Why The World Simply Abandoned "Water Trains"

[@dsdonovan]

How did the chain get put on and off the boat?

[@FoundAndExplained]

Long poles to pull it out of the water. Every 50 meters or so there was a chain link that had a sort of clasp that could be opened. So they could unlink it and thread it through. Naturally this took many hours and was very heavy.

[@SharonHowell-pd4yy]

They sank. Qestion

[@GaehjeWNehgurFaegoett]

Majik

[@JimmySailor]

Your the guy with the research but mariners don’t usually use poles to pull up chain. You’d use a grapple on the end of a Hawser rope. But likely they would buoy the end so you didn’t have to. Grapple the chain, pass the hawser around the windlass, and use the steam engine to pull the chain up on deck.

[@kyle857]

​​@@FoundAndExplained That isn't how you pronounce drought. It's "draft."

[@rapidthrash1964]

This sounds like an aquatic version of a cable car

[@philherb3843]

But on cable cars, the cable moves, So, the engine is in a house, not in the vehicle. Great for electric propulsion, or even with coal. Because you can use a big chimney and won't blow the smoke in the street. On chain ships, the chain won't move, so it is more like a cog railway, so something to grab on to get somewhere.

[@sandasturner9529]

Without the required electricity to operate said railcar

[@David0lyle]

Well, in cable cars the power plants are stationary. 🤔 Not super sure but I think that there WERE cable operated ferries.

[@Tclans]

Many countries still use this system only perpendicular to the flow, as a means of crossing. Ie a Ferry.

[@RuskiBear57]

On the Mississippi River in the US

[@AutoReport1]

Occasionally they use actual rails.

[@BlaBla-pf8mf]

Right. They are usually called cable ferries because they don't use chains anymore..

[@kromeboy]

Near where I live there is a ferry that cross a river running a cable that is out of the water, using only the river current (and a little human labour). I think that Tom Scott once made a video about a similar ferry in Germany.

[@KlaxontheImpailr]

Didn't Tom Scott make a video on that?

[@Chris-ok4zo]

So we got regular trains, land trains and now water trains. Next step should then be air trains and fir.... space trains, right?

[@AdhvaithSane]

Right. Thought the same thing, but I imagine many things are still technologically possible….

[@ohoh7570]

we already have it, its called Starlink Constellation. albeit not having any rails

[@Chris-ok4zo]

@@ohoh7570 Isn't it just a collection of satellites? By "train", I meant a vehicle or collection of vehicles carrying large amounts of cargo.

[@MidnightGazebo]

Nah, the billionaire tech bros are all about "pods" now - less efficient, more expensive, less capacity, but you don't need to sit next to poor people and brrr hyperloop go fast Just wait until they realise they can move more people by joining pods together in some sort of end-to-end linear arrangement...

[@aktab9]

How about time trains. A train that goes through Time.

[@brianedwards7142]

"...that many of you watching this may never have heard of...." Nope, I did not know these were a thing.

[@AdhvaithSane]

We do know boats and ships were a thing though ✅

[@brianedwards7142]

@@AdhvaithSane Sure, if you accept the lies of the MSM. ;)

[@Jakeomgwtfisevenhappening]

I'm quite into naval history and I didn't even know this was a thing.

[@caelestigladii]

@@Jakeomgwtfisevenhappeningsame lol.

[@SirHeinzbond]

as bavarian, also never heard of this kind of ship.... well that is i think the true meaning of found and explained...

[@urgaynknowit]

We have one in Poland near my home town Kolno, it was the only one I’d ever seen in my life anywhere . It’s still there, to this day, and the farmers use it to transfer supplies across the river in the rainy seasons

[@Three_Random_Words]

Nothing on the internet anywhere, but I believe you. A few things slip through the internet cracks I guess.

[@stevenschnepp576]

@@Three_Random_Words A shocking amount of information isn't online, or not readily accessible to search engines.

