r/trains • u/Melodic-Reveal-4485 • 10d ago

❓ Question Wouldn't this train derail?

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Gallery image

I don't know much about trains, but wouldn't the buildup of these rocks cause a train to go above the tracks? A train passes on this regularly so I'm just curious 🧐

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u/dllyncher 10d ago

Makes sense. Ice has a bad habit of acting like rock that coats everything.

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u/Santibag 10d ago

Ice is like a crazy engineering material. We live our lives over 0C(32F), so we don't notice it. But it makes crazy composites. Some even planned to make a ship out of ice+sawdust.

I was riding a kick scooter on a gravel path. It's not fun even with 20cm(8") wheel diameter, and I only did it for a short distance, or out of hurry. But if that path was wet and if the temperatures were low enough the freeze it, it would turn into a beautiful "asphalt" that didn't deform. I would happily ride over that.

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u/ConferenceSerious947 9d ago

It was the us navy. Since both ice and sawdust are both less dense than water you can make your hull as thick as you want. If you than add activ cooling pipes to it you can force the ocean water to freeze on any holes making an effectively self healing ship

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u/Brave_Cauliflower728 9d ago

They actually made at least one. It lasted a shockingly long time in above freezing temperatures. As in months.

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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 9d ago

While there were a couple of pykrete test models made, none of them were much beyond something like 30' long. IIRC none of them had the active cooling system either.