This Insane Plane/Train hybrid - The George Benny Rail Plane!

[@m.1546]

My house looks over the old site of the railway. Love how the local history has made it to found and explained.

[@foxgaming76yt24]

Ah damn

[@foxgaming76yt24]

@RITHIK KUMAR K D wdym

[@ashg1587]

You know, planes fly -- key word “FLY” I repeat “FfffffffffffffllLlllllLlllLyyyYyYyyYyyYy”

[@George-xz9qs]

I remember that as a kid we used to pass it on the road to Milngavie (pronounced - Mull Guy ) just a short length left. Should have been preserved for one of the Museums in Glasgow.

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

Honestly I like seeing a variety of Transport stuff getting coverage, as theres always going to be odd, funky, revolutionary, or bad designs of trains, planes, automobiles and ships through out the history of transportation (at least the modern mechanised transport starting as far back as steam powered vehicles)

[@pbasswil]

Could you even conceive of a 'track' that costs more to build per kilometer or mile?? This design is the wet dream of steel companies with excess production capacity.

[@thesledgehammerblog]

Some of the elevated and tunnel sections of the light rail systems around here can cost as much as US $100 million per mile to build. Doubt this would cost nearly that much to build.

[@pbasswil]

@@thesledgehammerblog My point was, at the time, it would've been hard to come up with a more complicated mechanism for moving a passenger vehicle around, nor one that required more material for its fixed infrastructure. I'm not saying that some modern track systems aren't expensive today. Like in the past, choosing a type of system for a specific transit need is partly practical, and partly political. The press isn't as good for prosaic, economical solutions, as it is for the latest gee-whiz engineering. :^/

[@thesledgehammerblog]

@@pbasswil Never underestimate the power of bureaucrats to make things unnecessarily expensive and complicated to keep themselves well employed at someone else's expense.

[@pbasswil]

@@thesledgehammerblog Sure, there are lots of personal interests influencing infrastructure choices, like you say. But also: we're _all_ kinda swayed by gadgets. If we see something new and inovative, we kind of _want_ it to work - even when it may turn out to be impractical, unproven tech, and a big money pit. Hyperloop, for instance, may turn out to be in that category, even though it's appealing.

[@dpsamu2000]

Passenger cars don't carry as much weight as freighters. The trestles don't have to be as robust as freight trestles. That reduces the cost. Might factor that into your thinking on your cost estimate.

[@riliryrimaddyvia9630]

Oh wow those animations and 3d models were great,good job nick,keep up the great work

[@FoundAndExplained]

Thanks as always!

[@johnfrancis4809]

I like it, especially across difficult desert terrain. And yes they could have added pipes for water. Well done Benny

[@slimetank394]

Bennie: struggle with funding for his dream project The government: hey, maybe we can he- Bennie: No

[@t65bx25]

Yeah, IDK why he’d do that. Even if he was really dead-set on having the airport line, I’m sure that the other line would prove the car’s viability and justify more (including the airport line) built later.

[@M33f3r]

@@t65bx25 that is probably what got him kicked out of the company

[@SuperPickle15]

@Eric Liu classic capitalists shortshightedness. Yeah, they could make a boatload of money now... But just think, they could've made a boatload of money leasing land, and they had to do none of the work.

[@christalbot210]

I'm curious how well this would have actually worked. One of the key reasons airplanes move so quickly is because the air is a medium with very little resistance. This is especially true the higher up you go as the air thins. This system would have had the resistance of the wheels to contend with. I can't help but think they'd get more speed out of it if they'd attach the electric motor to the wheels rather than to a propeller.

[@Edward256]

Imagine if the entire train was the electric motor... Or the track was the motor? Eh, all relative.

[@dpsamu2000]

The more apparatus you put at wheel level the more resistance you get. Protecting the motor inside the air stream fuselage reduces this. Still in theory you get speed, A demand of passenger transport of all kinds, and smoothness, also a plus, of air travel with the economy and convenience of rail. Station to station service rather than airport to airport service.

[@iancampbell6925]

It's a mystery why he used props instead of driving wheels.

