Can Snowpiercer Actually Exist?

[@GreylineDigitalDesign]

As a self-proclaimed engineer and huge snowpiercer fan, I wanted to bring up that the tracks and train could possibly be made from ceramic or an alloy of titanium as the color of the train reminds me of titanium or silicon carbide.

[@Irving1don]

the various temperatures they throw around from time to time confuse the hell out of me

[@Frostrider]

If you were a real engineer the you’d know that none of those would be good options for the train hull or track.

[@Flt.Hawkeye]

@Frostrider because? Your options are the total shit and no one would build a train out of this that has to last essentially forever. The modern human society has invented materials for exact this kind of use. So why would they not use them ?

[@duckyj7241]

agreed. the shells of the train and carriages would have to be coated in something similar to the tiles of the space shuttle which are viable protection to around -275C (and up to 1850C). probably also require tiling rather than sheathing as the inner shells and frames would still be subject to thermal expansion.

[@psywalker7973]

My thought would be that during Snowpiercer, the conditions on the ground would be about the same as the conditions in space, so it would make sense that a large portion of the technology used on Snowpiercer would be the same as tech used in space? That would be where I started if I was looking to protect something from temps below -120 celcius.....

[@RealKieron]

Hopefully it can become real, a global luxury liner would be amazing

[@Frostrider]

It would be helpful across Europe. Apparently they’re nowhere near up to date (China-Japen level) when it comes to train technology and affordability.

[@RECHARGED77]

@@Frostrider that would be USA not Europe

[@Frostrider]

@@RECHARGED77 Pretty sure Europe has more countries unlike USA, that spans across from east coast to west coast.

[@bandvitromania9642]

@@Frostrider USA is bigger than continental Europe by landmass and if we also include Mexico and Canada then it could go even bigger

[@Frostrider]

@@bandvitromania9642 I’m 100% sure you missed the point. Nobody wants to have a road trip from west coast USA to east Coast USA as there’s nothing interesting to see. Whereas Europe has several different countries with different languages, cultures, history, landmarks, foods, something that would actually be enjoyable. But every city in the US is the exact same, they even look the same.

[@r1sk826]

My presumption is the bogie motors on the rest of the cars throughout the train use some form of regenerative braking per se (not necessarily braking, but having motors with this sort of property) to provide additional charge for the battery cars. Big Alice likely only acted as a supply train because it was not specified otherwise in the show, and it also makes sense for it only to be a supply train just like common sense-wise. I do appreciate the research on the metals for the hull and track, though, another assumption is probably they are capable of bringing the wheel assemblies or just single wheels into the subtrain for repair or replacement since there really isn't much else you can do in that respect.

[@nathan.bobloc]

As "Found and Explained" channel said, The Nazis had a plan to make a litteral Train that kinda looks like the SnowPiercer, But cancelled because of the fall of Nazism and lack of materials and they are in a World war.

[@Frostrider]

It never would’ve worked. Kinda like the Hindenburg which crashed and burned because those idiots thought putting explosive gas in a large balloon carrying people was a good idea and look how that turned out. Also the Nazi train was tiny compared to Snowpiercer, and was never actually put into construction.

[@nathan.bobloc]

The Hindenburg Actually needed the Safer Helium, And Germany Needs America's Help, But they are in a World War, So They are Forced to use the Explosive Helium.

[@Frostrider]

@@nathan.bobloc Helium is expensive and you’re using the wrong tense. WW2 was an past event so you use past tense phrasing when discussing it.

[@nathan.bobloc]

@@Frostrider You win.

[@jakubgrimm575]

Great video! Thank you for your details and mentioning the graphic novel series that started it all!!

[@Frostrider]

My pleasure! I'm such a big snowpiercer fan, so I try to make my videos as good as possible.

[@urszulabrzostek6272]

Movie: the world is basicaly an ice cube Florida: Hey is it just me or is it a bit colder today?

