The Saluda Grade
The Saluda Grade is the steepest section of railroad in the USA. There have been numerous horrific tragedies involving runaway trains here. But this propaganda-cum-safety video from Southern Railway makes the whole affair seem a candidate for our boredom contest.
Comments
cum, affair , me thinks I detect a something fishy in the choice of description wording. The trains do well once they "go down" on the other side of this mound.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 08/09/14 at 01:50 PM
I liked this video! It was like a time capsule of a now CLOSED RAIL LINE
:coolsmile: :wow:
I guess I just LOVE TRAINS more than some people. 😛
:coolsmile: :wow:
I guess I just LOVE TRAINS more than some people. 😛
Posted by Tyrusguy on 08/09/14 at 06:08 PM
This one's from my neck of the woods. 😊
Here is a clip from the movie 'Black Dog' that was filmed on the highway version of the Saluda Grade - where getting up isn't the issue, but getting down is awful tricky.
http://youtu.be/hVt2EQbP8bI
Here is a clip from the movie 'Black Dog' that was filmed on the highway version of the Saluda Grade - where getting up isn't the issue, but getting down is awful tricky.
http://youtu.be/hVt2EQbP8bI
Posted by Laura T. on 08/09/14 at 07:24 PM
Neat trains! West Virginia is full of scary downgrades like the movie Laura.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 08/09/14 at 10:18 PM
Is this grade worse than the Wolf Creek Pass? I couldn't wait 21min to find out.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 08/10/14 at 12:20 AM
I am amazed at the great effort and high level of care these men had to use to make this run safely.
In the future, Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) rails can go over steep grades, such as shown here, with practically no human effort. It will be done with linear electric motors under computer control. For more information, check out http://www.robotrail.com/#Primer and, after reading this introduction, scroll up to view the rest of the web page.
In the future, Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) rails can go over steep grades, such as shown here, with practically no human effort. It will be done with linear electric motors under computer control. For more information, check out http://www.robotrail.com/#Primer and, after reading this introduction, scroll up to view the rest of the web page.
Posted by Joshua Zev Levin, Ph.D. on 08/10/14 at 08:01 AM
It's only a candidate for the boredom contest when everything goes right. If anything goes wrong, I'll bet there's no boredom at all. For fans of Wolf Creek Pass, you should try going down the Alps between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck. Not for the faint of heart. We stopped at the cafe about 2/3 the way down to let my blood pressure lower a little, only to see a mobile crane inching down the escarpment at about 1/4 mile per fortnight with a huge tailback behind him. We scooted out of there in front of him, because we didn't want to get caught in the traffic, and we reasoned that if anything went wrong, the crane wouldn't make it around the next curve, so we were safe, as long as I kept an odd number of hairpins between us.
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 08/10/14 at 11:15 AM
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Category: Boredom | Regionalism | Documentaries | 1980s | Trains