Overland Trains: A Missed Opportunity?

[@megaprojects9649]

Thank you Squarespace for sponsoring this video. Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/megaprojects for 10% off on your first purchase of a website/domain.

[@tondekoddar7837]

Is the Finnish-Russia Mir deep sea submarine thing still too hot to make a video about ? It was, after all, one thing that made cold war enemies just a tad bit understanding of eachother... Could be nice today. Also, Finland had a thing about limiting strategic nukes, 1969 SALT. Now Finns umm... Nato. Needs.

[@maverick4462]

Congratulations Simon, when I tap my screen to fast forward 2x, your sped up voice makes my son laugh the hardest out of all other KZbin channels I watch.

[@jrtstrategicapital560]

The 1950s in America was a period of vast ingenuity and creativity! What an era! The popular mechanic’s magazine during this time is a wonderful read of the technological / mechanical innovations… as a kid it was great stuff to dream about.

[@kalrandom7387]

I read the old one's and wondered where those beautiful ideas were.

[@micadus4723]

The government put a shackle on ingenuity by subsidizing all of the struggles

[@hamishbracey5411]

Australia has Road trains which are the largest vehicles allowed in the road. Some are allowed to weigh up to 200ton

[@macbomb]

I kept waiting for him to mention these. Don't they have unmanned ones in the west going from a mine to a port??

[@Mayhemzz]

They're not *exactly* what is being described in the video though, are they? I'm not from a state where they're used regularly (Tas) but aren't just basically really big trucks?

[@ado1541]

@@Mayhemzztrucks with 3-6 trailers though. And used on and off road very remote

[@Mekrinel]

He makes a passing reference to it at 17:40. Wonder if there was slightly more mention in the original script that got cut in editing.

[@stevelucas9183]

​@Mekrinel hopefully Simon makes a more dedicated video towards Australian road trains

[@nayfepacewell8923]

We have road trains in Australia. They are heavy, fast, and terrifying.

[@echomande4395]

Yes, and shorter variants are in use in various countries. The major difference between those and LeTourneau's creations is that in LeTourneau's creations all wheels were powered.

[@dahliacheung6020]

We have a form of them in America but they're smaller and can be quite long and are often found at theme parks like Disney, in large botanical gardens, zoos or other attractions, and any kind of place that does ride along tours.

[@chrisbarnes2823]

CN 3502 diesel electric locomotive was used in 1998 to power the civic center of Boucherville Quebec after an Ice Storm took out many High Tension towers supporting high voltage wires. It took many weeks to bring back Hydroelectric to many towns.

[@joesnuffy6033]

As a former LeTourneau University student, this is awesome! Great work!

[@jhettman1]

Class of 2014 for me!

[@PoleTooke]

13:51 "Land Train, 1962." I appreciate this Simple Man Speak TM

[@lady_draguliana784]

There's a sort of spiritual successor coming down the line in the form of "follow along" trucks, with the idea being that a human could drive a Big Rig Truck, and be followed by unmanned trucks in a de facto train. the idea being that it splits the difference between the desire to put truckers out of work and the failings of "self driving" tech.

[@eeyorehaferbock7870]

Interesting. Reminds me of an idea I saw a while back for a fleet of self-driving tractors on caterpillar treads that would tow giant bladders filled with fuel across Antarctica for days or weeks on end. The difference for that one would be that no human lead driver would be present because there wouldn’t be any obstacles present as long as they stayed on a level snowfield.

[@RogerM88]

A snow freighter still stuck in Alaska? 10:41 HeavyDSparks entered the chat.

[@craiglortie8483]

LOL

[@RogerM88]

@@craiglortie8483 It would make an epic episode, as it could end up being rebuild.

[@craiglortie8483]

@@RogerM88 i agree! would love to see it. just not much use for it around a farm. )

[@jtackerman28]

Not really stuck it sits like 40 ft off the highway on fairbanks ak

[@ddjslhomebase243]

I was just thinking he should buy the surviving model and get it going.

[@tedsmith6137]

Sounds like the basis for the 'wagon trains' described in "The Amtrak Wars" series of novels by Patrick Tilley.

[@Tracks85]

I remember those books. Wow been a minute since I thought about them!

[@earlyriser8998]

LeTorneau was also a HUGE innovative offshore rig company in the 1950's and lead to manyu of the developments used today in the exploration for oil and gas

[@MargoMB19]

I love to see Yuma Proving Grounds talked about in videos like this! This all happened before I was even born, but it's always a bit of a thrill when a video like this talks about a place I drive by at least once a week.

