russia, and we had to stop at the border. They’d jack up the train (with us in it), and the provodnik went into the first and last cabin with a colossal wrench to open a hatch and undo the bogeys. The process took an hour or so.
Well that is just a special one, I worked there and replaced many bogies and none of them had that, I couldn't say you which train it is but I think it could be cargo or sth like that edit: well its the BLS so now I know why I haven't seen them
you maybe more flabbergasted that train is actually one of the swiss high speed trains if I'm correct unless that's the spanish which they also have stuff like this
Definitely worth the maintenance cost in dual gauge territory. You've no idea how much of a headache it is to change gauges without a system like this. You have to change all the trucks under each railcar to match the new gauge and you have to source a new locomotive to fit the new gauge aswell, all of this of course takes time, time that the train isn't moving and therefore not making money.
Contrary to what you have said, this actually reduces the total cost. The expensive maintenance replaces the time-wasting manual gauge conversion and shortens the trip duration, so a rolling stock can make more daily trips.
Changing bogies is slow, but switching trains for passengers is fast. If you want to avoid that it is still easier to build a mixed gauge rail on the needed sections. It is unlikely that you need a direct narrow gauge train to the opposite end of the country so usually you need to reach only the first bigger station where IC trains stop.
I like how the track is what actually does the work here! When the train hits that special track with the extra-high ties, the wheels raise up, and two metal plungers extend from those silver boxes in the middle. And a few seconds later, those plungers slip into special slots in the rails, which push the wheels apart as the train continues to move. Once they are fully pushed out, the wheels go back down and the plungers retract. And now the train is on the higher gauge track! This whole process then reverses when the train comes back in the other direction, and the wheels push themselves back together. Edit: That whole process happens in EIGHT SECONDS. The Swiss aren’t just good for watches and utility knives…they make GENIUS stuff like this, too!
Get a grip on reality. This is pretty interesting, but it's not an insane feat of engineering. It's not even particularly difficult. The really difficult things are things that nobody will ever show on here, like how they guide artillery rounds in flight, or how airborne radar works. Massive jet engines come close to deserving that. But this is just a nice mechanism.
@@cageordieJust because more impressive things exist doesn’t make this any less impressive.. sure I wouldn’t call it insane but like, easy or simple? Nah
I love how it's the tracks that do the work transitioning the gauge, It's probably that way to make sure the wheels don't spend any time not on their track.
The small difference in gauge (1,500mm 1,435mm) might make that tricky, though. The 65mm difference is too narrow to fit an extra rail in, and a locking/regaugeing mechanism on the axles would be a very costly approach. 💸 With the small 32,5mm difference either side, wider wheels with a steeper flange angle might be the more practical option, at least for vehicles that'll never need to exceed 80km/h! 👍
@dieseldragon6756 Irish Gauge is 1.6m Standard Gauge 1.435m you have a 1.65 decimetre gap and dual Gauge for that track does exist you're looking at the Melbourne Geelong VIC areas where they use it.
@@EpicThe112 Oh, for some reason I had Irish down as 1,500mm! Must've gotten mixed-up with Suomi or another 1.5m gauge system! 😇 A 165mm gap (83mm each side) might still be workable using the „Wide wheel“ fix, but if my (very limited) understanding of railway dynamics is correct; The wider the wheels, the steeper the wheel angle needs to be and thus the lower maximum speed the wheels can work at before lateral hunting becomes a problem. A sway of a few millimetres each way is natural and won't cause serious issues for anything except perhaps dense fluids...But if I was driving a train with a consist with such wheels on it, I would flat-out refuse to exceed 50km/h. 160km/h on wheels like that and you're looking at a cocktail ripe for a derailment! 😲
China-Mongolia have different rail gauges on the Trans Siberian line from Beijing to Moscow. The entire train is taken through a very large shed, jacked up and all bogies are replaced. This happens daily and takes hours.
@@samuelbhend2521 The slow, laborious & painful system is almost certainly based on Mongolian/Russian security concerns. Painful owing to -30C or worse in the rail-shed in winter. You may be able to find a RUclips clip somewhere. Cheers. 😏
A faantastic solution for a high level mostly tourist focused, luxury-train connection. So passengers don‘t have to change trains, when using the golden-pass train-connection. In the end, it allows to have one seat journey from lucerne in central switzerland to montreux, on the border of lake geneva. Really cool.
It's the "GoldenPass Line" going from Luzern to Montreux you refer to right? I live in the Area, and so far the Gauge changeing Installations have only been made in Zweisimmen, but not in Interlaken Ost, as the Gouvernement didn't want to help financing both of them. So, coming from Luzern, you still have to change Train in Interlaken, but not anymore in Zweisimmen, where only the Loco has to be changed due to different electric Systems. Both SBB (Luzern-Interlaken) and BLS (Interlaken-Zweisimmen) use european Standardcurrent of 15'000V AC at 16.5Hz but MOB (Zweisimmen-Montreux) runs on 900V DC
Would be great for the Trans-Mongolian Railway between Mongolia and China. There's a wheel change station that's pretty efficient but this would be a game changer.