[@a_Minion_of_Soros]

@@iancampbell6925 that's a lot of mechanical linkages. A radial engine has only one linkage. Less friction.

[@ramdom_player201]

This isn't the only train made with a propellor. The 'rail zeppelin' was another experimental propellor propelled railcar.

[@jocax188723]

Looks like a hot dog - all that’s missing is the Mustard.

[@martinsiahaan5901]

F&E > Mustard

[@randominternet8198]

The best crossover

[@engi.2]

mustard refrence

[@CausticLemons7]

Like the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile but on rails.

[@SGK10]

Do you mean a Mustard video on this?

[@rodrigonogueiramota4433]

"it´s a plane but on rails" CNN breaking news: Ryanair announced they will enter on the train transportation market and will transport 400 people per wagon

[@rudomhende5108]

No seats or windows to keep costs and comfort to a minimum

[@satvikkrishna145]

A thing that was before the Bullet Train, a revolution in railways.

[@alexhando8541]

A revolution that almost was, but never happened.

[@jayayerson8819]

Much smaller capacity, but nice proof of concept.

[@borntoclimb7116]

Like the Schienenzeppelin from germany

[@berubejj]

I can only imagine the sound the propeller would make at full speed.

[@peter2uat]

...and the noise of the wheels on the rail... Wuppertal in Germany is struggling with this old concept since it was built.

[@strawberriesandcum]

I know right, and they wanted to make that in Central London 💀

[@andrewreynolds912]

Still its quite as it was tho if it was both props it would of been quiet

[@BEN-eu6xq]

well, considering that the propellers are electricity powered instead of gasoline or similar, it wouldn' be much louder than your deskfan!;P

[@greendude96]

Can't imagine how much it would cost to maintain over a longer period 50+ years... like a regular bridge maintenance is time and cost consuming, but for a few hundred mile long structure... unimaginable :D

[@koiyujo1543]

I know right? but his goal was to make something fast for transport then again if he saw stuff like bullet trains today he be happy

[@captain_commenter8796]

George Bennie: I’m gonna put a rail plane line over the old rail lines! The rail companies: Gonna stop you right there

[@captain_commenter8796]

George Bennie: Alright guys hear me out…a train…but…it is suspended and is driven by a propeller! Public: George………you’re are genius

[@sparqqling]

Alright guys here me out...an electric car...but it's in an underground narrow tube!!

[@adninarrohman5846]

Alright guys hear me out.. a train.. but it run in a vacuum

[@riliryrimaddyvia9630]

Alright guys,hear me out,it's a box with wings

[@isakjohansson7134]

@@sparqqling Adam Something would like to have a word with you

[@mikedelphine1216]

@@sparqqling …Are you thinking about Elon Musk’s Boring Company ?! 🤔

[@crispyandspicy6813]

There was also a german rail vehicle similar to this, the Rail Zeppelin, or Schiennenzeppelin. It ran on the normal tracks and it was also streamlined, it had one propeller at the back. However development was discontinued due to the risk of the propeller striking passengers on a platform, the lack of traction on steep slopes and the fact it couldn't pull any aditional cars behind itself.

[@Bzhydack]

Russians in USSR also have something similar. Danger was real because prototype actually killed its inventor.

[@xQueenTx]

As someone from Scotland. I remember seeing the model of the rail plane in the Kelvingrove museum when I was younger and it always stuck in my head because of how odd it was but it took this channel to teach me more about my own countries history

[@carltrotter7622]

I know the exact model you're on about! I personally was far too fascinated by the Spitfire in that museum to pay too much attention to it, but wow!

[@vennonetes4805]

Okay, now that you're covering trains as well you're the ultimate transportation channel! Well done with finding new areas to explore in such a short time!

[@DJ_Pigg]

I know Scottish place names are often difficult to pronounce to people who don't live in Scotland so no judgement here but, in case you were wondering, Milngavie is prounounced Mill-guy and the other two are In-shin-an and Ren-frew-shire. Excellent video; I keep hoping to see my great-grandfather in the footage of the Railplane passengers because he was a (rather rich) resident of a town just north of Milngavie but he died in 1931 so would only have known Bennie in the early years of his project

[@liloliloll]

i had to keep replaying it to make sure i was hearing correctly, the most bonkers pronunciation of milngavie i've ever heard!