[@AndreGreeff]

wow, that was absolutely fascinating... but also somewhat strange to think of computer-controlled per-wheel electric drive systems that are already 60-odd years old! I didn't realise that these sort of systems had been around for so long already..

[@Four_Words_And_Much_More]

The fundamental concept of multiple independent 4-Wheel drive vehicles has been known for sometime. It was used in WWII using 6X6 trucks chained together with tires used when pushing was required. It had a high failure rate for the trucks as expected the pushing and pulling damaged a lot of trucks. However, it allowed logistics to move war materials in large amounts under terrible road/track conditions. The trucks were disconnected when crossing bridges to limit the total weight on the bridge. The concept used by R. G. LeTourneau was superior in that he used electricity for driving each wheel independently. Thus individual control allowed for smooth transmission of push/pull as well as reduced the need for push/pull dramatically. The use of larger and larger tires is also a well proven concept long used by "off roaders." Wagons pulled by horses had relatively narrow wheels of around 40 to 48 inches in diameter to reduce the power needed from the horses. Thus the uneven surface provide less resistance to the larger wheels. Weight is another wheel size consideration so there is a balancing of needs between weight bearing capacity, ease of pulling from weight and rolling resistance over rough ground. All that said R. G. LeTourneau was a genius to assemble all these concepts together to make a practical machine. One of the reasons the idea did not take off is right of way considerations and competition for the road space. These very large trains took up great widths and length of roadways. This was at a time when right of ways were relatively narrow compared to today. The disconnect between roadway engineers and R. G. LeTourneau's concept is easy to see. No communication or ways to influence the roadway engineers. Thus the scale of application of the concept limited the development and propagation of a very cool idea. Simply, people could not "see" the utility of his idea to larger use. This is common. People get emotionally attached to ideas. Me? I never marry an idea. They never marry you back. Thank you for another great idea in a "megaproject." Well done.

[@stax6092]

Trackless Train makes way more sense than "Land-Train", although we would definitely have fully adopted it if all of us were Space Dwarves. So definitely a missed opportunity.

[@flixri726]

why does it make way more sense? Much heavier carriages, way higher resistance with a huge rubber tire compared to steel wheel on steel track like a real train. Real off track operation is impossible and total inpractical compared to using established train infrastructure that is partly already integrated into other means of transport.

[@mikemotorbike4283]

​@@flixri726 He's saying, "We already have 'Land-trains'; they're called 'Trains'."

[@EgaoKage]

You might consider covering Britain's modern (IE: present-day) military blimps. They are pretty cool and bear little resemblance to traditional blimps. Last I'd heard, there are only two existing prototypes, which were made in Scotland. But they show a lot of promise as a highly efficient and stealthy form of limited troop-transport.

[@CowboyCree63]

Great video!! Loved seeing a SkyCrane, since I currently work for Siller Helicopters, flying Cranes for firefighting and construction.

[@Meatsweats_o_O]

being from STL, and having a little baby boy I pulled up right behind Big Foot one evening when he was sleeping and waited. a few moments later he woke up and pretty much shit himself as the windscreen was nothing but Big Foot's wheel.

[@catatonicbug7522]

I used to live in Missouri, right next to the Bigfoot headquarters. The truck pictured sat in the parking lot along with several other vehicles that all used the moniker.

[@macrosense]

Rail reduces the friction. You need ten to 90 times as much energy to pull freight on rubber tires and paved highways

[@jonathanmatthews4774]

Damn. As a Canadian, I've never even heard of these things before. Absolutely amazing and well deserving of the term "mega". Too bad we don't see this, that'd be incredible seeing these trundle along.

[@yukonbikerguy]

Hey Fact Boi, Thanks for this video! I drive past the Yukon Transportation Museum quite often, and you can see the LCC1 there easily from the highway as you drive by. Great to learn more of the histrory behind it. Noice!

[@jacobmoses3712]

There is some kind of arctic train that services remote outposts in Alaska. I saw it on the Flying Wild Alaska show. It broke down on the way to Kavik Camp and Sue Aikens

[@captainqwark4863]

I remember the first time I read about this. I was a kid when I first saw this in my dad's book about Future technologies, which I presume was he was given by his dad as it's older than my dad. Even tho it's over 60 years old a lot of it still looks so futuristic (like massive underwater cities, moon bases,...). Yet the thing that stuck with me the most were the land trains. Sad to see the idea abandoned nowadays. Can't imagine how much it would cost to keep it fueled with current prices.

