The Spy who fought a railway bridge... and Lost - Vanceboro Bridge Bombing

In today's video, we take a look at the utterly useless WW1 German spy who tried to destroy a bridge
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[@TrainFactGuy]

Eh, colonel. I’m trying to blow up a bridge, but I’m dummy cold. And the wind from this blizzard keeps putting out my cigar

[@berkshire4607]

Well, I'll give him this: at least he didn't want to *oof* people. But at that point, why bother not trying to when people might lose their lives when the bridge collapsed

[@davidhollenshead4892]

Given that he had Nero-Syphilis & wasn't trained in demolitions or as a spy, his failure could be understood. Putting the Diamante in his luggage on the train was a smart way to transport it as if there was an accident he still could have disrupted shipping for Britain and avoided prosecution at the same time...

[@sebastianthomsen2225]

🤣🤣🤣🥶🤪👍

[@Blu_Moon_VA]

"Okay imma fight a bridge!" "Damn, this bridge got hands..."

[@keldeostudies149]

At least he had a sense of honor. He wanted to just blow up the bridge not kill anyone

[@ShadowDragon8685]

I'm not even sure that's a sense of honor so much as... I don't even know what. He was a uniformed soldier in enemy territory, attempting to damage and disrupt the enemy war effort. Killing enemy soldiers, and indeed, enemy civilians who are aiding the war effort (railway workers) _is valid-salad in wartime._ I'd go so far as to say that's above merely 'honorable' and outright humane. Germany would most likely have appreciated it if he'd blown a troop train to hell. Either way, they probably should have at least had an explosives expert give him a briefing or two before sending him on his way.

[@marcogentile3392]

"professionals, have *standards!* "

[@beard3451]

Am I the only one who somehow finds that rather adorable?

[@ChristheXelent]

This story reminds me of Alfred Von Schlieefan's plan for surprise mobilisation on France. It failed because of under-estimating the railway and communication systems in place at the time. Shlieefan spent years calculating the number of wagons that would pass over each bridge per hour, only for resisting forces to halt the advance in its tracks (literally) and create the war of attrition bogged down in trenches on either side of No Man's Land. It just goes to prove, even the most thought out plans can fall apart the quickest.

[@Vespuchian]

'Did we get permission from Belgium to transit their territory?' 'They wouldn't dare stop us! And we'll send a preemptive "thank you" when the time comes anyway so it'll be nice and official.' 'Right then.'

[@Lenevor]

no plan? 🤨

[@Locomotiveman1994]

While this is correct, it's important to note that the "Schlieffenplan", as it was known, was thought up dacades before WWI, and never really updated. This means, that the plan was quite solid at the time of conception (some 30 odd years before) but terribly outdated by its executuion in 1914...

[@Devinthe]

Finally a story that I can CONFIRM happened here and not get BS’d on by others

[@theironrhino110]

It's amazing looking at Vanceboro on Google Earth today and seeing how little is left of the town compared to the photo of it back in the early 1900s. Funnily enough, the rail right of way still has the exact same gentle incline on the Canadian side indicating that the alignment hasn't changed, even if the bridge has.

[@eggbob1412]

Reading the title I thought he punched the bridge and fell on his ass.

[@SquishyZoran]

I laughed way too hard at this!

[@Serial__DesginationN]

God I hate this bridge!!!1!1!

[@PaulfromChicago]

I was curious why Winston Tunnel in northwestern Illinois had National Guard guards during World War I. This makes sense.

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

Given that it also required frequent maintenance, it makes a lot of sense.

[@thomasrengel5577]

Only rail tunnel in IL! Starucca Viaduct in Lanesboro PA was guarded 24-hrs through WW2. In fact the troops were sent there in December 1941 without supplies at first. Local residents set up a food kitchen and arranging billeting until after 3 weeks the needed equipment finally came. Because the local people did this on their own the Third Amendment's prohibition on quartering of troops wasn't triggered; local resident told me this there in 1985.

[@PaulfromChicago]

@@thomasrengel5577 Cool story. One small thing, the nation was at war so the third amendment would not have in effect.

[@Calilasseia]

Franz von Papen is worth a documentary in his own right. Read the chapter devoted to him in Airey Neave's book on the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, and enjoy *much* hilarity surrounding von Papen's career. Von Papen exhibited an embarrassing tendency to lose confidential documents relating to his spying activities on repeated occasions. Some of those documents, which included cheque stubs detailing the amount paid to agents and the reasons for the payments, fell straight into British hands. Though he wasn't the only comedy German spymaster in WWI. Another disaster for Germany was Captain von Rintelen, again mentioned by Neave in his book. Neave compared the two by describing von Papen as "foppish, superficial, complacent and careless", while von Rintelen was described as "slightly cracked". Both of these comedy characters are worth your time learning about in more detail, as they were, quite frankly, hilarious. They were clown acts amid a deadly serious war.