I can remember travelling on a train, in 1996, that went through the process between China and Mongolia. Depends what you mean by efficient, but the bogie change there used a lot of labour, with each one being removed sideways from each carriage by a crane, while jacked up (with us all on board), then the Russian gauge ones inserted sideways, then all the connections done etc, then the carriage lowered onto the Russian gauge. By way of contrast, the arrangement for services across the gauges between Belarus and Poland were a bit more efficient, which I also travelled through. That was on a through carriage from Moscow to Brussels. At Minsk they used long cables along the track, in such a way that all the bogies were connected to (with the carriages jacked up) and pulled out along the track, then the new set pulled in on a cable and disconnected at the correct positions. I’ve been on overnight services between Paris & Madrid, and didn’t notice the gauge change at all, with it being done overnight. A relatively minor change compared with 1000 mm to 1435 mm though.
@@johnkeepin7527 Wow. Not very efficient back in 1996. When I last went through the wheel change station in 2008, they lifted the carriages with us still inside, but rolled out one gauge and rolled in the other, setting the carriage back down on the new gauge. Still took some time but probably far more efficient than being removed and inserted sideways.
Or, ya know, just unify track gauges? North America, 3 very different countries, 1 gauge (With the exception of the Toronto Streetcar and Subway network which use a broad gauge), even the UK has the same Gauge as North America
I would say more accurately that even the US uses British standard gauge since the British invented the railroad not America. And thus most countries that have British colonial past will use British standard gauge
@@EoRdE6 You're right about the US using the UK gauge (rather than vice versa). But it's just not right to say most British colonies do too. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh use a broader gauge. So do some states of Australia. And Ireland. Most states of Australia use a narrower gauge. So does New Zealand. And the ex-colonies of East Africa and Southern Africa an West Africa. And Malaysia. The main colonies that use the UK standard are the US, Canada and New South Wales.
not possible in this case. there are many 1m gauge lines in the alps that have tight curves and small tunnels etc. For those lines it has more advantages to keep them at 1m gauge
@@jonasdavies1806in Bangladesh, we never had this technology. If it was here it could be a miracle. Bangladesh has separate train in broad gauge and meter gauge. I'm also very much aware of my neighbouring country Indian railway. This technology had never been in India too. This is ultramodern technology only used in Western country.
@@brianism12India has however gradually been re-gauging some of its lines to standardise on Indian Gauge where possible or at least reduce the number of gauges in use when Indian Gauge isn't possible.
Creating an elaborate mechanical device to overcome mutally incompatible standards because it's easier than getting people to agree on a common standard is the most Swiss thing possible.
Seems like overengineered. Why not just use two set of standard axles and wheels, and one of them is in upper and one of them is in lower position, and switching gauge means switching axles?
Loading gauge requirements, the Standart gauge axle is to wide, thats why they dont use the Talgo system. And where do you think the Axkle is when its not in use?
Watch with time 0.25 mode 0:08 start 0:09 Lock plunger begins to down. Body begins to rise. 0:13 Body reaches at top. Two pistons presses open wheels wider. 0:15 Wheeles reach at the widest place. Body begines to down. 0:16 Lock plunger begins to up. Body sets at down place. いやん、カッコイイ！ Coooool! Like machine of Thnderbird! ^^
...meanwhile in the USA, *corporations* are saying; _"That's silly! How are you going to charge Taxpayers once for ripping out the old and twice for installing the new?"_
Yehi sab dekh kar to khusi hota h ki log LOCO PILOT pyaar krten hai PROUD TO BE A LOCO PILOT 🚦🚂 LOVE FROM LOCO PILOT .AND AAP SABHI KO SWAGAT HAI INDIAN RAILWAYS ME. Thank you Railfans
The French Mistral Train had this “ Talgo “ ability in the late 1970’s moreover, the High speed Trains in spain have this ability when leaving the 1435 mm to the Iberian gauge that is wider . Thanks for sharing
Another advantage of this must also be that there is also a differential effect so that there will be very little wheel squeal around tight radius corners unlike conventional bogie axles.
AS a railroad M/W Track Inspector I would love to see how the track is built to allow this or at the very least maybe some technical drawings . This is very cool
@@flat-earther NO sorry I haven't hit my head enough times on rocks to be that dumb. Besides if the earth was flat cats would of knocked everything off the earth.