[@anticarrrot]

Heard of this idea for river crossing, but never for river navigation. Well worth the watch

[@philherb3843]

My grandfather used the cables between the barges to grab on and swim upstream for some kilometers. The current would bring him back in half an hour. It was strictly forbidden. He told me much about those, and all said in the video is correct. The chain rests only on the riverbed and would have to be layed down far outside in corners, or it would get to shore on the inside of the riverbed after a few uses. BUT: Many of your pictures are misleading: The chains where extremly expensive, so only bigger streams with lots of things to move had these chains. And even as these ships only had little draught, they would not go on these little rivers in the video. They are too shallow and too windy. Also, the water jet system is only one of many, and only at the late models. It was big enough for getting the ship back downstream without the chain. Because if you get in oncoming traffic with only one chain, it would take hours to release the chain, pass, find and reattach the chain. Another reason they stopped the service was the diesel engine. The service stopped between the world wars, so much later than steam paddle ships. All the barges had captains and had to be steared, so giving them their own diesel motor and propeller was easy and would give them much more freedom (not waiting for a chain ship with free capacity for days or weeks). And the barges/boats went bigger, so even more efficent

[@philherb3843]

Forgot to mention: We live in Mannheim at the river rhein / rhine in Germany. My granddad has worked for the port authority there and tried to save one of those ships for the museum - but they were big, heavy and had a lot of rust - the last years of service didn't pay back, so the maintenance was reduced.

[@DrBovdin]

“Someone is wrong on the Internet. I have to fix it…” The engineer in me groaned when you called an impeller a turbine. A turbine is driven, an impeller drives.

[@FoundAndExplained]

Damn learned something new!

[@kyle857]

It didn't bother you when he mispronounced drought?

[@DrBovdin]

@@kyle857 it did, but not as much as that seemed to be just a “reading the script” effect. Should have been caught in the proof viewing of course. Was it wrong more than once? The turbine line was factually absolutely wrong.

[@JosephDawson1986]

Is the Zeuner water turbine, its actual name, powered or not? If it doesn't use an external.power source, which I am not sure would work or not, then its a turbine as an impeller uses a power source to spin the impeller blades to create both suction and thrust as it does in a jet ski.

[@keefymckeefface8330]

@@FoundAndExplained - then lets please add how to pronounce draught. Its pronounced draft. Same pronunciation as a waft of air through a gap, Not Drort. (i come meaning well tho, good vid in most respects- and could be worse man. The muppets at dark seas think the front of a ship is a decorative loop of ribbon. And your unlucky- draught is an exception to rules thats not pronounced in obvious way, and is bit of technical term... unlike bow, which has a 2nd common usage with same pronunciation.)

[@jonjoem-walton7381]

As a marine engineer this was incredibly interesting. I thought I knew about almost all historic marine propulsion plants..... as always every day I learn something new. I think the biggest oh wow of this is the fact they had jet propulsion figured out way back when, just not quite the bucket. Be interesting to do a deeper dive into those thrusters,

[@A-Train-Guy]

Finally, more BOAT content

[@memofromessex]

But you're a train guy. I think it needs more Essex content.

[@AdhvaithSane]

THAT’S WHY HE’S THE BOAT *THE BOOOOAT!!!*

[@lennartwilde3600]

​@@AdhvaithSane😂

[@superiorbear6382]

BOAT

[@stephenphilp1380]

Draught is pronounced draft!

[@sambrown6426]

Just for future reference, Draught is actually pronounced draft. Just figured I should let you know, I'm not mad at you or anything.

[@weldonwin]

It's the hosts thing. Every video, there is at least one word he struggles with, usually names which leads me to believe our host is dyslexic maybe

[@sambrown6426]

@@weldonwin Interesting hypothesis, you may be onto something

[@williebruciestewie]

@@weldonwin AI generated?