[@AnkitKumar-fo2iz]

Good thing that you tried something new..as evolving is a rule of nature ..you have to try new things to attract new audience.. just a request: I've always wanted to know more about space vehicles ,so if you'll make something related to space program then it'll be great .

[@FoundAndExplained]

I’ve got a few space videos on my channel!

[@AnkitKumar-fo2iz]

@@FoundAndExplained yeah like star raker.. but I'm hoping something like moon landing vehicles or the nazi space programs or the Soviet space programs .. you know something like that ,which has a historic end with it

[@Tordogor]

I love Philip Bono projects for reusable SSTO spaceships - Rhombus, Ithacus, Hyperion. He was decades ahead of everyone then and even now.

[@TheR7729]

@@FoundAndExplained a modern analogue kzbin.info/www/bejne/nl63k4OnqbSihLs

[@jbarnhart2653]

@@FoundAndExplained Just a thought...maybe the lack of financing had something to do with the Great Depression? Just a thought...I had the second you mentioned 1930...

[@Fhcghcg1]

Sooo… a train, with a less efficient propulsion system.. Is there a single benefit to this system?

[@greghumphreys3397]

Apart from the ones listed? And let's see. Ignoring friction, a steam train has an efficiency of ~10%. Electric motors have an efficiency of ~85%, (lead acid) batteries ~90% and propellers about 85% giving a total efficiency of about 65%. Even accounting for the worse technology of the time, it's still feesible that this system was more efficient.

[@Fhcghcg1]

@@greghumphreys3397 I guess I wasn’t being very clear, Having an electrically driven train is a very good idea, and it can be seen with all the electric trains today. (Although having overhead power lines or an onboard diesel generator sounds better than having electric batteries.) What I was focusing on was being propeller driven vs wheel driven. A driven wheel is going to be much more efficient than any propeller will ever be as it has a solid surface to push against as opposed to pushing against the air. The reason planes use propellers is because they don’t have a solid surface to push against. Planes are able to go so fast due to the lack of friction, friction that a train is going to experience whether it is wheel driven or propeller driven. It seems that either Bennie was trying to incorporate design features of the new and revolutionary plane while not understanding the underlying science or was hoping investors would buy into it from the mere fact that it looked futuristic.

[@SuperPickle15]

@@Fhcghcg1 i dont think efficiency was the goal with propeller trains. Speed was the most important goal. Bennie's design used 60bhp electric propellers to propel the craft 120mph (in theory). which would make it among the fastest railcar of its era. Germany experimented with a highspeed electric rail car that was traditional in design, that could do 130mph in 1903, but it required expensive 3 phase power, which wasn't feasible for decades. But by the end of the 30's, electric motors improved, and single phase motors were powerful enough, to be able to pull not just a railcar, but a whole train up to 130mph, such as the Italian ETR 200. Basically, Bennie's design was too ambition and too late. Though, the overhead railway should've been explored more, or even adapted today.

[@murph8411]

The thing about propeller driven aircraft is they need a fairly long runway to slow down so how well would this train been able to stop in an emergency?

[@jamieknight326]

I wonder if it’s to do with torque rather than power. Modern motors can provide high torque at low RPM due to the clever materials involved to manage the heat created. A propeller would be able to both spin at whatever speed was needed to get the best power from the motor without overheating, and it would be pushing cooling air over the motors as it turned. We have a similar thing in electric general aviation. Engines used in light aircraft and even the motors used in the Velis Electro electric trainer can only give maximum performance for a very short period of time. Without the drag caused by wings I could easily believe the air train could do 120mph on 60hp.

[@jeanbonnefoy1377]

Now time to do the same with Jacques Bertin and his Aérotrain... more or less the same story but set in France in the 60s and with a little bit more success - at least with the duration of the project, the number of prototypes and the length of the various test tracks.

[@dafiltafish]

I think the larger problem is capacity, same issue with hyperloop concepts, a train needs to have several hundred seats to make sense, not a couple dozen, and at least with the original concept, that just isn't possible.