The Talgo in Spain does the same changing from the wider Spanish gauge 1668mm / 5’5,5/8”to International when it can run on electrified lines with all the other fast moving stuff. They do it on the move, (slow !) with lade checking each side before it gets the all clear, turns off the diesel, and puts up the pantograph,
That was absolutely crazy how those bogies swallowed with that speed
The train's actually running on another set of supporting mechanism while being "torn" apart i guess
@@csn3333 nope, it doesent.
@@csn3333seems like inner side of wheels are hold by others rails while mechanism doing the works, so it prevent from derailing
@@ecko_lmtd I'm pretty sure it doesn't, I'm from Switzerland and I don't know that this mechanism exists but I see these types of "double" rail often on bridges and stuff. As far as I know it's a safety mechanism that keeps the train (in case of a derailment) still somehow on a more or less straight line, which should probably help so the train won't fall off the bridge. This looks like something similar. So incase the train derails it's just gonna hold it somehow on the line for a while so it might slow down before falling over or whatever.
@@MLGChaosreto you can clearly see that a support comes out in each side (the thing comes out in the right side from the blue labeled box for reference)
I never knew that such capabilities existed.
That was first used by Talgo in Spain, (1969) to change between international and Iberian gauge.
@@RGPopinions I suspect that this is mostly used on passenger trains. It would be impractical to outfit all rolling stock.
@@SocialistDistancingI think you're right. All trains using this system that I know are passenger trains.
Extremely innovative 👍🏻
But, can it do it at 200mph?
This is so interesting, not only does it change Gauge, but also it changes the entire height of the Train. The Wheels end up much lower at the End
Oh dang you’re right
Apparently there's also a platform height difference.
And the train adapts to that for the comfort of the people. Must be nice.
Honestly, more trains should be able to change their ride height. There are so many railways with completely chaotic platform heights, and the current solutions aren't that good
Which is honestly not the ideal direction to change, as narrower gauge means a higher center of gravity is problematic.
if you're wondering why we have different gauges: it's because the 1m gauge allows for tighter radii which helps with building tracks in the mountains. the narrow gauge is mainly used in Grisons (far eastern part of Switzerland) by the RhB railway company
Yeap, on the mountain paths you cannot really get away with the wider curves standard gauge requires, at this would require either more tunneling, more bridging and such.
The smaller gauge allows for much tighter turns, which in turn made / makes the construction of these lines much more economical. Which was really important, cause these lines never were intended to serve large amounts of people per day like a line between large cities in the flatter countries of Europe. But did serve a very important purpose of connecting the very isolated parts of Switzerland, and arguably it's most beautiful parts of nature to the rest of Switzerland and in turn allowed Switzerland to later flourish as a tourist economy, so those investments paid off I would say haha.
asian countries use broad gauge
Right, and the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn, formerly Furka-Oberalp-Bahn (FO) and Brig-Visp-Zermatt Bahn (BVZ) which runs in the upper parts of Uri and the Wallis/Valais, known as Goms.
Or the Montreux Berner Oberland Bahn (MOB) which links the Katons of, Bern, Waad (Vaud) and Genf (Geneva/Genève) in central and western Switzerland.
The BOB or Berner Oberland Bahn in the Bernese Uplands/Berner Oberland in Central Switzerland.
Then there's the Zentralbahn which is, as the name implies, also in Central Switzerland.
And those are just the major networks, which are unlike the RhB Rack assisted Railways.
Admittedly Graubünden/Grischun/Grigioni also known as Grisons has the highest percentage of narrow gauge track as part of the whole network.
Honorable mention Transports Publics de Chablais, not as big but a decent metre gauge network in Canton Geneva/Genève.
And here I thought it was just a matter of two different companies establishing themselves before the idea of standardization really took hold, and nobody wanted to pay for adapting either system to the other. It's fascinating to hear that there's actually a pragmatic reason.
I like how clean the undercarriage is. Must be a test car.
nah, its just swiss
No, The Train is running since maybe 1/2 Years
it's passenger rail @@77thTrombone, freight can always wait to be re-loaded to a other-gauged train.
in switzerland our cows is claen .....BC our mountains is clean
the hell do you mean test car?
no that's just how it looks after all the parts have come back from service.
ALL the parts on a train have 1 or 1.5 or 2 years shelf lives.
and will be replaced after that period. or when during checkups it's seen as required.
those parts get sent to a service centre (that's where i work) where they get completely cleaned with acid's or other heavy chemicals.
and every rivet and rubber gasket and everything that needs replacing gets replaced.
then it gets repainted. and it looks as new.
gets sent back. and then it sits there in storage waiting for the next train car to be serviced. (because it costs about 100k per day to not have a train running)
this whole contraption on the bottom will be "1 part" so to speak.
like how a toilet is a single "part"
or the (don't know the proper english name for this but) bars that rise up to touch the power wires.
i guess part is the wrong word. it's an assembly.
in any case that entire mechanism would be replaced as one single unit. wich means everyhting on there got repainted or replaced at the same time.
wich is why everything is so clean. it's just new.