[@Lord_Foxy13]

Needed Germany Cause i had none I fought the bridge and the bridge won

[@SynchroScore]

The Germans tried something like this again in WWII, with Operation Pastorius. Eight saboteurs were landed by submarine on the East Coast of the US, with orders to target various facilities, including the Pennsylvania Railroad's Altoona Shops, Horseshoe Curve, Hell Gate Bridge, and the Newark, New Jersey station. The first group was discovered by a Coast Guardsman who pretended to take their bribe, but then led authorities back to that spot and captured all their equipment. Two of the eight decided to surrender, with one actually taking a train to Washington and walking right into FBI Headquarters to tell his story. All eight were arrested without causing any damage. They were tried and sentenced to death, but President Roosevelt commuted the sentences of the two who surrendered, and they were later deported to Germany. Franz von Papen';s operation had much more success attacking ships. A hidden machine shop in an interred German ocean liner in New York Harbor made small incendiary time bombs that caused fires and even sinkings of dozens of ships in the North Atlantic.

[@Hornbyhenry]

Maybe spying requires a bit more than a briefcase of dynamite and a “go get ‘em” attitude

[@Bandboxxer-v3n]

The way Horn holds a cigarette is a dead giveaway.

[@Locomotiveman1994]

As a rather morbid side note: Franz von Papen would later become Richchancelor of Germany and actively enable the mustache man to come to power...

[@Straswa]

lol Loved the Encounter theme at the end. Nice work ToT!

[@mcb187]

Problem is he didn’t confine the explosion, so it didn’t do much damage. What he should have done was place the bombs in the concrete abutment, ideally drilling the dynamite into the concrete just below the bridge. This would have required complete replacement of the bridge as the structure Al integrity would have been compromised. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like he had a drill… BTW I think this goes without saying, but don’t blow up any bridges. That type of behavior is frowned upon.

[@beard3451]

Am I the only one that finds it rather adorable that Horn (Spl?) really didn't want anyone to get hurt, to the point he waited twice for trains to pass over the bridge?

[@lukechristmas3951]

Comical is indeed the word! This story sounds incredibly ridiculous but it did indeed happen.

[@combatking0]

So, it's you again, railway bridge. My arch nemesis! Today I will stand victorious!

[@eldrago19]

"...after being deemed insane" That took them 6 years? It took me less than 6 minutes.

[@cr10001]

Steel lattice structures are remarkably hard to damage with bullets, bombs or explosives, as many saboteurs and attackers have found to their cost. Explosives need to be placed in contact with the steel members at critical points to have any effect. Otherwise the bullets or the blast just whistles through the gaps between members.

[@Hiro_Trevelyan]

Well, at least he tried to not kill anyone. It's respectable.

[@dieseld261]

the spy from team fortress two

[@berkshire4607]

No way, the Spy would've not only destroyed the bridge but also wouldn't rasing any suspicion and would've even gotten away with it. Not to mention, he wouldn't care if he killed people

[@edward002gaming]

Fun fact: the best spy in the world was so good no one knew him that guy is someone's father

[@WALTHERS14]

At first, I thought this was a poorly worded shitpost... Until I learned the name of the world's best spy... *Magnus Pym* (i.e. a reference the main character from the book 'A Perfect Spy' by John le Carré)

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

See, now this needed Yakety Sax playing as the background music, rather than the action music you picked for the end.

[@autobotoctolingthomasho3362]

THAT FRANZ IS A SPY!

[@AntoekneeDE]

Loved the MGS music at the end 😎

[@Tank50us]

"Snake? Snake! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!!!!"

[@gamerfan8445]

Sorry Hyce beat you to the punch

[@pokemontrainermichael5551]

GIVE IT THE BEANS, THE BEEEANS

[@bobross4449]

JA JA JA JA

[@Marc_von_Hoffrichter]

At least he didn't change into Leiderhausen. Also,........not related to me! Thanks mate, great story and vid. Cheers

[@Dave_Sisson]

Germany has 16 states, only one of them wears that ridiculous clothing, the other 15 states dress more sensibly.

[@jonahhex6593]

Here’s an idea: we’ve all scene the scene from The Polar Express where they steer the train across the frozen lake. Obviously that’s physically impossible but are there any cases of crews managing to re-rail trains on their own?

[@BrentSudric]

Similar to Toby Takes The Road?