[@weldonwin]

@@williebruciestewie No, the host is definitely a real person and has appeared on camera in several videos. Some of it is because he's Australian and has trouble with certain words, mostly names as I pointed out, but sometimes he has trouble with words like Armaments (which he called Am-Rah-Ments) and Weaponry (Weh-Pon-Dree). I believe he's reading from a script, his dyslexia causing him to misread words on the page. An AI Generated voice, wouldn't be making these kinds of mistakes.

[@Statsy10]

Prevalent was another word with interesting pronunciation.

[@danielhall8785]

Dear gods, can you imagine the noise that chain must have caused to someone inside the vessel?

[@Ichijoe2112]

I'm sure everything was well lubed with Whale fat.

[@Three_Random_Words]

@@Ichijoe2112 Yes, the women of Wales GB had some lard on 'em, they did. Now we have Walmart patrons.

[@topspeed250k5]

Having crossed a river many times on a car ferry that used this system, I can say that there's no undue noise at all Just the quiet chuff of the old diesel engine.

[@sydneycardew1923]

I rode a chain ferry last week. It makes a distinctive clanking as the chain goes through but it's not loud like an anchor chain being let out.

[@danielhall8785]

Fascinating. How do they quiet it I wonder. Now I've got to seek one out to get a look. Thanks!

[@konradutz]

I think you missed one reason why it was downright impossible to continue water trains on many European rivers in later years. It was because locks where installed in them in the late 19th and early 20th century.

[@bartinga]

Never heard of water trains. No train museum ever mentioned them. Learn something new everyday.

[@CoreyAnderson-l5y]

They never made it past the conceptual phase

[@Three_Random_Words]

@@CoreyAnderson-l5y Thank you. Can't find anything on the net, just this channel. Maybe this youtuber is getting desperate for material?

[@AcrimoniousMirth]

There’s a chain ferry quite near me actually, but going cross-stream. We get a lot of tall sail ships where I am and bridges would not be viable, so the chain ferry provides routine access from one side to the other.

[@Three_Random_Words]

A riverbed chain, or a suspended aerial cable? I've seen the cable kind, pulleys and such?

[@AcrimoniousMirth]

@@Three_Random_Words riverbed. Aerial chain wouldn’t work for the same reason a bridge wouldn’t and the forces involved were it to be high enough for ship masts to pass under would be a lot to deal with.

[@Three_Random_Words]

@@AcrimoniousMirth It's just strange, because the internet has nothing of what this channel is talking about, which is not impossible I suppose, just unexpected.

[@MrAranton]

Those ferries most likely rely on river currents instead of any kind of engine so it‘s not exactly the same system.

[@AcrimoniousMirth]

@@MrAranton no, they have engines. They’re not drift ferries.

[@milkbaologist5610]

i’d imagine it is hard to operate more than one boat in a river, as the chains are likely tangle in the waters

[@PRH123]

Yes many questions arise. Such as right of way, all other vessels would always have to give way to the chain ship. The chain ship company would have to secure the exclusive legal right to put their chain on the bottom of a whole river, which assumedly is usually public property.

[@bocahdongo7769]

You can Just by combining them into single bigger ship. Which everyone did until this day

[@CornyDawgz]

That’s what barges are for

[@urgaynknowit]

We have one in my home country of Poland, it uses a small gas engine to crawl up and down across the river in the rainy seasons transferring supplies to the farmers on the other side of the river that encircles their properties

[@schlollepop]

The system was used around here (Southern Germany) until after WW I. The tugboat company had a monopoly, the ships were nicknamed "river donkey". Only one chain was in the river, when encountering oncoming traffic, the downstream-going boat would need to drop it and get it back on board after the ships had passed each other. This would take about an hour. In the 1920s, the rivers were made more shipping-friendly by installing dams and locks.

[@johnnyfreedom3437]

I'm a third generation boilermaker, so I know some of my ancestors worked on these things. I'm just surprised I never heard of such a thing before! What a brilliant way to tackle a river! Thank you so much for creating this film, I'm almost 70 and never too old to learn!