Japan must be taking notes now, especially JR Kyushu
The Japanese do have one a gauge change Train GCT. In Europe the first country to actually do this type of method was Spain 1968 TEE Catalan Talgo.
@@EpicThe112 From what I know, Japan did take a look at the Spanish system, but space was an issue. Spain went from standard gauge to broad gauge. From Japan, it's the other way.
You're right and I forgot about the GCT, but I wonder what happened.
The problem here is that JR Kyushu GCT failed because they wanted a Gauge Change Train that was an EMU, capable of Shinkansen Speed (240kph minimum) and Changing Gauge from Standard to Cape Gauge .
The challege was that while the Spanish Talgo system that Japan used as a basis satisfied the speed requirement, it changed from an an already Broad gauge Iberian-gauge to the internationally recognize standard gauge (a difference of 233mm), while Japan needed to change from Standard Gauge to a even narrower Cape Gauge(difference of 368mm), which caused Concern that such drastic gauge change can impact on safety and reliability, espacially to an even narrower gauge. Add to that all Talgo trains are Push-Pull which are not operated by Japanese as Shinkansen (or in passenger trains general), Implimanting that to a multi-car distributed power proved to be two challenging [IIRC, onlt the 3rd and last GCT prototype was distributed power across 4 cars, while the first 2 was Push-Pull].
Nevertheless, what Stadler did here is is awesome as it is the first time a commercial application of a Gauge Change went from Standard gauge to a Narrow gauge. Thou as of now this is only for non-powered passenger cars and is for low speed application, perhaps it can be use between Tokyo's many Standard-Narrow Gauge tracks but I dont see it applicable for Shinkasen usage.
@@rwalex1212 Which means the only line this can possibly have a use for is the Tazawako Line near Akita, since all those other lines are between different companies...
I still can't find material/video explaining the pros and cons between the different gauges....
Those train in standard gauge configuration is limited to 120 km/h, so not suitable for Shinkasen Lines which are the only stadard gauge lines in Japan all other are Cape gauge (1067mm)
They were doing this in Britain in the 19th century when moving from seven foot broadgauge to standard gauge and vice versa. Admittedly, the technique was slightly different in that it involved all the passengers getting off the train, along with their luggage, traipsing across a platform and getting on another train.
I'd love to see a video of the historical British method you describe, just for a side-by-side comparison :)
@@bmolitor615 Would that I could indulge your request, but Isambard wouldn't let mobile phones or video equipment on his trains. 😥
@@AXE668 oh Isambard, you picky picky man...
Lmao, totally had me till the end
And a hundred and fifty years later that's exactly what they are doing in Kyushu on a brand new shinkansen service!
There are many who say the wheels flanges do nothing. Here is a great example where the flanges are all important.
people say that? what are the arguments against them. Can a train stay on a track without them?
In normal use, flanges are not used. The train is centred on the tracks, because the wheels are tapered and gravity holds the train in the middle. The flanges are just a hard limit, to keep the wheel from going too far.
@@James_Knott got it! Do they even go unused during turns?
@@steveskeletonneii6336 Yes, unless you go too fast around too tight of a turn. The tapered shape of the wheels makes it so that the train will follow the curve even before the flange hits the rail. There are other videos on youtube that explain this really well with visuals, you should definitely search them up!
@@steveskeletonneii6336 They do get used during straights. Practical Engineering did a video on this recently explaining why the wheels are shaped they way they are and what purpose the flanges have. watch?v=Nteyw40i9So
And to think in the 20th century they had to put an entire different carriage under the wagons to convert between rails
This is still happening everywhere outside OECD area. On the ex border of USSR in particular (except maybe Sweden-Finland border). It's a major disruptance for transportation network of goods from China to Europe, and alternative routes are constantly researched, such as through Iran etc... But Iran is the closest you can get to China in 1435 mm, next is exSoviet Central Asia with 1520 or Afghanistan which has no railways or Pakistan which has Indian broad railways.
@@liliya_aseeva 2 minor corrections: Finland is not an ex-USSR state, and Finland and Sweden share a different track gauge
@@Jertzuu Finland was part of Russia even earlier, pre USSR, and still has Russian standard.
@@liliya_aseeva there are also some automatic gauge change facilities at the Russian border.
However that’s more for passenger trains. For freight it would add to much weight and high tech to transport his tenthousend of kilometers through the country. It’s more economic to just change the wheelset
@@viktorm3840 Exactly! Also most goods are not time sensitive. It dosen't metter whether your order of coal arrives 12h earlier or later, as long as it arrives continuesly.
We definitely need these in Australia. Limited interstate rail services here because each state uses a different rail gauge.
