r/machinesinaction • u/Bodzio1981 • 8d ago

The moment the steam locomotive exits the tunnel.🚂💨

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Steam clouds, screeching steel, thunder on the tracks. This is what train lovers live for.

6.6k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

170

u/Sindagen 7d ago

How did people not get choked when they rode through a tunnel back in the day?

99

u/vaiplantarbatata 7d ago

Because the train was moving forwards, the smoke would not concentrate fast enough to make the air unbreathable. It sure smelled bad and certainly coff.is part of the experience, but not to the point of choking

37

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 7d ago

If the tunnel is too long and hasn't got a lot of ventilation shafts then you do choke. It's a plot point in a lot of Victorian novels!

But nowadays usually there are more ventilation shafts. Also usually the conductor comes doen the train to make sure you put the carriage windows up so the smoke and embers can't get in (at least on the steam train railway days that they run in Canada) which helps.

5

u/Zigor022 7d ago

There are trains where the train looks like its built backwards so that the smoke stack is at the rear most point for long tunnels so no one gets choked out.

5

u/Select-Belt-ou812 7d ago edited 7d ago

the locomotive has the cab in the front, and is called a 'cab forward' design (fyi, 'train' refers to the whole rig or just the cars... and an 'engine' is just the powerplant; once you add wheels and it's the prime mover it becomes a 'locomotive'... I am anal retentive about proper identification since I was a kid because I had better conversations with cool people that way)​

but the cab-forward was designed for freight hauling through long tunnels to keep the engineer and crew from passing out... nothing can be done for passengers except raise windows/hide under a blanket/breathe oxygen

3

u/Zigor022 7d ago

I appreciate the detailed correction.

2

u/Select-Belt-ou812 7d ago

I am glad it didn't poke you... that happens sometimes here :-)

1

u/deadly_ultraviolet 6d ago

but not to the point of choking

YouUnderestimateMyPower.gif

1

u/Designer-Travel4785 4d ago

In that video it sure looks like the train is not outrunning the steam and smoke. Looks like the cab is engulfed to me.

10

u/Stormagedd0nDarkLord 7d ago

I cannot imagine what the tube in London was like back in the day...

12

u/facw00 7d ago

The earliest tube lines were cut and cover, so directly below street level, meaning that they could (presumably) just have grates to the street and vent steam and smoke up to the street level easily, at least mitigating the mess.

When they started going deeper in the late 19th century, most of the lines were electric, but I think there were still some steam hauled ones, and year that must have been horrible.

2

u/butt-holg 7d ago

Really stinky when they still ran on horse power 🐎🐎

3

u/ForWPD 7d ago

They did. Southern pacific had special locomotives with the cabs in the front for this exact reason. 

2

u/MrRoo89 6d ago

I'm a train driver in the UK and we're not allowed through tunnels for 20 minutes after a steam train has been through as visibility is non existent. Kind of important to be able to see the signals at 125mph.

1

u/SeveralSide9159 7d ago

Wet bandanna over the face.

1

u/Noice_Ferry_man 6d ago

What was the life expectency of a train driver.

1

u/spaetzelspiff 6d ago

Can't stop won't stop 🎵

Meanwhile the Balvano disaster in Italy in 1944 where 500+ people died due to the train stopping in the tunnel for 30 minutes.

Or the Ricken Tunnel accident in Switzerland in 1926

Or the Hokuriku disaster in Japan in 1972 that killed 29 for to asphyxiation following an emergency stop in the tunnel due to a fire.

1

u/dimonoid123 6d ago

It is mostly water steam I think.

-1

u/PiretaCat 7d ago

1000 ways to day as well

56

u/Batmansbutthole 7d ago

This is actually the world’s first and only cannabis powered locomotive, the smoke is part of the fun.

7

u/ironafro2 7d ago

You know….if you dried and compressed it into hash blocks, it mightttt get energy dense enough to serve as an ok fuel replacement for coal?

6

u/Batmansbutthole 7d ago

If Wonka can make a chocolate factory..

1

u/workinhardplayharder 7d ago

Pretty sure there's a American Dad episode for what you're hinting at.

1

u/Batmansbutthole 6d ago

Are you my friend Hal that’s been trying to get me to watch that for years? Get outta here Hal!

1

u/NorthEndD 7d ago

He's doing cacoa ceremonies now.

8

u/Proof_Toe_9757 7d ago

Aaaaaw she's a beauty!

6

u/One_Weakness69 7d ago

Imagine being from a prehistoric era and seeing this come out of a hole in the hill.

7

u/spookylucas 7d ago

Dirty and choking but goddamn that’s a gorgeous sight.

7

u/B4rberblacksheep 7d ago

Yeah I get why they're not viable anymore for numerous reasons but fuck I wish they were

3

u/Icy-Individual-7561 7d ago

Makes its own dramatic entrance!