[@jhol2752]

though hydrogen intake and electrolysis would never create a positive output i believe they feed it into a fusion reaction that can create the positive output, hence the heat when there are less cars

[@Helmutlozzi]

Honestly having the Willy Wonka theory in mind, I'd always assumed that there was some special metal/material in place for every piece of the train, including the tracks and bridges.

[@psywalker7973]

Would it not make sense to use the same kind of tech they use is space for the cold?

[@Battleshipfan]

well for clarity it was said many times that Snowpiercer's original purpose was not to go around in extreme cold , it was supposed to be a train that simply goes around the world as a cruise ship on the rails and it would be impossible for a single engine to pull so many cars so they probably added whatever they put in the engine in some of the cars to make the train rune efficiently

[@Frostrider]

I assume you didn’t actually watch this video or else you would know that I mentioned that.

[@Battleshipfan]

@@Frostrider i wrote the comment at the beginning of the video , oops

[@TheFedeGamer99]

The train was already 1001 long because during his revolutions in normal wheater it was already autosustainable

[@Battleshipfan]

@@TheFedeGamer99 yeah but have you seen what happens to trains when they are too long ? the cars in the middle almost derail so how does Snowpiercer not derail so seasily ?

[@Frostrider]

@@Battleshipfan No, they derail because engineers cannot see the cars however on Snowpiercer, the engineers can through technology. It can be used see what bogie motors are offline. The engine gets alerts whenever there is a breach, a stuck exterior vent, or a pipe burst even. Meaning everything on every car is monitored. Something that trains in our world don’t have. It’s how Melanie kept Snowpiercer in one piece. Let’s not forget that both the train hull and train tracks were custom built to suit basically any environment.

[@tool307]

I wonder what kind of engines does Snowpiercer and Big Alice use and how Big Alice's booster work.

[@Frostrider]

If you watched the video, then you would know it’s a hydrogen fusion engine.

[@rodrigoterrein4599]

@@Frostrider yeah the snowpiercer and the big Alice uses a nuclear fusion reactor that can use hydrogen, deuterium or tritium but in this case is hydrogen because is the most easy to get for the fusion to generate literally the power of a star

[@fireghost5436]

Loved the video loved the explanation and honestly it's gonna be sad once the finale hits I really enjoyed this show

[@Frostrider]

Snowpiecer has ended already. Season 4 isn't likely to air on TV.

[@fireghost5436]

@@Frostrider oh comeon they ended it on such a cliffhanger

[@Frostrider]

@@fireghost5436 If you ignore the time jump scene, the whole series wraps up nicely. That's what I did.

[@fireghost5436]

@@Frostrider you know what you are completly right it does

[@Frostrider]

@@fireghost5436 That's why why I don't consider the time jump ending a real cliffhanger. Netflix can delete that scene and new fans would get a satisfying ending cuz they wouldn't know about the time jump.

[@BlownInterceptor71]

Great explanation!

[@mrqtan7668]

I guess engine is nuclear powered. That explaines why they cannot stop (engine overheats and system shuts it down and that makes low electricity so low heat) and why engine gets hot when they stop the train for search Melanie. Also it makes nearly an eternal engine. A fuel that can last for years.

[@Frostrider]

It’s not. The fuel is hydrogen.

[@sai_beanz]

maybe i missed something, but how does the engine at the beginning of a ten-mile train keep the whole thing warm? i assume the bogie motors underneath each car generate heat for the passengers?

[@Frostrider]

It doesn’t keep the whole thing warm. The back and tunnels of the train is much colder than the front. There are no/few heating ducts there. Think of it like a house, garages are often much colder than the rest of the house because it’s not efficient put the heating system down there. It wouldn’t be energy efficient to pump heat in the tunnels or in the tail. It’s why when the train split up, the pirate train was overheating, that energy couldn’t filter throughout the train.