Melbourne is really the odd one out...
Our interstate rail transport is all standard guage ( Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth) and has been for over 25yrs. It's the intrastate rail services that are state captive.
what the hell...
ok
@@markaylott1780 True. I know that in Brisbane the Sydney-Brisbane XPT uses dual gauge track, which does work. Having variable gauge trains though may be a cheaper way to open up more interstate routes instead of just between capitals.
It's a great piece of engineering, I'd love to work on a project like this
This is extremely cool and seems like a maintenance nightmare lol
They propably thought of this and have sollutions
Well it's Swiss so it's a masterpiece of an overengineered solution to the point that it just doesn't break, it's Swiss for God's sake
It's one of those situations where you engineer something to solve a problem, but at the same time, potentially create several other problems...
@@you2be839 True. I hope it doesn't suddenly snap back to the smaller gauge when travelling at speed over a tall bridge.
@@you2be839 Mind, if all nations had adopted standard gauge in the first place, none of this would be necessary 😂
Fam! That's so f**king cool! I know that Spain has variable gauge trains that can switch between standard gauge and Iberian gauge, but actually seeing this unfold is MIND-BLOWING.
quote:
"can switch between standard gauge and Iberian gauge"
From narrow gauge (1435 mm) to normal (1668 mm). In my opinion 1668 is narrow too, buses and tracks has 2,5m gauge, trains must have at least 2,5m too.
@@tomburg2 1,435mm is actually standard gauge. 1,668mm is Iberian gauge.
@@TheosTrainsWalesOfficial Common bus and truck has width 2,5m and height maximum 4,4 m, wheels gauge is 2,4-2,5 meters. Double decker train is 3,1 wide and 4,93m tall i.e. wider and taller, than biggest bus and truck, but gauge is just 1435 mm, it is not normal, gauge must be at least 2,5m. Everything narrower, than 2,5m is narrow.
@@tomburg2 "standard" is the technical definition of 1435mm gauge. That's literally what it's called worldwide whether you like it or not
Fine,rebuild all the railways in the world. A train can overhang it's not an issue@@tomburg2
It's been used since the 70 at the border between Spain and France.
The night train comming from one country was pushed through such an installation, and then was pulled by a loc on the other side.
The locs did not change gauge.
It was at the beginning restricted to night trains equiped with specific bogies with variable gauge axles.
Then Talgo buildt some specific trains for trafic between lands using 1.6 and 1.4 gauges
Nowadays Spain has already build high speed lines with "continental UIC" gauge.
Direct High Speed Trains run now over the border without any stop and gauge adjustment.
At least southbound to Barcelona
The high speed trains don't need gauge adjustment, because even in Spain, their gauge is standard gauge. And the slower trains that do need to switch gauge have to deal with two gauges that are much closer to each other.
There are also high speed trains with gauge adjustment, like some in the Alvia service. From Madrid to Palencia it goes at 250 km/h with continental gauge, and then changes to Iberian gauge to Santander and at a more reduced speed (only one rail).
I remember as a kid staying in the rail car when they used to switch bogies. Seemed pretty quick, but this is very cool and way faster.
I rode one of those trains from Spain into France in the early 90's. Sadly I was asleep when they changed the gauge width.
This concept is no where near new. It was used on trams in the 1930’s when adjacent systems had different gauges to allow through running in places like Britain.
The Talgo cars on the "Stritz" service from Berlin to Moscow used to do this too! Cutting the border crossing time by HOURS!
Lol
When was that? I remember taking the train into Russia, and we had to stop at the border. They’d jack up the train (with us in it), and the provodnik went into the first and last cabin with a colossal wrench to open a hatch and undo the bogeys. The process took an hour or so.
@@kaasmeester5903 I dunno
For the last bit, it almost looked like a Transformer in action
Wait, whaaaat??? I'm flabbergasted! AWESOME!! I thought I knew the Swiss railways so well...
Well that is just a special one, I worked there and replaced many bogies and none of them had that, I couldn't say you which train it is but I think it could be cargo or sth like that
edit: well its the BLS so now I know why I haven't seen them
you maybe more flabbergasted that train is actually one of the swiss high speed trains if I'm correct unless that's the spanish which they also have stuff like this
@@koiyujo1543 Its not an actual high speed train:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreux_Oberland_Bernois_Railway#Variable_gauge_bogies
Australia: *strokes chin* hmmmm.... interesting. Very, interesting.
Lol
That looks kinda expensive to maintain, that said, the advantages of this system could be worth that cost.
Definitely worth the maintenance cost in dual gauge territory. You've no idea how much of a headache it is to change gauges without a system like this. You have to change all the trucks under each railcar to match the new gauge and you have to source a new locomotive to fit the new gauge aswell, all of this of course takes time, time that the train isn't moving and therefore not making money.