[@solreaver83]

We still use road trains in Australia. Record at the moment is up to 1.5 km long.

[@randytaylor1258]

They use conventional tractors on finished roads.

[@solreaver83]

@@randytaylor1258 they are still called road trains and largely replace trains. And these trucks go off sealed roads all the time

[@shaneeslick]

@@randytaylor1258 Most of the roads are not "Finished Roads" many are not even graded but just just dirt tracks that an average family car could not get through especially after Rains, but the Road Trains don't stop delivering as they are the only way the Remote Homesteads get their supplies.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

2:20 - Mid roll ads 3:20 - Back to the video

[@brucehill1220]

Cool to learn about history just down the road in Longview

[@mitchellmccormick3301]

I agree. Henderson here. I was surprised to hear Longview being mentioned in one of simon’s videos.

[@Habu12]

Ha! I've seen the VC-22 in its final resting place. Never thought I'd watch a video on its history from y'all. Thanks!

[@DannyHeywood]

"It took several Cats to get it going again" Yeah, I've been there too.

[@SantaFe19484]

Such an extreme machine!

[@kennethnielsen3864]

Thanks for sharing.

[@finscreenname]

They also had "trailer buses" a semi-trailer "bus" pulled by a tractor unit (in the same way as a semi-trailer truck). The tractor unit may either be a purpose-built unit designed specifically for operation with the trailer bus, or a regular conventional tractor unit. Also referred to as a 'bus trailer'.

[@EvelyntMild]

Having grown up a stone's throw from Longview, it's cool the old stomping grounds get a shout out.

[@Hammerhead547]

When running double wheels on each corner (Bob Chandler bought four sets [8 wheel/tire combinations), Bigfoot 5 is 26 feet tall 34 feet wide and weighs 32.000 pounds.

[@chalion8399]

As soon as I saw this video pop up, I knew Bigfoot 5 would show up.

[@Voltikz95]

If you haven't yet, id love to see the history of the combustion engine... that sbohld be a good long video 😂

[@MissMeganBeckett]

They had those trams at the Toronto zoo! I think they had the tram to replace the monorail that hadn’t worked for a long time for tours and to get to the farthest away pavilions without becoming exhausted.

[@almirria6753]

A couple of the smaller "locomotives" are in different yards in Alaska & the large locomotive engine is at the US Army Yuma Proving Grounds, Yuma County Az.. at one time it was slated to get a nuclear powered engine , but that never came about.

[@bowez9]

"LA-TURN-NO" Comes from former employee.

[@Starfoxfan-rg6iz]

I'd say it was more so ahead of its time, image what modern technology would be able to do for this leviathan of a vehicle

[@Sadenshard]

I really like these engineering marvel videos

[@natec599]

5:00 those are scrapers pushing each other not a land train.

[@WW3_Historian]

I saw the one in Whitehorse a few years ago. It's an impressive machine!

[@shabbirahmeddar7765]

Very much informative.

[@the_basic_painter]

love this channel

[@davidmeeks2405]

Growing up in Central Florida during the late 70's and early 80's was witness to the original Bigfoot which was built in Lakeland. Just watching that beast rolling down the street in downtown, WOW Had always wondered where and how those tires came to be.

[@randytaylor1258]

Fabulous story!!

[@Bruvva_Wu]

There's one on display outside of the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse.

[@barrysrcdump3557]

Now I know where the ideas for Thunderbirds vehicles came from. Or vice versa.

[@statementleaver8095]

Nahh Thunderbird 1 came from the SST 3 videos ago 😂😂

[@barrysrcdump3557]

😂🤝

[@pyrodoll2422]

Love the content and delivery as always but please get rid of the ultra irritating muzak/noise chiming away in the background. Cheers 😁

[@michaelborror4399]

Boats on a delta canal way works, can have alot of potential even though we still have oil today, and thinking of the future; I'd wonder that hopefully they'll be plenty of well designed neck and off-shoot crossings so as not to hinder wildlife migrations overly much unnecessarily; as there's still plenty to do around here and on the movie-like space station on the way to titan and dae-go-ba?