3

u/mxforest 7d ago

Can't find a single bacteria in that tunnel. Hygienic as F.

4

u/chromatophoreskin 7d ago

New startup idea: barbecue powered steam locomotive food trucks

2

u/Throw-away17465 7d ago

This fits because I’ve seen a number of barbecue joints operate out of decommissioned rail cars

2

u/RatBasher89 7d ago

Smoke locomotive

1

u/TakingItPeasy 7d ago

When the coffee hits just right.

1

u/dangledingle 7d ago

You could put a turbine on top of that and power a small town.

1

u/Affectionate-Art3429 7d ago

Me when she says she wants to ride my choo-choo

1

u/DWMoose83 7d ago

Pnuemonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

1

u/RL7205 7d ago

I hope nothings coming…. I hope nothings coming….. engineer’s thoughts 💭

1

u/Creamy_Spunkz 7d ago

It's like the kid from The Wall goes to Hogwarts.

1

u/circlethenexus 7d ago

Monstrous looking creature emerging

1

u/halocyn 7d ago

Like a boss!

1

u/CapitanianExtinction 7d ago

That train better not stall in the tunnel 

1

u/EsperandoMuerte 7d ago

Is this Western Mass? I swear my college geology class took a field trip here

2

u/DuffMiver8 5d ago

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, Cumberland to Frostburg

1

u/SeveralSide9159 7d ago

I bet the engineer and fireman love that breath of fresh ass air when the tunnel opens up. Shew. Tough stuff.

1

u/100Onions 7d ago

Makes way more sense why all the old tunnels I've ever seen look charred

1

u/Creepy_Ad_6304 7d ago

The moment I walk in the office door Monday morning

1

u/Dangerous_Ad_7343 6d ago

render to her the legumes my compatriot

1

u/SoIomon 6d ago

That was my reaction too

1

u/Slurms_McKensei 6d ago

Meanwhile the bats are making a snoop dogg cover video

1

u/metalsawblade10 6d ago

Now I'm curious what it would look like if a bullet train went through that same tunnel, maybe going the opposite direction. Would it clear the smoke out immediately or just pass through it?

1

u/buffbro4eva 6d ago

Such a cool shot 👍🏼

1

u/undeadgrish 6d ago

This looks like a warhammer 40k war machine. Impressive and beautyfull

1

u/MonTaGaTnoM 6d ago

Why this clip keep getting mirrored and reuploaded?(This looks like the original)

1

u/Justadudeonhisphone 6d ago

That moment I open my garage door after a session.

1

u/HawkingTomorToday 6d ago

Like a Boss

1

u/Paradox-chimera 6d ago

I'm pretty sure the guy doesn't smoke .

1

u/edspeds 5d ago

The great Allegheny passage runs through that tunnel if you're brave or dumb enough depending on point of view you can ride your bike or walk through while the train is also going through.

https://gaptrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Brush-Tunnel-Autumn-002-BPerry-2500x900-1-1.jpg

1

u/DuffMiver8 5d ago

I have biked through that tunnel, but before 1309 was restored. Makes me wonder if it’s easy enough to know if a train’s coming before you get to the halfway point .

1

u/edspeds 5d ago

I believe you can hear them coming from a ways away. The tunnel is relatively short so can get through quickly if necessary. I waited out a diesel that I heard coming but I’ve only ever seen the steamer at the station in Cumberland. The 19 or so mile downhill ride from the big savage tunnel is my favorite but would be nicer if it were paved.

1

u/edspeds 5d ago

Old man memory kicking in, it was the steamer I waited out. Had to go digging through old pictures and found from these.

1

u/PropertyNew3519 5d ago

MERICA BABY !!!

1

u/Optoplasm 5d ago

“We get it. You vape”

1

u/Los-Doyers 5d ago

Cool. Cool. What about modern high speed trains?

1

u/FracturedAnt1 7d ago

Didn't know steam locomotives were still used for anything other than passenger novelty experience

2

u/FajniejszyTymsky 7d ago

I'm pretty sure this is a special train run for photographers, so they can take a cool photo of steam hauling freight

2

u/BoPeepElGrande 7d ago

That’s what this particular run is. A lot of heritage railroads in the U.S. & the UK will do occasional publicized freight-hauling runs to cater to rail photographers. The Western Maryland (seen here) is one such railroad & one of the more popular ones.

0

u/Mrmechanic8 7d ago

Young Sheldon would of came in his pants!

0

u/Ok_Taste8414 7d ago

Hello. This is Sheldon. Where is this?

-2

u/SamueloBelo 7d ago

Thank fucking god someone invented electric trains

1

u/fcking_schmuck 3d ago

It uses weed as fuel.