@@killman369547
The Talgo does it moving
Contrary to what you have said, this actually reduces the total cost. The expensive maintenance replaces the time-wasting manual gauge conversion and shortens the trip duration, so a rolling stock can make more daily trips.
Changing bogies is slow, but switching trains for passengers is fast.
If you want to avoid that it is still easier to build a mixed gauge rail on the needed sections. It is unlikely that you need a direct narrow gauge train to the opposite end of the country so usually you need to reach only the first bigger station where IC trains stop.
@@varkonyitibor4409"remember, switching your train is faster than reloading"
I like how the track is what actually does the work here! When the train hits that special track with the extra-high ties, the wheels raise up, and two metal plungers extend from those silver boxes in the middle. And a few seconds later, those plungers slip into special slots in the rails, which push the wheels apart as the train continues to move. Once they are fully pushed out, the wheels go back down and the plungers retract. And now the train is on the higher gauge track! This whole process then reverses when the train comes back in the other direction, and the wheels push themselves back together.
Edit: That whole process happens in EIGHT SECONDS. The Swiss aren’t just good for watches and utility knives…they make GENIUS stuff like this, too!
This randomly showed up as a suggestion, and I'm so glad. I'm not a train guy, and this is still amazing.
Well you're a train guy now!
I have watched this way too many times, beautiful piece of engineering.
Lol
This needs to be shared more, never knew they could do that!
That works as differentials too what a technology 😍
this is an insane feat of engineering
na the Most insane engineering is china that makes things last for a day then tossed in the trash filling the landfills daily
Get a grip on reality. This is pretty interesting, but it's not an insane feat of engineering. It's not even particularly difficult. The really difficult things are things that nobody will ever show on here, like how they guide artillery rounds in flight, or how airborne radar works. Massive jet engines come close to deserving that. But this is just a nice mechanism.
@@cageordieJust because more impressive things exist doesn’t make this any less impressive.. sure I wouldn’t call it insane but like, easy or simple? Nah
@@cageordie i wouldn't say its "not even particularly difficult" i doubt some guy in his basement made this in a weekend.
I have a pair of extendable garden shears that do roughly the same thing.
Don't know why this was recommended to me. But it was oddly satisfying.
Finally a train that can work on my rail drawings
I love how it's the tracks that do the work transitioning the gauge, It's probably that way to make sure the wheels don't spend any time not on their track.
That was VERY smooth 🥵
Ayo
@@revimfadli4666 💀 I apologise of my actions 💀
But for real tho 🥵
@@chrisbacon3071 was that what she said? Lol
@@revimfadli4666 🤣🤣🤣
Clever bits of engineering going on here! Massive loads being controlled very smoothly too! Cheers
This is why mechanical engineering is amazing
I've had this video recommended for multiple days and now I know why
very cool! always wanted to see this in action, ever since my grandpa told me it existed a few years back
It would be good to introduce train ferry intermodal container wagons between Holyhead and Ireland that had this gauge changing technology.
It would but daaamn that would be a long bridge…
The small difference in gauge (1,500mm 1,435mm) might make that tricky, though. The 65mm difference is too narrow to fit an extra rail in, and a locking/regaugeing mechanism on the axles would be a very costly approach. 💸
With the small 32,5mm difference either side, wider wheels with a steeper flange angle might be the more practical option, at least for vehicles that'll never need to exceed 80km/h! 👍
@dieseldragon6756 Irish Gauge is 1.6m Standard Gauge 1.435m you have a 1.65 decimetre gap and dual Gauge for that track does exist you're looking at the Melbourne Geelong VIC areas where they use it.
@@EpicThe112 Oh, for some reason I had Irish down as 1,500mm! Must've gotten mixed-up with Suomi or another 1.5m gauge system! 😇
A 165mm gap (83mm each side) might still be workable using the „Wide wheel“ fix, but if my (very limited) understanding of railway dynamics is correct; The wider the wheels, the steeper the wheel angle needs to be and thus the lower maximum speed the wheels can work at before lateral hunting becomes a problem.
A sway of a few millimetres each way is natural and won't cause serious issues for anything except perhaps dense fluids...But if I was driving a train with a consist with such wheels on it, I would flat-out refuse to exceed 50km/h. 160km/h on wheels like that and you're looking at a cocktail ripe for a derailment! 😲
@@imperialsecuritybureau6037 Train Ferry no bridge
Malaysia really need this. KTMB have 1,000mm gauge and new built ECRL have 1,435mm gauge.
China-Mongolia have different rail gauges on the Trans Siberian line from Beijing to Moscow. The entire train is taken through a very large shed, jacked up and all bogies are replaced. This happens daily and takes hours.
Would be easyer to change Trains then...
Or maybe install a third Rail? That would still be much cheaper than Gaugechangeing Bogies....