[@tibchy144]

they got replaced by pusher barges, some of them can consist of 10-12 units

[@mickffm]

We had this on the river Main in the Frankfurt Area. Long time ago. The chain is still on the ground. Thanks for the vid.

[@jpt3640]

You can still find the last of these ships in Aschaffenburg.

[@quietwarf1019]

Another unique boat you should check out is the SS Badger. It ferries cars across Lake Michigan but was originally designed to ferry actual trains. At one point there was a fleet of them. Oh also it’s the last of its kind.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Her sister ship the SS Wolverine still exists, used for spare parts .

[@rodpaget9796]

And recently converted from coal. It is a steam boat with a steam uniflow engine. Very eff

[@larrybremer4930]

I think Railroad Ferries were last used in the Russian tundra on the trans siberia railway, and possibly still in use today.

[@theexcaliburone5933]

@@larrybremer4930there’re some regular passenger rail routes which use ferries. Trains from the main Italian boot to Sicily use one (although they’re thinking about a tunnel so it won’t be for long)

[@johnknecht6958]

The spartan her sister ship is also there in Ludington. There's been some talk about the benefit vs cost ratio of getting the spartan into running condition. But at last check I think she's viewed as more valuable as a parts ship for the badger

[@rogerkujawastrains]

The Badger operating out of Ludington Michigan is still steam powered and takes autos across Lake Michigan. We have ridden it many times. It was designed to haul freight cars across the lake. The City Of Milwaukee ship is a museum in Manistee Michigan. It also hauled rail cars across the lake. You can even stay overnight on the City Of Milwaukee or enjoy the haunted ship during Halloween.

[@moritzheintze7615]

Hi, nice video, pity that you missed on one of the critical drawbacks of the chain tugs: The tricky procedure of passing. The downward travelling tug had to anchor, open the chain, thread itself out, close it and drop it down for the upward tug to pass. Then, collect the chain from the river bead, open it again and thread into it before continuing. No wonder, they were dismissed on the Neckar in 1935 and the Main 1936. (kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKavg4meidyagpo). There are still a few hulls around.

[@Acehalo2]

I just want to say that your pun about the drive wheel being a "revolutionary" development at 9:33 did not go unnoticed. :) Fantastic video!

[@mrcorback4507]

Oh awesome. Riqueval is where I live, you can visit the boat "toueur" you see in this vid :)

[@nathanbanks2354]

I've gone on a cable ferry that is quite similar to these except that it always goes in a straight line. As far as I know, a couple of them are still operating in BC.

[@baryonyxlord]

Thanks for this video I introduced your channel to my grandpa a few weeks back and he passed away recently thanks for the joy you gave him

[@FoundAndExplained]

Deepest wishes to you and your family during this hard time. I’m glad I gave your grandpa some joy before he passed

[@baryonyxlord]

@@FoundAndExplained Thank you i have a playlist of all the videos he couldn't watch Thanks for giving him so much Happiness your videos do impact people in a good way. have a great night

[@michaelgrzybkowski]

The boats that replaced them were so go , You could say they were off the chain. 😊

[@joldsaway3489]

WE'RE MAKING IT OUT OF ENIE'S LOBBY WITH THIS ONE 🔥🔥🔥🗣🗣🗣

[@subjectc7505]

Train on the water, boat on a track

[@gabrielcoelho2346]

I took a train across the Atlantic, i hope it won't sink like Titanic🎶🎵🔊🎤

[@kligrubdra]

Drought is pronounced DRAFT!

[@jakobdolling8802]

@FoundAnExplained: Why WaterTrains did not succeed: I only agree with that steam engines got powerful. That is one part of the story. There came a totally disruptive kid to town who pushed even the paddle steamer into submission: The propeller matured.

[@JaneNewAuthor]

Naiads presided over springs and rivers. Neptune was the god of the sea.

[@Korschtal]

Fascinating. I live near the Rhine, and yet I've never heard of these, so many thanks...

