Beyond Big Boy: Engineering Feats That Pioneered Mountain Railroading скачать в хорошем качестве

Beyond Big Boy: Engineering Feats That Pioneered Mountain Railroading

Big Boy is legendary — but brute power alone never conquered the mountains. Long before massive locomotives thundered uphill, engineers faced railroading’s greatest enemy: gravity. Steep grades, tight curves, extreme weather, and thin mountain air forced radical innovation. The real heroes of mountain railroading weren’t just engines — they were engineering breakthroughs. In this episode of Steam, Steel & Speed, we go beyond Big Boy to uncover the feats that made mountain railroads possible: spiral tunnels that stretched mountains into manageable climbs mega-tunnels drilled through solid rock loops, switchbacks, and zigzags that cheated elevation braking systems and operating methods that kept trains alive on brutal descents From Canada’s Spiral Tunnels and the Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide, to Europe’s pioneering Simmering Railway and the mountain railways of India, these innovations transformed impossible terrain into working railroads — and reshaped global trade, industry, and cities. Big Boy symbolized power. Engineering made that power usable. 💬 Question for you: Which engineering solution do you think mattered more — more horsepower, or smarter design? Let us know in the comments.