@@samuelbhend2521 The slow, laborious & painful system is almost certainly based on Mongolian/Russian security concerns. Painful owing to -30C or worse in the rail-shed in winter.
You may be able to find a RUclips clip somewhere. Cheers. 😏
A faantastic solution for a high level mostly tourist focused, luxury-train connection. So passengers don‘t have to change trains, when using the golden-pass train-connection. In the end, it allows to have one seat journey from lucerne in central switzerland to montreux, on the border of lake geneva. Really cool.
It's the "GoldenPass Line" going from Luzern to Montreux you refer to right?
I live in the Area, and so far the Gauge changeing Installations have only been made in Zweisimmen, but not in Interlaken Ost, as the Gouvernement didn't want to help financing both of them. So, coming from Luzern, you still have to change Train in Interlaken, but not anymore in Zweisimmen, where only the Loco has to be changed due to different electric Systems. Both SBB (Luzern-Interlaken) and BLS (Interlaken-Zweisimmen) use european Standardcurrent of 15'000V AC at 16.5Hz but MOB (Zweisimmen-Montreux) runs on 900V DC
This is the closest to transformers that we will get to in our lifetime.
that was so fast! i expected a slow gradual change
Well I was gonna roll another joint but jumped in and learned another very useful thing for my life
Woah, that's incredible!
Props to the cameraman for risking his life so we can get this view
Brilliant engineering
What did I just see... Seriously WOW.
Coming to the UK in the year 3047
That was absolutely crazy and Helpfull for Greece...
Very impressive!!!!
This might be the coolest thing I've ever seen
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
I didn't know that I needed to see this.
But I'm glad that I did. Thank you for sharing.
Would be great for the Trans-Mongolian Railway between Mongolia and China. There's a wheel change station that's pretty efficient but this would be a game changer.
I can remember travelling on a train, in 1996, that went through the process between China and Mongolia. Depends what you mean by efficient, but the bogie change there used a lot of labour, with each one being removed sideways from each carriage by a crane, while jacked up (with us all on board), then the Russian gauge ones inserted sideways, then all the connections done etc, then the carriage lowered onto the Russian gauge. By way of contrast, the arrangement for services across the gauges between Belarus and Poland were a bit more efficient, which I also travelled through. That was on a through carriage from Moscow to Brussels. At Minsk they used long cables along the track, in such a way that all the bogies were connected to (with the carriages jacked up) and pulled out along the track, then the new set pulled in on a cable and disconnected at the correct positions.
I’ve been on overnight services between Paris & Madrid, and didn’t notice the gauge change at all, with it being done overnight. A relatively minor change compared with 1000 mm to 1435 mm though.
@@johnkeepin7527 Wow. Not very efficient back in 1996. When I last went through the wheel change station in 2008, they lifted the carriages with us still inside, but rolled out one gauge and rolled in the other, setting the carriage back down on the new gauge. Still took some time but probably far more efficient than being removed and inserted sideways.
I work in Railways but never knew about this. 😀
I can't think of more appropriate engineers for this rolling conversion job than the Swiss. Their rail network is second to none. It just....works.
In Spain they have the same technology since 1967.
@@NeAZ its different and limited to small gauge changes
@@The_Gamer_66 True, although the newer Spanish Talgo trains can do gauge change in High Speed capable trains
I didn’t know that this existed nor that I needed it in my life. But it does and I do.
Nice video friend!!!!
The Swiss are so dammed good at engineering and plain making complex machines.
I knew something like this existed
existed in Spain for decades
@@LiveFromLondon2 but the main difference is this one changes from 1000mm to 1435mm which is alot bigger cap than spain has
That just blew my mind right in front of my face
Precision Swiss engineering...
This is something i have dreamed of doing.
Nice to see i am not alone
Could watch over and over.
Cool tech. Let's hope it never fails in the wrong moment 😅
Or, ya know, just unify track gauges? North America, 3 very different countries, 1 gauge (With the exception of the Toronto Streetcar and Subway network which use a broad gauge), even the UK has the same Gauge as North America
I would say more accurately that even the US uses British standard gauge since the British invented the railroad not America. And thus most countries that have British colonial past will use British standard gauge
@@EoRdE6
You're right about the US using the UK gauge (rather than vice versa).
But it's just not right to say most British colonies do too. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh use a broader gauge. So do some states of Australia. And Ireland. Most states of Australia use a narrower gauge. So does New Zealand. And the ex-colonies of East Africa and Southern Africa an West Africa. And Malaysia.
The main colonies that use the UK standard are the US, Canada and New South Wales.
not possible in this case. there are many 1m gauge lines in the alps that have tight curves and small tunnels etc. For those lines it has more advantages to keep them at 1m gauge
I wish more trains were like this!!
Any footage of exteriors of this train??