[@victoriaevelyn3953]

Nah that's where you forget it's not built for common folk it's been thought of for the rich 1% what twaddle a commoner sitting inside this grandiose marvel of limited engineering dremt up by a mad man It really is the hyperloop and it even has alot of the same flaws and then some

[@ryanmcmillan8669]

Hey man scotsman here love your channel, i actually work in an industrial estate in inchinnan so this video was really awesome to see. PS its pronounced inchinnan(in-shin-an) and Renfrewshire (ren - froo - shire) most locals just call it renfrew but ❤

[@AndyHullMcPenguin]

.. also "Milngrave?!" Nobody ever gets that right. Spelled Milngavie, but strangely pronounced Mull-guy.. Don't ask.

[@ryanmcmillan8669]

@@AndyHullMcPenguin when i was younger i thought those where two different places to be fair 😅

[@stevemickler452]

Thanks for this video. I have had a pet idea for years about a flying train that would use railroad right of ways. One version would actually have short wings and props powered electrically from elevated power coils for wirelessly transmitted power. It would fly a few feet over this power supply cable most of the time but be able to land and take off from the train track..

[@jazzygeofferz]

This almost reminds me of the Schwebenbahn in Wuppertal, Germany

[@MarkusDieterle]

Yep, interesting comparison. I grew up there. Having the rails suspended over the river is still a big advantage today. Of course the track is relatively short at about 13 kilometres, but then it was mainly designed for local commuting. I don’t think Bennie was aware of this, even though the „Schwebebahn“ in Wuppertal has been in operation since 1887.

[@wgdavidson9669]

16:11 - don't apologize for not being able to pronounce "Inchinnan." Start small - like "patent" or "Hindenburg".

[@takenbythewindNdrivenbythesea]

This is totally ahead of time 👏👏👏👏👏 His dreams had finally came true

[@gumbi79]

as a native of edinburgh , ive never heard my citys name be murdered like this before . well done on that front

[@robbingham3246]

You gave the pronunciation a good go my dude, certainly brought a smile to my face 😂 I live close by to where this was built and it's pronounced Inch-in-an and Ren-frew-sher, but you were close

[@brianrigsby7900]

Wish it was saved and put in a museum

[@ironmantrains]

This looks like a precursor to Hyperloop, and given that this thing never properly got off the ground, then the same can be said for Hyperloop

[@UnitSe7en]

This is in no way similar to Hyperloop. Hyperloop is literally unworkable. It literally cannot work. This was very workable and only failed because 1. Rail companies denied access to the land he needed, and 2. He turned out to be a bad businessman. Think more before you speak.

[@victoriaevelyn3953]

I thought I was alone looking at the comments the idea of that train really isnt that smart it only takes a few seconds to come to that realisation like it's going to use the rear engine to break but what about in an emergency say the track collapses somehow it needs to stop before that break It just screams stupidity the electricity could have been used to power the wheels with speeds greater than a coal train and guess what wheels stop quicker than a prop can move air even if it is steel on steel the friction between them is more than that of air

[@bgallasch]

I'm very pleased to see and hear about this fascinating project. Benny should have had more success, but train monopolies stopped it. Very sad. Driven by electricity this type of airrail is successfully operated as "Wuppertaler Schwebebahn", starting 1901 to present. Unfortunately even this success has been realized only once, i.e. in Wuppertal. Thank you for the wunderful documentary material and the funny animation. Great channel.

[@Foersom_]

There are also suspended trains in Düsseldorf and in Dresden.

[@tonybuelsing]

Tom Scott would love this

[@jayayerson8819]

"Thank you again. So much for watching." XD

[@ijulesy]

Really interesting video! Never heard of this before despite being from Scotland ;)

[@TIGERZY2K]

George Benny patented vehicle rail plane was basically a flying hyperloop train of the mid 1920s era if put into the present context.Propellers attached to a bogie of streamlined design makes this unique train the grand pappy of the Japanese bullet train and the French TVG train.This impressive train deserved world wide recognition but alas it was shot down to keep the coal and gasoline based trains running.