[@deadgamer21]

A track less train ( bus) is a masterpiece of engineering

[@leegreen140]

Overland trains: a missed opportunity except in Australia where they’re very common

[@Happymali10]

14:08 I sincerely hope that that photo is pre-restoration.

[@dougkrultz2149]

callum has several videos on the land train, including footage of a tour of the restored unit. have to search for it because KZbin dosent like links in comments

[@morkusmorkus6040]

Pretty sure a land train is just a normal train. Unless what I think are normal trains have been hovering in the sky this whole time and I just never noticed. But that seems unlikely.

[@hanisk2]

Well aren’t you intelligent..maybe you can use that brain to figure out why it’s called a land train and regular trains are just called trains… no? Trains need tracks genius..😂

[@davidioanhedges]

Road trains in Australia predate the LeTourneau land trains, and are still in heavy use ... LeTourneau land trains failed because they couldn't use most roads, bridges, or tunnels, and were much slower than any other means of transport ... they were only useful where there was no infrastructure, but impossible to use as soon as any infrastructure was in place Road Trains only work in Australia because they use roads with no bridges or tunnels, and the two ends are designed for them to use ...and what they transport is not worth quite enough to allow their replacement by railways, which would be much more efficient and cheaper to run

[@TheArchitect515]

It took me a while trying to figure out why they'd test this is Horton MI, until I realized he actually said Houghton, which makes a lot more sense.

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

I think airships are a better option to innovate. These are cool, but seem too inefficient and slow for mass use. The need to have powered cars is probably the biggest drawback.

[@kiwigaming09]

Airships could also have issues, depending on what gas your using to float and what conditions your in, the gas may access cool and become slightly more dense, as your also in the higher and much more frigid air

[@JeffDeWitt]

One thing left out and I was curious about was what happened to the company. It changed hands a couple of times and is now part of Komatsu.

[@winconfig]

Simon, the term Road Train is also uses in 'Musica, too. It's not uncommon to hear.

[@mattprior219]

I feel like this would be the main story for a Thunderbirds episode

[@nelsondisalvatore9812]

I feel we could do this now. With new electric motors and better electric generators and even battery systems we have now, it could totally work. Also laying tracks is fucking expensive but a compacted dirt road is no problem

[@nevermindmeijustinjectedaw9988]

wow! you called a company leader a hard worker? genuinely surprised!

[@teebosaurusyou2-un2nz]

Snow train: half the towed cars are fuel tanks to keep it running! 🤪🤪

[@Luddite1]

His road trains also inspired the wagon trains used in the Amtrak wars series of books

[@Micharus]

"The Amtrack Wars", can't remember who wrote it. It has what they call "Wagon Trains" in it.

[@mattf9096]

If modern technology could speed the process up and make them as efficient as individual tractor trailers this is something that should be revisited. If 20 mph is the best we can do than leaving it to history is probably a good idea lol

[@bobthegoat7090]

16:02 Who in the world made that conversion. This is not freedom units so it is so easy to convert tons to kg. 1 ton is 1000 kg. So 136,078 kg is 136 tons. Not 150 tons.

[@iainburgess8577]

No. The overland bit is purely military, and even then the cost/effect isn't worth it compared to airdrop or just building an access road. Both have had a Lot of development 60 years since this was attempted, and even then it wasn't competitive. In civilian life, we already do something like this in Australia, regularly, in our regional & inland areas. Literally standard semi trailer tractor engines w multiple trailers; the length varies w the amount of traffic & how hilly the terrain is. The huge, flat central Australia areas can have 4-5 full length trailers (possibly more) behind a singe tractor engine. Worldwide oversized items are transported by really slow versions. All on dirt roads or better. So the concept lives, this particular application was a gross over-reach.

[@fghh56]

Hahhah Simon your face looks crazy on the thumbnail lol

[@jameswhitehead6758]

The mispronunciation of Houghton made me smile. Ho-Ton -6 year resident

[@licencetoswill]

have you done road trains in australia yet ? some of them are 5 trailers long.

[@bimblinghill]

This is the most Thunderbirds thing I've ever seen

[@_NoDrinkTheBleach]

If you've never seen Bigfoot #5 in person, it's hard to put into scale how gigantic the overland train was.

[@wesleytuttle8320]

So that video is cool and all, but the most interesting thing you mentioned was the train in Canada that was driven down the road and used as a power plant. I would love to see that video. I tried to Google it and barely found anything. Hook us up 💪🏼

[@J3scribe]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIi8k3donMZreq8&ab_channel=TrainofThought

[@MusikCassette]

Answer: NO The missed Opportunity was building to many highways and not enough rail.