😢imagine this technology adapted way back with gauge conversion
@@jonasdavies1806 what are you talking ,this technology is recently came not an old technology it is .
@@jonasdavies1806in Bangladesh, we never had this technology. If it was here it could be a miracle. Bangladesh has separate train in broad gauge and meter gauge. I'm also very much aware of my neighbouring country Indian railway. This technology had never been in India too.
This is ultramodern technology only used in Western country.
@@brianism12India has however gradually been re-gauging some of its lines to standardise on Indian Gauge where possible or at least reduce the number of gauges in use when Indian Gauge isn't possible.
just search Golden Pass Express
This reminds me of the variable gauge trams which were pioneered over 100 years ago and which ran for several years between Bradford and Leeds.
Creating an elaborate mechanical device to overcome mutally incompatible standards because it's easier than getting people to agree on a common standard is the most Swiss thing possible.
Installed infrastructure come on
There is no "common standard". Narrow gauge railways can negotiate sharper turns and hence go where standard gauge trains can't.
Clever engineering.
Wow nice
😮😮😮 !!!
I always wondered why trains don't have that, now I'm actually seeing it !!!
Seems like overengineered. Why not just use two set of standard axles and wheels, and one of them is in upper and one of them is in lower position, and switching gauge means switching axles?
Because then you'd have two axles touching the ground, and we all know how uncomfortable that can make stuff
because gauge change makes more sense than axle change
Notice the motors? Your solution requires double the number of motors. Or some kind of gearbox.
@@davebowman6497 thats not the reason. These cars dont have motors
Loading gauge requirements, the Standart gauge axle is to wide, thats why they dont use the Talgo system. And where do you think the Axkle is when its not in use?
That's insane! 😮
Here were my exact words just now. "Dude, that was awesome!"
Big brain moves
I'm blown away, great idea 😀👍
I didn't know I needed to see this. But I'm glad I did
おぉぉ～～～！！Free Gauge Trainカッコいいなぁ！！初めて見た！！
Masterpiece
someone needs to make a 10 hour loop video out of this :D
VJ loops LoL
Watch with time 0.25 mode
0:08 start
0:09 Lock plunger begins to down. Body begins to rise.
0:13 Body reaches at top. Two pistons presses open wheels wider.
0:15 Wheeles reach at the widest place. Body begines to down.
0:16 Lock plunger begins to up. Body sets at down place.
いやん、カッコイイ！ Coooool! Like machine of Thnderbird! ^^
Whoa so cool! Felt like some James Bond kind of technology.
That's pretty slick.
...meanwhile in the USA, *corporations* are saying; _"That's silly! How are you going to charge Taxpayers once for ripping out the old and twice for installing the new?"_
what have you received for the 33 trillion ?? not even a roll of toilet paper for being FKed
Yehi sab dekh kar to khusi hota h ki log LOCO PILOT pyaar krten hai
PROUD TO BE A LOCO PILOT 🚦🚂
LOVE FROM LOCO PILOT .AND
AAP SABHI KO SWAGAT HAI INDIAN RAILWAYS ME.
Thank you Railfans
So it can be done. Nice to know.
The French Mistral Train had this “ Talgo “ ability in the late 1970’s moreover, the High speed Trains in spain have this ability when leaving the 1435 mm to the Iberian gauge that is wider . Thanks for sharing
This is amazing, engineering marvels
this is frikin awesome
Another advantage of this must also be that there is also a differential effect so that there will be very little wheel squeal around tight radius corners unlike conventional bogie axles.
I had to see that again to believe it 😮😮
So cool hatsoff to inventors 👏👏👏
The bottom of that train is cleaner than my dining room!
Imagine showing this to a German logistics planner from 1942.
That ain't a train, that's an autobot
This is like an intro to a boss shooting battle
I heard about this at uni, cool to see it in a video at the very least
Engineers are amazing.
AS a railroad M/W Track Inspector I would love to see how the track is built to allow this or at the very least maybe some technical drawings . This is very cool
hi ashleychmura, have you become a flat earther yet? If not I suggest watching _Level with Me (2023)_ by Hibbeler Productions
@@flat-earther NO sorry I haven't hit my head enough times on rocks to be that dumb. Besides if the earth was flat cats would of knocked everything off the earth.
@@ashleychmura4601 don't you think that condemnation without investigation is ignorance?
@@flat-earther I have no interest in a battle of wits with you as you appear to be woefully unarmed.
Oh how very Swiss and will be made and maintained perfectly to work at some expense...
The Talgo in Spain does the same changing from the wider Spanish gauge 1668mm / 5’5,5/8”to International when it can run on electrified lines with all the other fast moving stuff. They do it on the move, (slow !) with lade checking each side before it gets the all clear, turns off the diesel, and puts up the pantograph,