[@BadWebDiver]

Definite Steampunk vibes. Love to see it in an alt-history movie or game.

[@supermaster2012]

The amount of drag caused by that stopped propeller, even when feathered...

[@usmale4915]

What a fantastic idea for a train. Too bad it was never built. I think it's a pretty cool "train" and I would love to take a ride on it! Thank you for the video.

[@avro3726]

That was one of the funniest pronunciations of Renfrewshire I have ever heard. Most definitely incorrect, sadly.

[@alcid34]

Now that they have made a plane train, they need to make an air bus.

[@richard--s]

Well, that did split in two or more directions, there is the suspended railway in Wuppertal, Germany, the "Wuppertaler Schwebebahn" and there are high speed trains - and both come in a variety of solutions and offsprings and who knows, which was derived from which idea and what came before the Wuppertal train and monorail systems of any kind and so on...

[@whitelionstudios1786]

The Wuppertal system opened in 1901

[@georgjrgensen8507]

Exactly this came to my mind. Some years ago I was in the vicinity of Wuppertal on a short vacation, and my wife and I decided to take a ride on the Schwebebahn. Of course not very fast and a bit bumpy, but enjoyable nevertheless.

[@monstrogoth]

It makes me think to the later french "aero train" that also used aviation technology to fly above a concrete monorail.

[@bartskinthepro3138]

Woah this looks epic!

[@jehoiakimelidoronila5450]

Here's my take: the bogies have built-in magnetos/alternators, charging up some of the ancillaries or the main motors on the move and do regenerative braking for extra juice. Same thing happens to the rear motor; it's essentially a wind turbine unless it is used as thrust reverser.

[@karlthemel2678]

It is like a slower version of the Hyperloop. It is difficult to join cars/modules/pods into trains due to the propeller propulsion.

[@randomscb-40charger78]

Perhaps there could've been a multiple car design had Bennie considered possible overcapacity of the line.

[@gabrielmalta1962]

Maybe some twenty years later it could be possible with jet engines. But we all know how it went last time someone wanted to make a jet-powered train

[@randomscb-40charger78]

@Ron White Except it offers rather low capacity, and who knows if the pods will ever come to fruition.

[@urbanspaceman7183]

It's about time for Elon Musk to invent this technology now.

[@arostwocents]

Who knows what exciting new inventions of the past he has in line to steal before this though? Such genius

[@jakobquick6875]

Electric car😂 Vacuum train 💩 he still headed 1-way to Mars😊 What a genius…he claims😂 “Most knowledgeable of Manufacturing ALIVE”…… Sells Cybertruck😂 razor blade doors…stainless* stains/rusts after bird shit/ or even washing…gas pedal cover slips off 😂

[@Pluna-di6vw]

6:14 damn The r34 Gtr was huge back then

[@garnix5612]

This channel gets a little bit like Mustard - just with more frequent videos

[@kirkc9643]

Mustard doesn't abuse the 'premiere' function by spamming our subscription lists everytime he releases a video tho

[@garnix5612]

@@kirkc9643 Thats a point - but I prefer more videos

[@johnsamu]

I did misread the title "The Benny HILL Rail plane". I was thinking WTF has Benny Hill to do with planes and rails?😉😁

[@Deep-Sarcasm]

I enjoy the format of your videos. Any technology will be interesting. Not just aircraft. That being said, very interested in airships, blimps, balloons, dirigibles, etc

[@steppenwolf_on_tour6650]

At his time there was already a monorail hanging train : The "Schwebebahn" in wuppertal/Germany. There he could study his dream

[@chocolatechip2602]

That thing could have been cool imagine a cargo version of that it would be fast as hecc

[@jantschierschky3461]

To me a suspension train above existing infrastructure makes a lot of sense to me.

[@rikshepherd9724]

Until you come to a tunnel, which happens quite a lot in Britain, where he was planning to build this.

[@jantschierschky3461]

@@rikshepherd9724 well you take existing infrastructure into account, for example in Bangkok, Jakarta etc have big stretches of toll roads, all flat, easy to build that type of rail system above it

[@rikshepherd9724]

@@jantschierschky3461 Now that does make sense; trying to do it in the UK was a bit odd given the terrain, and the way railways run through built up areas.