[@thumpyloudfoot864]

Australia has "road trains"....

[@randytaylor1258]

But they require finished roads.

[@thumpyloudfoot864]

@@randytaylor1258yeah, very different..

[@jsleeio]

@@randytaylor1258 they drive on unfinished (gravel) roads all the time

[@shaneeslick]

@@thumpyloudfoot864 Nope they go everywhere in Australia even on tracks that an average family car won't & 4x4s struggle to provide supplies to Homesteads that have no access to Railed Trains.

[@thumpyloudfoot864]

@@shaneeslick still very different...

[@lukeboyuk83]

~What about the Aussie roadtrains? they are huge

[@susanparr1006]

7:29 200ft is 61meters, not 40!

[@sundragon7703]

Considering the vehicle's speed was usually less than 20 mph, what's the point of a radar unit that weighed several hundred pounds? Did it double as a heater?

[@rayb558]

You guys should do an episode on the freedom city ship

[@kwhp1507]

I can’t wait until you get a SDI sponsorship. That’s going to be hilarious to hear a Brit talk about.

[@janhanchenmichelsen2627]

If this had been a practical, economic solution it would have been used more often - and not just for very special tasks. So not a missed opportunity.

[@Scars_House]

I disagree , I think they were only good for certain jobs so can’t make enough to stay profitable… thus we build more on a common platform and set of standards then adapt those accordingly…. Like how a w900 could be a hwy use only but make a few modifications and now your haling 120ton logs out of AK. Look at Pacific Trucks they built very specifically designed trucks of off hwy and logging use and only ever made 2k in 30 or so years before then went out of business I think there wasn’t any long term demand rather then economic or practical reason

[@Klint_Izwudd]

That chinese "trackless tram" looks suspiciously like an articulated bus.

[@wtfpwnz0red]

Overland train? You mean like a train?

[@MarcioHuser]

What really puzzles me is how those "trains" can make those turns. How are the turning coordinated and delayed to follow the leading track?

[@jrmckim]

I don't live too far from Longview. Wonder if they have some kind of museum 🤔

[@battleon81]

60 gallons a minute?!!? With a gallon of fuel getting burned up every second, I'm surprised the videos show so little exhaust.

[@calebbearup4282]

I could see this being useful on the moon or Mars

[@fishyerik]

30-60 gallons of fuel per minute, per unit, is not realistic. A Boeing 747 has fuel consumption in that ballpark, in total, not per engine. Even back then turbine engines could produce around 5 kWh per kg of fuel, meaning engines able to produce ~1200 hp would require about 240 kg of fuel per hour, which is about 75 US gallons in jet fuel, per hour, not minute, at full load. With four such motors, together requiring up to around 300 gallons fuel per hour at full load, and probably 30-60 gallons per engine, times four, per hour, means 120-240 gallons in total per hour, in normal operation can still be a severe issue in remote locations. Definitely enough to at least consider nuclear powered propulsion, at the time.

[@ryanb9873]

I was hoping you'd point out that this concept is actually still very much a thing and modernized. SpaceX uses things like this called "SPMT's" to move all manner of heavy equipment around, including entire boosters and rockets. They're very cool, computer controlled, and extremely accurate.

[@TJ-qz6hr]

Bob Chandler approves this message.

[@AfroMyrdal]

If you want a better more in depth video about LeTourneau "Calum" has made an excellent video about him and his creations.

[@iandaniel1748]

That design can only use planetary planetary exploration

[@eeyorehaferbock7870]

18:25: yet another reason why America probably shouldn’t have gotten involved in Vietnam the way it did.

[@acmelka]

You missed the land trains (steam) armoured used in the Boer war

[@jeepdude7359]

Didn’t they recycle the tires to make the first Bigfoot monster truck? At least some good came out of it.

[@amaccama3267]

Incinerating toilet? One shudders to think what happens when that goes wrong when you're using it. 😮😢

[@johnnyalaskan700]

30-60 gallons per min that's got to be wrong... 16:28

[@AmvC]

Thank god that humans are not idiots. At least some of them. Concept "Land train" is just as _intelligent_ as any percentage of private automobile traffic in towns and cities 😂

[@AmvC]

the sarcasm is of course the word _God_ 😂