[@pauljs75]

Many U.S. waterways use modern tow boats all the time. The Mississippi and connected rivers are heavy with barge traffic. Thus in a sense the idea never left. But they tend to use a pusher configuration and the barges being moved aren't allowed a whole lot of slack to prevent break-aways.

[@bishopcorva]

Kinda vaguely knew about them as a thing, but thought for a while they were a sort of push/pull kind of screw propeller tug. Then saw the illustration of the barges being on longer leads and immediately thought " That's dumb, how would the barges stay under steering control when going down stream and not get wildly out of line..." Then came the " these were only around for fifty years and is a design likely never to be used or seen again." Which got the "Yeah, it's a design made by someone that should really have learned more by observing than just saying they were smart and knew things because they had book learning." Water near the edge of a river acts very different from the middle. Plus there's sunken snags from flooding or erosion to think about. Silting over your drag chain, on and on. Yes I can see where this would have been a revolutionary idea and design when first deployed. But any rubbing of brain cells together would see the glaring flaws quickly. None the less, a neat part of history and archaic design features that were absolutely a no turn around dead end.

[@skychief7716]

@njcummins Yours is the best dialogue I’ve ever heard on KZbin @9:42 in when you say, “…taking the rivers by storm…” 😂🤣😂. So refreshing. So much better than the ad pitch lines pushing some product “…taking the world by storm…”that I’ll never buy. You’ve got a nice twist on a shopworn phrase!!! You’ve got a great channel going too. Keep it up!

[@PortCharmers]

Well, water-trains still exist, as in one tug pulling a number of barges. However, they don't pull themselves along chains any more, but use propellers or Voith-Schneider rotors instead, and the barges are closely lashed together to have one big unit rather than a lot of boats on a string. I am from Bavaria (the famous diamonds just as white and blue just as the bands around the funnels), and have seen a couple of models of these tugs in museums. Although I have always wondered how the chain was anchored in the river bed and how that worked out around bends. Thanks for the clarification.

[@ry782]

Well, although it might not be so common in the world, here in Sweden, we have a lot of "water trains", or as we call them, "line-ferries". It's actually very common to find them in the Stockholm archipelago.

[@MrJbmcgary]

FYI Draught (or draft in the US) is pronounced "draft"

[@jenniferstewarts4851]

umm, there are still some of these left. they are called "cable barges" or "cable Ferry." they operate by pulling a cable or chain layed across a river. There are tons of these still running, especially in Australia.

[@andrewmole745]

Well done Jared! I had never heard of these before.

[@l4xx03luyf6l0to]

I cannot believe I have never heard of these before!

[@autarchprinceps]

There are still lots of ferries that work this way, just across the river or straight, instead of along it. That way the chain/rope is much shorter and useful.

[@holger_p]

With a single boat per chain, and a chain with fixed ends, it's a rather primitive concept.

[@sips3812]

exactly why I'm subscribed to you! to see super wacky vehicles, and have a high quality explanation of it. I wish you well Found And Explained!

[@donaldpetersen2382]

One Piece has a sea train, the Puffing Tom. Some guy gets ran over and joins the main cast. It's *SUPER*

[@matsv201]

Cable ferries is both plentiful still in use today. While replaced chain with cables, its basically do the same thing (granted, cable ferries typically spool up the cable in stead of just passing it.

[@FoundAndExplained]

The spool system was actually used by the chain boats in the very beginning but naturally that was point a to b. The chain boats here actually could operate along the whole river

[@elemental_gaming]

Every episode of this channel is literally sponsored by squarespace and F&E always finds a way to smoothly insert the sponsored segment

[@metern]

An electric version of this boat would be a genius to use on the rivers these days. Good for the environment.

[@robertbalazslorincz8218]

This is what you call a "tugboat towing barges" in the industry. Edit: never heard of this, probably wasn't even a thing in Hungary? (Thank you István Széchenyi for thinking way ahead and training our rivers)

[@guard13007]

I'm sad you didn't mention the modern iteration of this where there are ferries that cross a channel following a guide-wire there also supplies electricity so that they don't have to have massive batteries onboard.