[@ianharvey3696]

Fantastic article and superb graphics, well done!

[@freeculture]

Suspended rail does exist and is used commercially today. There are some in Germany and Japan. Its main appeal is that it can be built on top of existing roads or rivers. Of course, there is no need to use propellers to move it, normal electric motors can just turn the wheels.

[@trollgoodman7808]

Brilliant brilliant video. Thank you 😊

[@Ulfric-yv3xk]

Imagine walking on those tracks and then suddenly just seeing a train/plane/submarine hybrid pummeling towards you rapidly

[@hermannabt8361]

You should do an episode on the vacuum train from 1799.

[@umi3017]

When you think been hit by normal train is bad enough

[@IAmTheAce5]

I always thought this channel was akin to "Tales of Future Past" like what David Szondy chronicled on his website

[@FoundAndExplained]

That’s a cool niche

[@matthewmurphy3140]

I loved that. I feel sorry for bennie he was before his time.

[@user-fr3hy9uh6y]

Good program. He was definitely not an engineer. Thinking that propellers make planes fast😊 He was right about the electric motor and steam had reached its limits. Good story!

[@Americanbadashh]

This seems like it still be viable in a lot of places and situations today and may be worth a revisit.

[@rajeshrai6293]

we can use tubrojet... it will increase speed

[@JayHeartwing]

I really wish someday, I could be like him... An innovator, even tho I never have any engineering skills. Sadly I'm not rich or having money to turn my designs into reality. People even not interested in some of my designs in my art galleries.

[@jm56585]

Wow your new graphics look so good!

[@BertGrink]

LOL at the pronounciation of Hindenburg.

[@riliryrimaddyvia9630]

If only he has agreed on that line , more lines might have been built and who knows, conventional trains might be even completely replaced in Britain by these faster and quieter trains ,if only that was so...

[@steyn1775]

I bet he probably regreted not doing it later on in life

[@carlosandleon]

quieter?

[@rexmann1984]

In 1920 it was a lot of steel to be using. Now not much. This is a design worth a second look..

[@ammo2222]

Lol. Quieter and Faster😅

[@carlosandleon]

@@rexmann1984 It isn't. I don't see how that's supposed to be more efficient than wheel driven trains

[@marcusluciani1620]

Great video and topic. A small piece of advice though: try to get the basic pronounciations right like Edinburgh and Hindenburg before having a crack at those tough Glasgow suburbs.

[@TimInertiatic]

And Dagenham :-) Some British place names are pronounced fairly oddly and we learn them by hearing them so if you aren't British probably best to find some examples :-) Bit like the US with Kansas and Arkansas !

[@lexpee]

Fantastic Fantastic documentary.

[@paige.grannyuk]

Bennie spelt with an 'ie' NOT 'y'. George Bennie was my great, great, great uncle and the correct spelling of our surname is important to us.

[@TheSimon253]

Finds steam inefficient, proceeds to create a "train" that is powered by a propeller...

[@ОйСматли-кусьнечик]

Would be nice if you could make a video about French Aerotrain (an air cushion train by J.Bertin).

[@Kaiserniv]

R34 airship **oh no**

oh yes

[@plebulus]

Guess someone's gotta do it... gimme a minute.

[@artificial_oysters]

We're not gonna talk about it...

[@UncleFeedle]

There's an alternate universe where this was successful.

[@FoundAndExplained]

Take me there now

[@zaphodthenth]

As a gadgeteer, as a kid and teen I made the usual toy cars from assorted parts, and I can say this about this idea. While it will work, it isn't the best way to get propulsion for a land vehicle. Wheels driven by a motor provide more power and torque than the same motor with a propeller on it. Propellers work great though on airboats meant for swamps because an in-water propeller would get snagged and stopped in a matter of minutes. And on hovercraft because THAT has no ground contact at all. This idea could be modified into a cable car system like the pre- existing cable cars, or electrically powered. Me personally I'd wonder about the noise levels put out by the propellers: The SMALL quadrotors make a racket and they are four propellers an inch across... just imagine how LOUD this train would have been.