[@sai_beanz]

@@Frostrider okay that makes sense. i didnt think about the pirate train in season 3, where the engine was a literal hot pocket. im assuming it generates just enough heat to keep the third class passengers warm, correct? or am i missing something?

[@lucasgeesey4719]

@@Frostrider that is cruel

[@Frostrider]

@@lucasgeesey4719 If you’re gonna act like a sleazy stowaway rat, don’t expect people to treat you nice when you compromise their resources.

[@lucasgeesey4719]

@@Frostrider yeah but these are people, and the population is already small so you need a lot of people to prevent in breading. also weren't they throwing people of the train? I'm new to this world

[@poleag]

Snowpiercer has to have one of the dumbest plots of any sci-fi film I've ever seen. Still very entertaining.

[@Frostrider]

I didn’t like the film much either. The series is 1000% better.

[@GageisGreat12]

Ok here’s the problem. Most people focus on the plausibly of the train itself. Snowpiercer (and Big Alice) as we know them in the show are more than possible with current technology. The only issue is the propulsion, as the existence of Perpetual Motion is almost certainly impossible, and while I don’t know if there is a power source than can handle a train roughly 36 miles long (I base that length off my own math) a train the length of Big Alice is more than possible. The issue is the intercontinental rail system and its track gauge. Firstly to make a complete circuit around the Earth we’d have to link the Americas to Europe and Asia twice. Personally I don’t think it would be worth it to stop in Australia given it’s isolated location, the only way I can see that happening is if we try to use New Zealand and the multiple islands around it to build a Eurostar like system that goes under the Ocean. That also brings me to my second point. While it is would be fairly easy to link Russia and Alaska by using that one point where they get very close, and thereby negating the Pacific Ocean as an obstacle, the ironically smaller Atlantic is a whole different beast. Linking Europe and the Americas could likely only be done by first linking Northern Canada to Greenland (via all those large, mostly uninhabited islands) the Greenland to Iceland, and finally Iceland to Great Britain. This would make the largest hop from Iceland to Scotland. A over-ocean bridge is just flat out stupid, that would disrupt the global shipping industry. It would have to go under, which would easily be the longest tunnel ever drilled. How we’d do that, frankly I have no idea. I don’t even know how they managed to link England and France without having it cave in on them. But do I think it’s impossible? No, it isn’t. But the biggest problem standing in the way of an Intercontinental Broad-Gauge Railway is the fact that we don’t need one. Shipping and Air Travel have negated the need for something like this, not to mention that fact that since it would be Broad Gauge it wouldn’t be compatible with any existing rail system. SO My 4AM rant over, is it impossible? No lol humans have been splitting atoms for energy since the early 40s ffs WOULD it ever actually happen? Not in our lifetimes. A project of this scale would not only be the most expensive engineering project ever undertaken, but also probably the most pointless. And there’s no way in hell Wilford would have lived to see his Intercontinental Railway completed.

[@Frostrider]

@@GageisGreat12 So here’s what you got wrong. The track gauge you suggested is 100% wrong and if a cartographer saw what you thought they’d have a heart attack. First no international train system would go into the pacific or Atlantic ocean. You link Alaska and Russia through the Barring Strait (which is correct) and to link Europe and North America, you go through the Polar Region, not the Atlantic! Once at the very top of Nunavut (Canada) the track would cross into Greenland through a narrow bit of polar ocean, into the Arctic Ocean, then onto svalbard (Norway Archipelago) then cross into the next set of islands then get to the Russian Coast of the Laptev Sea. England, Scotland and Spain would the LAST in the European track before going to Africa through the Gibraltar strait. You tried to figure out the track from looking at the mercator projection map, which isn’t how it would realistically be done. The engineers would look at a globe, not a map.

