User:RailwayAndrew

Railway renaissance, and particularly Freight,is likely to be one of the largest social transport issues in the next few decades, as climate change, and other factors make road transport less and less desirable.Road Haulage and Trucking firms, with foresight are already working with railway,and railroad companies and organisations.

The main problem which led to declining traffic in the 20th Century, and the growth of the truck or haulage industry, can be stated in one word Transhipment.

Taking the UK, trucks are limited to 56mph, with limits on drivers hours,freight trains now regularly run at 75mph or higher.So a 300 mile journey ,alowing for increasing congestion may take about eight hours, the train covering this distance in less than six.Where the load is transhipped, in theory, the railway has a two hour' window' to load and unload, to equal the road haulier, but avoids the costs of the double transpiment.Ways are being explored to reduce the time and cost of these actions. Even so as congestion slows the truck, faster and cheaper freight train operation are being explored by logistical researchers. Each Country, and Continent has differant problems to overcome, due to social and economic patterns, geography, settlement distribution. In this respect North America, from Mexico, the USA and Canada all share the 'worldwide' gauge of 1435mm or 4'8.5".

There are here and elsewhere,exceptions mainly a narrower gauge originally to keep costs down in mountaneous terrain, or where limited finance is an issue.. The overall smaller dimensions allow cheaper solutions to topograhical problems, as well as reduced construction and maintenance of way and vehicles.Many narrow gauge lines have been saved, due to the tourist potential, allied to scenic location, and steam traction.

Europe is taxing the minds of many professonals, due mainly to a whole catalogue of non compatability. As an example apart from Iberia and Ireland, basically West Europe is 1435 mm gauge,East Europe in the Countries of the Confederation of Independant States, for example Belarus, Ukraine, Russia are 'annoyingly' 1520mm or 5'0".Where the two meet examples exist where sidings with both gauges can be carefully shunted with 1435mm wagons on straight track able to move on the edges of the wheel treads.Otherwise, except where new solutions of variable axles are being tried, through trains have to be lifted several vehicles at a time from the bogies,the arriving ones pushed from underneath, followed by the wider or narrower bogies for the continued journey then rolled in and placed beneath,the coaches or wagons then lowered, and brakes etc.re-connected. In passenger and particularly overnight sleeping car trains,the passengers remain in the train.The bogie change always seems to happen in the middle of the night!The operation is invariably very noisy, with much hammering,as the staff, despite years of practise, always seem to find some difficulty, solvable only by brute force! It was said that the Russian T34 WWII tank was successful as it was simply built, in the realisation that the Soviet Army was largely composed of peasant stock, who had to be able to repair a battle damaged tank with only a blow torch and a hammer! Despite peace, clearly the enjoyable habit of bashing mettle is part of the East European character.

Many other issues need to be resolved, to put european railways in a position of physical not human harmony.It seems a quiet worldwide brotherhood exists amongst all railwaymen and women.