[@andycristea]

Thanks, Jarod! Good work!

[@jimsvideos7201]

Clever people have always existed, it's just a question of how much knowledge they had and the materials available.

[@jolouisd]

We have that here, we call it a ferry. If you ever find yourself between Montreal and Ottawa and want to cross the River, there's one such cable ferry (electric) crossing between Clarence Point and Thurseau.

[@Bargeral]

Props to Jared!

[@nicolek4076]

Many car and passenger ferries use chains. One that immediately comes to mind is the one across Poole harbour in Dorset (that's in the UK, for those unfamiliar with geography). I've also seen a report on a chain ferry powered by electricity in Denmark (I think - my memory isn't what it was).

[@marionbloom1218]

Still pretty common for ferries. In the UK we have a large vehicle chain-ferry at Studland in Dorset, also there's one on the River Dart, and I rode one in the Lake District but I can't remember where. I also used on on the road North from Cairns towards the Daintree, in Australia. Works really well as a ferry solution.

[@Amuzic_Earth]

I had no idea about these...I couldn't even have imagined the way it functioned. I know about the river crossing ferries that use perpendicular component of the river current to go back and forth, that's ingenious too, but this is completely different.

[@PulkaSkurken]

This is STILL used today! In Sweden we have "Chain ferry´s" to transport cars from island to island in the archipelago! Still operating today and i have been on one several time then taking my car out to the islands. one of them named "Yxland" abou 60 km north of Stockholm.

[@bardslee]

They still use a chain ferry, for one the crossings from England to Wales. In the place called Swansea. It is used because of the high current.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

A very interesting system of which I haven't heard before. It is not only other modes of transport which made these obsolete, but the development in water transport itself also. Rivers have been canalised, or canals have been built parallel to shorten the route and have a corridor without currents, many other canals connecting existing water systems have been built into the last century. And then the development in propulsion systems of the river barges and tugs themselves have made them a lot more powerful. In the US the pusher boat with a consist of tied together barges was invented to navigate the large rivers, Europe introduced them in the 1950s to replace towed consists. We now can see pusher boats navigating the canals and rivers with as many as 6 on the Rhine to 12 barges on the Danube. On the Mississippi river the record is 60 barges pushed along by just one pusher. Barges are not slung one after another but tied tightly into one large barge so to say, on the Rhine usually 2 across and 3 long or the 3 across and 2 long, on the Danube up to 4 wide and 3 long, a standard barge in Europe being 76,5m long and 11,4m wide. Also larger load carrying river boats can be seen with 1 or 2 barges tied alongside or in front.

[@alantunbridge8919]

I have seen a use of this system for a ferry across the River Blyth between North Blyth & South Blyth in North East England. Admittedly nowhere near so long but using a chain along the bed of the river & an on board steam engine to power it. This was in the early 1960’s when it was already an anachronism.

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

I've heard of a few ferries that operate in a similar manner, but they usually have a cable above the waterline in calm weather. I have even been on a cable ferry across the Missouri in Central Montana.

[@Adighiles]

I'm not an engineer but I think this type of boat can be used today in the rivers of Mexico and Central America, which are mostly difficult to navigate. In Nicaragua for example there are rivers that connect the Atlantic Ocean with its main lakes. That would make the Nicaraguan canal possible without affecting the course of the rivers and the environment.

[@mbr5742]

This is worse than a diesel powered tug or barge. That is why they are no longer used in germany (that had quite a few on the Rivers).

[@holger_p]

The chain is more for speed , than for navigation. Imagine swimming against a little current, either freely in the water or pulling yourself along a rope. With strong arms you gain more speed on the rope. While it is impossible to swim faster in open water, just with more power. You would need bigger hands to swim faster, to create more resistance in the water.