[@GageisGreat12]

@@Frostrider Good point on the Svalbard part. I didn't notice that reigon. Though the Nunavut route is what I suggested when I looked at all the maps, I just didn't know the name of the area off the top of my head. And since you pointed that out, It's likely the railway wouldn't go to England at all, just more tunnels to bore, even if it would be the shortest one. One part I'm fuzzy on is where you mention the track gauge.. I never specified Snowpiercers' cannon gauge (because frankly I don't know it) All I know is that it is a very large form of Broad Gauge (this is the name given to any track gauge over Standard Gauge, which is widely accepted to be 1,435 mm) What I can tell you is that Snowpiercer as depicted in the TV wouldn't exactly fit on any pre-existing rail lines. The movie train might, because it looks to be much smaller, maybe the movie train even is canonically standard gauge, which is probably what they'd use if they were to try to link all the continents up anyway

[@daanbos5918]

Weight wise aluminium would also make the most sense

[@lucasgeesey4719]

you'd want the train to be heavy so that it is harder to derail and so it's harder to stop.

[@correctionguy7632]

@lucasgeesey4719 considering how wide and gigantic that train is, that probably isnt an issue.

[@bandvitromania9642]

We could have a Snowpiercer like train but not as big as Snowpiercer. Actually we need another TEE

[@Mr.Salazar31811]

Even though in the future we will have more modern technology, there’s like a 40-20% chance for the train to actually exist

[@marcosacceleronhotwheels2806]

man, id wish so much this could happen not the whole world freezing and people becoming 100% ice if following the danm train but the part of the around the world track and the awesome train designs, imagine snowpiercer without all that not on in and shining like new everytime (yes there was a GTA San Andreas reference)

[@TheFedeGamer99]

Which was the reference?

[@marcosacceleronhotwheels2806]

@@TheFedeGamer99 the following the train part

[@tortenschachtel9498]

Is Aluminum actually hard enough to build tracks for a giant train from it? It is considerably softer than Iron.

[@Frostrider]

It depends on the composite and it’s components.

[@lucasgeesey4719]

@@Frostrider and who knows maybe in the future we'll have our own minerals we can't imagen now

[@HeatherHunterJ]

4:42 chatgpt says we got this By carefully selecting the type of steel and the proportion of aluminum, you can create an alloy that retains magnetic properties

[@Frostrider]

@@HeatherHunterJ I wouldn't trust AI that doesn't know how many R’s there are in the word “strawberry”

[@HeatherHunterJ]

@@Frostrider at least we can try 😆👀 don’t eat anything ChatGPT says eat

[@cartoonfan959]

what about the bridges ?? if one is damaged none is there to fix them and train could plunge to its demise

[@Frostrider]

@@cartoonfan959 Considering that Snowpiercer is a train not a boat or a space ship, is there is no bridges.

[@zobayer1]

I never seen anyone struggle so much pronouncing Aluminium.

[@Frostrider]

@@zobayer1 Most people pronounce it wrong. There’s two I’s not one.

[@Richtshn06]

I love your videos. Love the voice! All around just awesome vibe in your vids! APPOVED😂

[@Richtshn06]

I seriously smiled this entire video! 🎉🎉

[@dj_jolie_official]

Lil Jon will make this train with galvanized steel lol and screws he borrowed from his aunt. 😂

[@mathajas7019]

To be honest, even tho real life Snowpiercer would be fire, I prefer world where the temperature is survivable💞

[@Fmrfanster]

would be amazing

[@haameemrathore9182]

Need More videos about Alex !

[@Frostrider]

Did you watch my "Who is Alex Cavill's father?" video, yet?

[@haameemrathore9182]

@@Frostrider yes ofc

[@Danielthefoxstudio]

The problem with aluminum is that it's extremely flexible

[@Frostrider]

That’s not a problem. Flexibility means the metal isn’t brittle and lasts longer. It also matter how pure the metal is. Whatever metal Snowpiercer is some sort of super composite hybrid.

[@Tekdruid]

Thing about aluminum is it has pretty low mechanical strength.