[@Zackman217]

This video was great. You should make more never built railway videos in the future.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Okay, we've found the perfect train to go on the baloon-carried floating bridge over the english channel

[@brianbrewster6532]

Fascinating as it was sad. I think this George Benny inventor should've taken up that one offer and not complained that it wasn't what he initially wanted. Who knows how rich this could've made him.

[@fradefox6128]

That looks like a flying jelly bean

[@andylinton2798]

The Dead Sea isn't in Egypt - the Red Sea is. But fascinating story, well told!

[@michaellutes1057]

This is crazy! I had a weird dream one night of something kinda in this same theme that stretched the length of the United States. It was awesome.

[@justsomeguywashwd_jbm821]

Obviously there's a bunch of ways this could be improved with modern technology, but it just occurred to me that the main idea - directional momentum provided by airplane-like thrust, instead of powered wheels against tracks - could potentially overcome the problems that conventional trains have with climbing a slope with more than a very modest gradient. Yes, I know there are tooth & gear type tracks in a few places, but I seem to recall them having some drawbacks/limitations of their own (although I don't recall specifics). It's not just hills or mountains that could provide a potential market for something like this, either. I recently watched a video about the various issues related to creating a rail tunnel under a large body of water. 1 of the issues was that they'd have to massively extend the tunnel at each end to reduce the gradient, so that trains would be able to actually traverse the inclined section of the tunnel. If the vehicle's ability to move forward wasn't dependent on traction between steel wheels & steel tracks, and with a bit more thrust, I reckon it could be a viable solution.

[@IsMiseStiùbhart]

I thought the narrator's pronunciaiton of Renfrewshire was hillarious, but Milngavie? Oh My God, that was just downright funny!

[@SabotsLibres]

Just be thankful Bennie didn't set up in Kircudbright...

[@mikeks8181]

We need more Dreamers like him that can get past the coporate corruption. The USA has always wanted high speed trains for passengers. Our rail system sucks for this between frieght train service and the condition of the tracks. Already have the Right of Way! Why not just add another level up! Very informative! Thank You

[@tlshortyshorty5810]

A shame it wasn’t built, this sounds one of those ideas that sounded both futuristic and practical. Your showing of the comparison between Bennie’s railplane versus IRL current rail speeds is astounding.

[@Mark-kf9si]

Incredibly interesting 👍🏻

[@amenerstugard1894]

Fantastic, so interesting and informative. Thank you very much! :-)

[@hurricanefury439]

i want this to actually be a thing someone bring this back.

[@maxis2k]

The problem is, you could make this without the plane parts. And only one above track. It's called a suspended monorail. And it was invented in...1901. Before even this was invented. The one advantage this train had was the extra speed. And well, that wouldn't be an advantage today because of high speed rail. All that said, this should have gotten built in 1930. It would have been amazing for its time and lasted well into the 1960s at least. Probably even longer in the UK because of failed high speed rail.

[@gregonline6506]

At Wuppertal there is the Schwebebahn. A bit less outlandish, still working.

[@pierre-rose7783]

It looks good for the old TV children's show called "The Thunderbirds!"

[@davebar2017]

Yes now I can wait on the edge of the runway for my plane

[@muskreality]

If you think the rail plane was crazy wait till you hear the German submarine that sank a train

[@Sky_Guy]

All I can think about is how obnoxiously loud it would've been, especially since it was going to travel in residential zones.

[@jaydee6414]

"Inch-in-an, Ren-froo-shire". Simples. 😏

[@accckiy]

Wow! That was interesting. Wonder why he never ask USSR?

[@jehoiakimelidoronila5450]

If that design is viable in the alternate universe, it would be only running in city centers with the buildings themselves as support structures for overhead rails. And also running over existing railways for convenience.

[@snnneto5]

that was great! Thanks

[@kommandantgalileo]

7:45 trees are pink

[@patty1991]

In the past My grandpa give me a book with over 100 pictures of trains and ideas One of them was a Zeppelin with Propeller that flys in rings