[@davidlockwood9192]

Not a boat train, however in several places in the world there are chain ferries, working in a similar fashion with a vessel pulling along on a chain pulled up from the sea bed. Normally used in locations with a deep channel and fast flowing currents. Examples on the south coast of the UK included Poole Harbour Entrance ( Sandbanks Ferry), Cowes Ferry and Plymouth (Homaz) Ferry.

[@holger_p]

One important concept was missing in the report. If you pull a rope hanging out of your boat, you get the rope into your boat. Unless the rope is fixed with some kind of anchor. But the chain couldn't have anchors, cause it's supposed to be lifted without moving downstream. This is just avoided by friction on the riverbed, nobody can pull a 100km long chain. No need to fix it anywhere (like It's necessary for cross river ferries). So even when the chain broke, it didnt effect boats in 10km distance.

[@_robustus_]

Yup, never heard of such. I can totally see the chain getting hung up on rocks and sunken trees.

[@holger_p]

Why should a tree sink ? It's wood. And rolling rocks, too big to be moved away by lifting the chain, might be very rare.

[@_robustus_]

@@holger_p they sink when they are waterlogged. That’s how we got that word😉 and some trees aren’t even sawed down. They leave them, build dams and the water level rises when making reservoirs.

[@scotttait2197]

4:44 DRAUGHT IS PRONOUNCED DRAFT

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS... And the reason I'm surprised they don't exist is because in rapids you could have the boat/train go over grooves/tracks until they pass the rapids..... there is practically nothing on chain boats anywhere online. I can't see how you get the chain off the boat and over all the things on the boat.

[@welshpete12]

A similar system is still in use today with ferries crossing rivers here in the UK, known as chain ferries .

[@hobog]

The barge trains throughout the Mississippi basin come pretty close to this. A tug pushes a maybe four-long three-wide group of barges

[@mbr5742]

No, totally different system since the tug is not tied to a chain. The tugboats replaced this system. The chain system can not use compound engines (they run to jerky) but wheel and screw tugs could. So more flexible ship using less coal. And with tugs in continental europe often being state monopolies- that was the end

[@ttystikkrocks1042]

Even as an amateur history buff, gearhead and industrial technology enthusiast, this is the first time I've ever heard of chain boats and water trains! Thanks for making this video! I mean, talk about steam punk!

[@Chad.Commenter]

How did they stop the chain from rusting in the river? I am shocked to learn that constantly replacing the chain due to rusting is not a major problem for them.

[@paradiselost9946]

steel does surprisingly well under water? and given that non-tidal rivers are fresh water...

[@NavyDood21]

Holy crap, this type of craft is amazing. I can see why it didnt stick around, but it would be interesting to have seen if the tech was iterated on more.

[@mityace]

Growing up and living in the USA, I hadn't heard of this technology. It was an interesting solution for the times. Like another poster said, it is roughly analogous to a cable car however the motive power is on the craft not in a stationary position. And, similarly, while ingenious, they have more issues than other technologies. Here, we had a canal heyday from the early to middle 19th century. By, 1850, the railroad was already supreme so, river transport was only practical on the big rivers (Mississippi-Ohio-Missouri), Hudson River etc. This is probably why they never caught on here.

[@mbr5742]

The system worked for quite a time and quite well. Fell only out of use because engines got cheaper and more compact so a classic tug and later the self powered barge replaced them in europe

[@mbr5742]

As for the railroad being "supreme" - ships need a lot less power per ton of freight. So assuming you have a decend net of rivers and channels bulk cargo is better on the water

[@vivi_t3ch]

Not gonna lie, I thought you were gonna talk about those barges that would be used to get an actual train across waterways or large bodies of water. Maybe something that might be a good future topic?

[@seanmccann8368]

An amazing invention, I had no knowledge of these means of transport.

[@Smile200-z4y]

TRAIN ON THE WATER BOAT ON THE TRACK

[@Tobi-cd5yy]

imagine how difficult maintaining that chain would be

[@jpt3640]

At Aschaffenburg there is the last Määkuh (river main cow) rotting. Sadly nobody tries to restore it. Its name comes from its horn, which is said to have sounded like a cow?!