[@SamwiseHollis]

well lets put it this way, what if the show never had a freeze? or they wanted to build this train in rea life, they wouldn't need to do this much science and they could use conventional engines or convectional hydrogen engines. this means under normal weather circumstances, yes yes we could build snow piercer, but if there was a freeze, no no we could not.

[@CC-185TheGreatGamerandOvi]

Despite this train very big, it will not be able to drive on small tracks.

[@Frostrider]

Duh.

[@lucasgeesey4719]

@@Frostrider the track may have been built years or decades before the train, do you build a carriage before you have a way to move it? NO. it makes since they built the track for Snowpiercer. or in the future all train tracks are that big

[@equabledust2713]

Huh... didn't know that Snowpiercer was made out of an endless supply of *Aluminum* soda can's. Note: that was a joke, but still, just imagine 🤣

[@Frostrider]

**Stainless steel**

[@equabledust2713]

@@Frostrider wait- is Snowpierecr possibly made out of *Aluminum,* or *Stainless steel?*

[@Frostrider]

@@equabledust2713 I’m thinking the train and the track is made out of some sort alloy made of stainless steel and aluminum , kinda like how electrum is a alloy of gold and silver, but it’s naturally occurring unlike the stainless steel- aluminum alloy Snowpiercer might be made of.

[@equabledust2713]

@@Frostrider So... your saying that Snowpiercer *could* potentially exist, but the perpetual motion engine is just pure science fiction aka *not possible.* However I think a perpetual motion system could exist, it's just... we probably don't even have the technology yet.

[@Frostrider]

@@equabledust2713 Yeah, the whole perpetual motion engine was just a marketing scheme for dumb billionaires to invest in his train. As long as there is enough fuel for the engine, the train would keep moving, as if it was in a endless perpetual loop. And for a world that is frozen over, where hydrogen is in snow, the hydrogen engine would have an endless supply of fuel thus making it a perpetual motion machine as long there was working parts. I explained all this in the video.

[@alandvaemergencyresponses2883]

What I think started snowpeircer Hitters extinct train the breitspurbain train it’s huge

[@Frostrider]

The breitspurbain was nowhere near the size of Snowpiercer. And the hitler train, much like Hindenberge, would never have worked long term.

[@aydinlucaz6249]

@@Frostrider Why would it never work?

[@Frostrider]

@@aydinlucaz6249 Because the Nazis failed at everything. We don’t live in expanded Germany right now and most of Hitler’s ideas required technology that didn’t exist at the time.

[@noelblack8159]

@@Frostrider Sadly i must disagree, National Socialist germany Almost had all of the technologies that it needed, the problem was the Production and Germany's Manpower, You can only produce so little, when you are being Bombed day after day and night after night, and when the Men that would need to work in the factories die in the Millions on the Fronts. In the Case of the Breitspurbahn, all of the needed Technology existed, and plans for the Engines and Cars were already ready, but they weren't produced because the Materials such as iron etc were needed for Tanks, U-Boats, Planes etc. So, please don't see this as something negatively, and i personally enjoyed the vid. Greetings from Germany, and have a nice day/evening/night!

[@lucasgeesey4719]

@@Frostrider unless some billionaire decides to build one for luxury... oh wait😮. that's exactlly what Snowpiercer was used for.

[@PattinsonDonuts]

so we need to freeze the world first to have unlimited amount of snow to support the engine???

[@Frostrider]

Yeah basically. Snow has a higher level of hydrogen in it than the atmosphere does.

[@duckyj7241]

nope. too cold for precipitation. they never actually have a snow storm on the show, but rather high winds come to think of it, the aridity in that climate would preclude gathering moisture from the air for electrolysis.

[@bolam20]

What if we see Snowpierer as a train in a desert? In a world where global warming has took over, and made the earth inhabitable. What'd be different in the engine and what metals would be used?

