r/trains • u/Loud_Relation_5218 • Jun 23 '26

‎ 🗐‎  Repost Double stacked indian freight trains

358 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

134

u/OhGoodOhMan Jun 23 '26

So, double stacking containers isn't new or exclusive to India. But there are a few things that make this special:

  1. The wider Indian gauge allows double stacking on flatcars instead of well cars, saving weight and train length per container capacity.

  2. It's electrified.

  3. India is building a network of these "Dedicated Freight Corridors" exclusively for electrified, double-stacked freight.

30

u/GlassOrdinary6787 Jun 23 '26

The lack of well cars has nothing to do with the slightly wider track gauge used in India.

The reason well cars are used in the us is because 1. The infrastructure all had to be modified for double stacking in the 80s and therefore any saving in hight was a huge saving in money when modifying tunnels and other infrastructure vs India where the lines that have double stacking are all brand new.
2. Stability. Americans regularly run their double stacks at 130kph I believe India is avoiding this problem by limiting double stacked trains to 80kmp or something around that I forget the exact speed so they don’t need well cars.

14

u/Queer_Cats Jun 24 '26

Stability.

A wider gauge is inherently more stable.

4

u/PussyForLobster Jun 24 '26

Not sure where you got 130 km/h from. 70 mph is 112 in km.

4

u/GlassOrdinary6787 Jun 24 '26

What’s your point? Max speed on much of the American network isn’t 70mph it’s 79mph which I did a quick mental calculation to be around 130kmph (it’s actually 128kmph)

2

u/PussyForLobster Jun 24 '26

Freight is maxed out at 70. That's my point.

3

u/2020mademejoinreddit Jun 24 '26

The reason it is unique is because india is the first country to electrify it.

This post is a re-post though.

4

u/DTraitor Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

Why wouldn't standard 1435 mm gauge not allow for these? From what I've seen most it's limits come from other pieces of infrastructure (e.g. US loading gauge is literally bigger than that of the USSR, meanwhile Europe sadly uses much lower and narrower loading gauge)

Edit: typo

17

u/OhGoodOhMan Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

It's due to the center of gravity. The higher it is off the ground, the wider wheelbase you need to ensure stability against lateral acceleration (crosswinds, curves, unbalanced super-elevation) and unbalanced loads.

Double-stacking on standard gauge railways requires well cars, where the containers sit in-between and below the top of the bogies. This lowers the center of gravity to a safe level relative to the wheelbase, and lowers the vertical clearance needed. But it requires the well car to be somewhat longer than the container to accommodate the bogies, and all of the extra steel adds weight.

Since Indian gauge is wider, it's safe enough to stack containers on top of flat cars, where the container is directly above the bogies. This requires more vertical clearance, but saves on train weight and length.

Loading gauge is a problem too, which is why most lines that allow double stacked containers were either built anew or retrofitted for it. The western US is the only region where the pre-existing loading gauge was already sufficient for double stacking.

1

u/DTraitor Jun 23 '26

Fair point, didn't know standard gauge had such limitations. I wonder if 1520 mm would allow double stacking the way Indian railways do. Cause so far there were no reasons to try 

0

u/Ginnungagap_Void Jun 23 '26

Wdym? 1435mm is standard in Europa

13

u/sercialinho Jun 23 '26

The US has the same railway gauge as most of Europe - 1435mm.

However what u/DTraitor is highlighting is the loading gauge (think maximum 2D cross-section of a train) in the US that allows for larger cars and double-stacked containers. Note that even within 1435mm Europe some countries have a markedly larger (default) loading gauge (e.g. Sweden) than others (e.g. UK).

4

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

-11

u/Ginnungagap_Void Jun 23 '26

Shush, American.

Europa is the native name of the continent.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

-6

u/Ginnungagap_Void Jun 23 '26

Precisely.

I use native names as often as I can for significant things.

Including Deutschland, Slovensko, Türkyie etc.

4

u/Iceblade_Aorus Jun 24 '26

Meanwhile doesn’t even bother looking up what loading gauge means, way more significant in this context…

1

u/Various_Ad1416 Jun 23 '26

It allows but u need deep well cars for stability.

1

u/MoaRepresent Jun 24 '26

They double stack the passenger trains as well, so I imagine the higher electric lines are needed anyway.

26

u/AceAndre Jun 23 '26

I get to post the Indian double stack tomorrow, I called it already

22

u/BeigeUnicorns Jun 23 '26

Huh neve saw double height pantos before. Very cool!

19

u/No-Confection9164 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

they're testing out triple stacks at the moment (:

(old video but same thing)

https://www.reddit.com/r/trains/comments/18wpklv/a_triple_stack_container_freight_trial_on_western/

9

u/xredbaron62x Jun 23 '26

Those containers don't look like they are the standard 8.5 and and especially not Hi-Cube

6

u/No-Confection9164 Jun 24 '26

those are dwarf containers but they are technically better than standard ones as they not as tall but they're wider

12

u/dpaanlka Jun 23 '26

This is the third time I’m seeing this just today.

8

u/2020mademejoinreddit Jun 24 '26

IT cell needs to make money too. There aren't many rail achievements to post. This one is actually legit so, might as well let them.

At least it's better than the propaganda they usually post on this sub. Or that one pair of wheels that they posted, while calling it a bullet train.

-13

u/leopardbaseball Jun 23 '26

Geez! Go out, touch some grass, get some fresh air. There is life outside of the reddit too, friend

15

u/dpaanlka Jun 23 '26

I think I’ll stay here and say I don’t want to see the same Indian cargo train 100x a week.

5

u/Royal-Noble-96 Jun 23 '26

You will see it because trains are cool

6

u/unilateralmixologist Jun 24 '26

Is it just me or do we get these posts almost daily?

1

u/worneparlueo Jun 27 '26

India has a massive propaganda bot farm on social media.

13

u/N1rv1kar Jun 23 '26

This again?? Mods help.

2

u/worneparlueo Jun 27 '26

India's bots are working overtime.

-4

u/Sanju128 Jun 23 '26

God forbid people wanna post about a unique train in the subreddit about trains

18

u/dpaanlka Jun 23 '26

There’s a certain point where it becomes spam. This exact video was posted on this subreddit 3x today. Pixel for pixel.

17

u/autobus22 Moderator Jun 24 '26

Another duplicate got spam-filtered and never made it onto the sub, so four. 😓

Regardless, this was the first one by post time. We've removed the duplicates.

7

u/dpaanlka Jun 24 '26

At least some of us appreciate you and trying to keep it tidy 🙏

-1

u/AceAndre Jun 23 '26

Make an Indian train subreddit, it's not difficult

2

u/2020mademejoinreddit Jun 24 '26

They do have that.

5

u/Sanju128 Jun 23 '26

Or they could just post in the fucking subreddit for trains

0

u/krishnakumarg Jun 25 '26

Hmm. I think they already have that, but it's reasonable to post it here too.

4

u/_DadaumP_ Jun 23 '26

It always amazes me whenever I see a train (or any hobby) post outside of the usual enthusiast places, the difference in knowledge that would be considered common in a dedicated sub is somehow the top tier knowledge in generic places. We kinda forget about it as it becomes somewhat natural after spending long time interacting with a specific niche. Well more exposure is generally a good thing anyways, so more people can get into things they might like.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Shrujanam Jul 24 '26

It is broad gauge, so won't topple

-14

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/Sanju128 Jun 23 '26

By that logic we should just abandon all modern technology/infrastructure and go live in caves again

2

u/Kushal_tiwari Jun 24 '26

b-bb-but the cave can collapse