[@jjskn93]

This is still a thing, in a way. You won't see them used as tug boats anymore but there are still ferries about that use chain to pull themselves across bodies of water. Barges tied together and towed by another vessel never went out of fashion. The only thing that changed was the motive power. There's also a barge called a Car Float. They were used in the states to float rail cars/carriages about. They'd also hook several of them together for towing, which is the most water train thing I can think of.

[@paradiselost9946]

well, thats a side of shipping ive never thought of, heard of, or even considered... despite having several cable ferries in the area... thinking of the river itself, theres every chance it was tried here long ago when water was more... important...

[@flare2000x]

I guess this design still exists in a way, in the form of cable ferries. They work essentially in the same manner but usually just cross short river crossings for a small number of cars in rural or remote areas. My home town region in British Columbia has several of these.

[@JimmySailor]

You missed the biggest advantage, before the era of lighted navigation marks navigating at night was perilous especially on rivers. A chain boat wouldn’t need nav marks. As nav marks were eventually made more common the tug boat proved vastly superior.

[@Name-ot3xw]

Not exactly the same thing, but there are some cable ferries out there still. The coolest one I remember is a cable ferry that uses the river current to push against the hull like a sail.

[@American_Jeeper]

I'm almost 51 years old, and I've never heard of this. I'm commenting at the 1:20 mark right now, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the video, because this really looks like it was Keep It Simple Stupid technology that had the potential to work quite well. Love your videos, keep it up!

[@oadka]

One important thing that was not even mentioned - such a drive was probably multiple times more efficient than a propeller or paddle wheel. It was probably inconvenient but certainly efficient.

[@harishwala5882]

True Answer: Not practical 😂😂😂

[@MrSheckstr]

If you have ever seen the movie The Knights tale you will have seen the predecessor to the chain boat , the rope ferry, in two different scenes, once with young Will Thatcher meets the knight he is to be sold to as a squire by his father, and when “Sir Ulrich” returns to London for the Grand Tournament …. The chain boat is simply a more powerful version of a rope ferry, but with several added benefits…. Particularly in maneuverability and in rope/ chain maintenance. Replacing entire lengths or individual links being easier than splicing rope in the middle of the river

[@holger_p]

No, there is absolutly no relation to a rope ferry, cause the new thing is, to have a machine on the boat. Everything with ropes is always fixed on the shore of the river.

[@AppalachianMountaineer1863]

“Train on the water, boat on the tracks”

[@HolyPire]

When its really dry in summer you can somtime still see the chains in the riverbeds if you are lucky... they never removed them.

[@robinpayne125]

This concept is still in use in tens if not hundreds of locations around the world as chain or cable ferries.

[@Strelka_edits]

I always come to these videos asking "ya wtf, why didn't that idea happen?" and then find out how depressing reality is.

[@memofromessex]

Thank you Gerald! Great stuff.

[@McShag420]

I can't even imagine how loud it must have been to be on one of those.

[@vodnikdubs1724]

Go to Jared for more ideas, this is one of the few things I’ve seen a dive on that I’ve literally never heard a word about before.

[@johnransom1146]

There’s still cable ferries. One crosses the LaHave River in Bridgewater Nova Scotia

[@michaelhowell2326]

I can't tell you happy it makes me to here pronounce "draught" like "drot". It took me a while to understand that in British English that was the same as American English's "draft". I thought for a long time that it was a different spelling of "drought". I'm not alone.

[@FoundAndExplained]

Yea my bad!

[@michaelhowell2326]

@@FoundAndExplained no apology needed.

[@colinpratt7618]

There are still a few chain ferries in the UK, such as one going from Bournemouth to the Isle of Purbeck.

[@bryantrussell120]

I've never heard of this mode of transport and it's so cool that I'm hearing about it now.