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

Surprisingly, that isn’t actually impossible, just impractical (trains can cross lakes the same way trucks can, provided the weight is spread out enough). Anyway, yes, crews have used rerailing frogs and other tools to rerail cars and locomotives. Hyce/Mark even has a video discussing an incident on the Denver, South Park and Pacific (yes, the same South Park as the TV show) where a train went cruising across the frozen snow and almost hit a haystack! It was rerailed afterwards.

[@oinkoink870]

I used to be crew leader for Weck crew @a USSteel plant actually have seen some cars bounce themselves back on the rail properly, although extremely unusual.

[@BrentSudric]

@@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis I'd imagine the ice would crack anyway due to the sharp flanges on the wheels of the locomotives

[@Rumbletheimp2]

There are stories of engines who get their front bogie derailed somehow and then running over a nearby set of switches and instead of putting the engine in the dirt the bogie just gets rerailed. Very rare but happened atleast once or twice

[@1_railfan]

I guess his operation of sabotage didn’t go out with a “bang” as he expected it to be.

[@malifebliketokyo9653]

Time for a ww1 and 2 series on Train of Thought please!

[@Straswa]

Agreed.

[@kommandantgalileo]

Well, he has a good heart.

[@realcanadian67]

Why didnt you tell us the inspectors name?!? Inspector Carr Horn!

[@sonicscott9119]

Are these going to be more “Ghost Train of Thought” videos this year? Loved the series last year 😄

[@YukariAkiyamaTanks]

I mean he got his wish, he got to go back to Deutschland lol.

[@haydenhayden]

Strongest German spy versus weakest railway bridge.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

attacking the line was laughable, it’s in the middle of nowhere and limited access with Germany directly linked to any actions taken against it…and it’s not the only line crossing the border, there’s at least one other and it took the traffic for the day. and the worst part was they had the ability to just reroute to other lines even further north so it was doomed from the start!

[@pepsijuan666]

meet the spy!

[@DangerAngelous]

Every dude who played GTA:

[@johnyossarian1135]

'cause he's TNT, he's dynamite

[@solarflare623]

You forgot to mention that the detective from Vanceboro who confronted horn was named Karr Horn (yes really). Also this man is the real world Jessie and James. Change my mind.

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

Looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off again!

[@RedSkeletonGames]

this man likely traveled thru my hometown on his way north to maine💀

[@harrisonallen651]

What a mad man

[@berkshire4607]

This is hilarious

[@jahaniantrainadvanture05]

Very nice

[@somerandomdragon4655]

in a fictitious near-future or modern setting, could a modern diesel electric train and a few railcars with modified shipping containers act as mobile operations/nerve centers? would it be possible to modify the drivetrain of the locomotive to sap mains voltage away from it and invert it and run computers, networking equipment, and survival gear like fridges and bathrooms? i know it would be expensive and no railway would willing fully do it, this is more asking if its possible and not probable. like in a fiction setting/ end of society scenario?

[@leohale3464]

Absolutely, it wouldn't even be that hard. There was a town in Canada in the 90's IIRC that lost their electricity during a blizzard and commandeered a couple of locomotives to power the town.

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

This is absolutely feasible, in fact Russia had something similar in the 1980s.

[@SynchroScore]

Easily possible, that's the concept behind head-end power. If you can power the lights and air conditioning aboard a train, you can power computers and radios.

[@somerandomdragon4655]

@@SynchroScore if someone had set up a mobile staging area/ nerve center on a train, would it be safe to walk between computer stations, kitchens/mess areas and bathrooms while the train is at railway speed?

[@SynchroScore]

@@somerandomdragon4655 Of course. Perfectly safe to walk around on a passenger train, I've done it all the time. Just so long as you keep your balance, or keep a hand on something.

[@neves5083]

I seriously prefer being Austin Powers xD

[@jovanweismiller7114]

The Empire did not join the war shortly after Britain. They joined the war the moment King George declared war. In the Second World War, it was different. The Dominions had been granted full responsibility for their own affairs.

[@Jayhsia1215]

Is that spy x family loid reference?

[@justinebarker3706]

Is the bridge still there if anyone knows?

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

Not the same bridge, apparently, but a newer one in the same location for the same purpose.

[@brenlc1412]

How did the bridge survive? Well… NANOMACHINES, SON!

[@Tank50us]

Someone caught the MGS bit too I see XD

[@Colt45hatchback]

Huh, what was that noise?

[@Sleeper____1472]

Your map at 2:10 is a bit too modern, like a century too modern.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it’s the only modern map that shows the line, even though he doesn’t point out the line itself…

[@thisisaduck]

‘ang on a minute. Don’t click-bait me like thi…………

[@gratux]

0 views pog

[@MysticUser.]

at least 2 now 😆