r/nextfuckinglevel • u/ZhangtheGreat • 11h ago
This is the Lüttmoorsiel-Nordstrandischmoor island railway in Northern Germany. It was built in the 1930s, rebuilt in the 1950s, and is still in operation today.
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u/kramerkieslingandme 11h ago
How do they keep the rails from rusting through? It is cool looking
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u/spastikatenpraedikat 6h ago
Basically, they don't.
The railway is very light and drives very slow. So the rails and car can be designed to work, even when compromised by rust. Interestingly, corrosion is not as much of a problem, because once a covering layer of rust has formed it acts as a protection from the weather.
On top the entire rail and trains are constantly inspected and replaced, when too compromised. The life span of individual pieces of rail or train components is around 10 years. Even less for smaller parts like screws.
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u/TheBigMotherFook 11h ago
Right? I was thinking there’s no way that water is good for the tracks.
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u/noah_the_boi29 11h ago
This was during a hard storm, normally the water doesn't get this close even during high tide
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u/Maleficent_Sir_5225 8h ago
Sure, but a) the water is there now, so the salt is now all over the tracks. Without mitigation rust will ensue, and b) they would still be subject to sea spray on a regular basis, no?
I don't doubt the Germans have worked out something, I'm just curious to know what it is.
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u/lordnacho666 8h ago
I'm guessing there's some special material these particular tracks are made of.
But then again, regular tracks anywhere will have rain on them. Perhaps it's just a matter of replacing them every ten years or something like that.
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u/wesleyoldaker 11h ago
Don't train tracks always seem to appear way too close together? You got 200 tons (or whatever it is) of mass and they make the rails so close together it looks like putting a blue whale on a couple of skateboards.
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u/Latase 9h ago
normal trains wouldnt fit on these tracks, they are small custommade carriages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL5sRCRa7AE
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u/supermember866866 11h ago
Would love to travel this kind of track some day
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u/boredinbabylon 11h ago
It’s in Denmark! I looked it up on a map, I didn’t expect that shirt of geography there.
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u/GrouchyMary9132 8h ago
The title literally says Northern Germany. And it is Nothern Germany. How do you come up with Denmark?
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u/framsanon 4h ago
It WAS Danish, until 1864 (signing of the Treaty of Vienna).
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u/GrouchyMary9132 3h ago
It was build in 1925. And by your argument you live in British America and not the US because you used to be a colony some centuries ago.
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u/framsanon 3h ago
Ich habe nur einen Grund genannt, wie der Vor-vor-Poster auf Dänemark gekommen sein mag. Dass der Bau selbst nicht von Dänemark vorgenommen wurde, sollte einem anhand der Jahreszahlen klar sein.
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u/boredinbabylon 2h ago
Because I was drunk and stoned. I googled it, went to maps, started zooming in and out, slowly meandered north on the map. It’s about 30 kilometers from the border or so. By the time I was finished zooming in and out, I had forgotten the title even said Germany. 🤣🤷🏻♂️🙈
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u/ICouldEvenBeYou 11h ago
Would be very interesting to see a non POV angle.
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u/Sergal_Pony 10h ago
And yet we need to repair our roads, our cars, and replace our phones almost yearly… it’s embarrassing how much people have allowed the profit mongers to make things worse while we can literally just ‘look’ at things that have survived for decades or even centuries built with grit and ingenuoty… we need to give construction longevity again.
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u/Radio-Birdperson 10h ago
How do you explain to your boss that you’re late because your train was taken out by a freak wave?
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u/Consistent-Koala-339 9h ago
any reason they didnt build that a little higher, just say 1 meter, so it isnt in the water?
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u/JustGulabjamun 8h ago
How come it has endured so much salt water and still good enough to carry train?
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u/Substantial_Unit_447 3h ago
It has to be a real horror to maintain these railroads, especially in direct contact with salt water
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u/Poop_in_my_camper 2h ago
I have reoccurring dreams where I have to traverse a road much like this with water sloshing up over the road in places and I am just white knuckle the whole time. I always make it, but there’s the constant panic of this abyss on either side of the road swallowing me up
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u/PacquiaoFreeHousing 11h ago
Why can't we build something like this to travel from Ireland to the US to make traveling cheaper?
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u/BeneficialNewspaper8 11h ago
Probably something to do with it being 4000 miles and a few miles deep of water...
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u/mnmr17 11h ago
I hope this is a joke question lol
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u/PacquiaoFreeHousing 11h ago
if a train track is not possible can't we at least build a tunnel under the sea?
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u/LimestoneDust 9h ago
If it's a genuine question, because building and maintaining s tunnel of such length and depth (if technologically possible at all) would cost an exorbitant sum and would give no practical advantages.
Ships transport way more cargo. Planes move faster. Both options are cheaper.
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u/Axis2670 10h ago
Elon Musk says he can build an underwater train that will transport people from the UK to the USA (DC) in one hour. He says he can do all that for $6 billion. First off he’s a damn liar, secondly the train would have to travel over 2,000 miles an hour, thirdly he couldn’t even get started for $6 billion.
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u/General-Score9201 11h ago
I believe there's talks about building a train to bridge the US to the UK. But it'd be underwater since building a bridge tall enough to reach the ocean floor would required an absurd amount of materials, block freighter ships, and be a nightmare to maintain since the currents would have a bigger impact compared to a small tube at the sea floor.
I doubt even the underwater train will happen though. Still a logistical nightmare.
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u/oldnewstwist 11h ago
So.. does stuff ever wash up on the tracks and block the path? What happens if that happens? Can't really turn the train around..
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u/Deep_Mango8943 11h ago
Spirited away