[@Frostrider]

It’s a lot easier to create instant heat (friction ex. train wheels on track) than instant cold. So Snowpiercer wouldn’t work if the world was too hot. A space station or a sea base would work best in that scenario.

[@bolam20]

@@Frostrider But what if snowpiercer was modified? Let's say that Wilford suddenly noticed the earth getting hotter and hotter shortly after discovering the freeze, and so he makes changes to snowpiercer's design. What'd happen to the engine itself?

[@Frostrider]

@@bolam20 The engine converts snow into energy. It has no purpose on a warm earth without constant fuel.

[@bolam20]

sand > hydrogen? @@Frostrider

[@Frostrider]

@@bolam20 Wanna know what you get when you heat up sand? Glass.

[@cyber1ifeconnor]

it can but not currently, we are 1 step away technically, the Hydrogen fuel reaction it uses... we are so close

[@Frostrider]

You do know that it’s more than one fuel type in the world right? Snowpiercer only uses hydrogen because they have to. In a unfrozen world, the train would’ve needed something more common and accessible.

[@lucasgeesey4719]

@@Frostrider Hydrogen is the most explosive element in the unaverse. so would it work as a power source? Absolutlly. would it wear down the parts? also yes. I'd be amazed if the parts survived even 10 years. much less 30.

[@CookieSlum]

Gustovs cannon, no other thing need to be said

[@DerpyAintHere]

If snowpiercer has a perpetual motion engine. but it uses hydrogen to power the engine. then its not perpetual. but if they mean just small amounts of hydrogen would power the engine. then it could be called a semi-perpetual motion machine. same thing with Big Alice. and I don't thing semi-perpetual is a thing or I just made it up but you know what I mean.

[@Frostrider]

You clearly didn't make it to the end of the video, or else you would know that the perpetual motion engine concept was just a marketing scheme by Wilford to get investors, none of which would actually understand the true mechanics and engineering of the train.

[@DerpyAintHere]

@@Frostrider I did make it to the end I just thought it might not fully be a marketing scheme. Because the train still has perpetual motion because Big allice has perpetual parts. and even ben mentioned that the train cant be perpetual without the perpetual parts that big Alice has. Because the perpetual engine is breaking down.

[@Frostrider]

@DerpyAintHere I never said it was fully a marketing scheme. Wilford just left out the part about what happens if the mechanics of the train get worn out, but since Big Alice was the Eternal Engine's prototype, Wilford likely would have mentioned that he has plenty of perpetual engine parts to keep the train going. Which also brings the question: why the hell didn't Melanie retrieve Big Alice the moment the parts started to get worm out?

[@niggly.wiggly]

the train would not be possible because a perpetual motion engine can not be made cause it would break Newtons first and second law sorry to everyone who thought it could happen

[@Frostrider]

Yeah but here’s the thing… Newtonian physics violated Aristotelian physics so something might just prove Newtonian physics wrong when technology advances. The concept of Snowpiercer doesn’t work because we don’t live on a frozen earth with unlimited hydrogen. All mentioned in the video.

[@biska131]

@@FrostriderExactly, I made, based on German WW2 tech, my own perpetual engine. I can power up a bulb so far but it never stops. Only because some idiots said that something cannot be done we shouldn't stop trying.

[@vigg0420]

i mean yes but like prepetual motion is still verry far from now...

[@hisone-N24]

The only one thing I wonder is how snowpiercer gonna drag 1001car with only 20wheel drive It can’t even climb up the hill

[@Frostrider]

There’s 2 bogie motors per car with 10 wheeel on each boogie motor. That makes 20 wheels per car so in total there was originally 20020 wheels on Snowpiercer.

[@hisone-N24]

@@Frostrider oki😃

[@FFX7corefighter]

I hope the train becomes real not the frozen earth

[@Helmutlozzi]

Hoping for both 🤞

[@getout455]

well duh

[@ICO-SA]

Ok sentient snowpiercer

[@traviswalker8874]

no