Trains you would never want to ride
Summary
Top 20 trains you would never want to ride. Railways remain one of the most popular and yet the safest transportation means. They are no longer a luxury. The human genius was able to improve trains to unimaginable heights, introducing […]
Top 20 trains you would never want to ride. Railways remain one of the most popular and yet the safest transportation means. They are no longer a luxury. The human genius was able to improve trains to unimaginable heights, introducing most dangerous trains you won’t believe exist. Such highways allow you to enjoy the incredible scenery of our planet, excite, cause fear, and sometimes even kill. Here is our selection of Top 20 trains you would never want to ride.
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Darjeeling Railway
This outstanding work was included in UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage List in 1999. The railway was laid in the Himalayan town of Darjeeling, known not only for its tea but also for its colonial health resort. In just two years, from 1879 to 1881, a 78-kilometer-long line was put into operation.
Now the railway not only transports locals but also serves as a full-fledged tourist attraction of the region. There is a suffocating heat, in the coolness of Darjeeling, located at 2200 meters. However, this rising is not without risk to life: previously, ethnic disturbances, earthquakes, and landslides repeatedly stopped the highway.
Video: Trains you would never want to ride
The Georgetown Ring Rail
Against the line to Darjeeling, with its crowded trains and breathtaking views of the Himalayas, the Georgetown Loop may seem like a respectable but dull relative. It’s ten times shorter, with a height difference of only 183 meters, and the Rocky Mountains, with all their scenic beauty, are hard to compare with the power of the Himalayas. However, objectively this mountain “iron”, which once served mining towns, is an analog of an Indian brother, but in miniature.
It was discovered only three years later, but the builders faced many similar problems during its construction. Great slopes, the need to build tunnels and high bridges, one of which is called the Devil’s Gate, horseshoe-shaped bends – it was also an engineering marvel.
Pilatus Bahn
Switzerland is not only a country of dairy rivers, chocolate coasts, emerald meadows, and impregnable banks. Switzerland is also a country of railways climbing three kilometers high, sometimes right through the Alpine mountains’ thickness. One of the most spectacular lines of this kind was built near the city of Lucerne above the lake of the same name. The average slope of Pilatus Bahn is 35%, and the maximum is 48%.
From the outside, it seems impossible, but the bright red carriages of the road climb the steep slope of the Pilatus mountain, for which engineer Eduard Loher has proposed an innovative solution. To ensure height conquest, he proposed the number of rails and wheels had to be doubled, with the latter being turned horizontally to ensure reliability.
Minami Aso Takamori Railway
Nine stations, 17.7 kilometers long, metal bridges over rivers, tunnels, and hilly terrain. The Minami Aso Takamori line would not be worth much attention if it were not for one circumstance. In 1928 it was laid directly on the caldera of the active Aso Volcano.
Now this particular one is considered to be one of the most dangerous railway tracks in the world for a reason. Even in the twentieth century, this volcano took human lives with its regular eruptions, while the activity of the mountain was quite low. What can happen in the event of a major catastrophe is difficult to predict. Around 50 thousand people regularly live in a caldera. More recently, in April 2016, passengers of trains on Minami Aso Takamori could once again observe the excited volcano. The ejection height was 100 meters.
Flamsbana Railway
The 20-kilometer branch that crosses the West Norwegian Flamsbana Valley is probably the most famous mountain railway. Every year 600 thousand people use its services, going to Sognefjord. However, tourists are also interested in the delivery method.
Regular passenger traffic through the Flamsbana road was opened in 1941. The construction has been going on for almost two decades. The builders, who worked in the most difficult mountain conditions with the help of explosives, pickaxes, shovels, and their own hands, managed to build 20 tunnels, and ten stations, and arrange several braking systems, whose task is to safely stop the train on the line with a height difference of 863 meters.
Ferrobus
Railbus is a popular transportation option for low-speed railway lines. Usually, it represents a diesel train with one or more cars, but in Bolivia, the question was taken literally, putting real buses on the rails.
Such exotic vehicles, in particular, serve the line between the cities of Sucre and Potosí, the official and mining capitals of the country, respectively. They move extremely slowly, are usually crowded with locals and occasionally go off the rails, but are cheap. And the reward for the brave traveler will be the majestic landscapes of the Bolivian countryside and full immersion in the national culture of the population.
The Chennai – Rameswaram Railway
Rameswaram is one of the sacred centers of Hinduism with one small problem: the object is located on the island. To ensure convenient delivery to the holy city, the Indian government built an over a two-kilometer, one of the most dangerous bridges in the world. This structure is at a very short distance from the water, which sometimes makes it seem as if the train is going straight through the bay. However, that is not even what is dangerous.
The bridge is located in an area exposed to strong winds and frequent powerful cyclones. In December 1964, one such cyclone wiped out the town of Dhanushkodi near Rameswaram. It blew off the train Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi, and 150 people died in this unexpected disaster.
The White Pass and Yukon Railway
At the beginning of the twentieth century on this separate line on the Klondike drove gold rush seekers of fast money. Most of them were coming back on the same road full of disappointment. Decades later, this picturesque narrow-gauge was restored to tourists’ amusement and turned into a fascinating attraction.
Wooden bridges over rough rivers, centuries-old tunnels, and Alaska’s pristine wildlife are all at the service of cruise ship passengers arriving at the port city of Skagway, where White Pass and Yukon begins.
Nariz del Diablo
“Devil’s Nose” is the name given to the charismatic mountain in the Ecuadorian Andes. On its slope at the turn of XIX-XX centuries, it was started to lay the railway between the cities of Riobamba and Alausi. This difficult task was completed by 1908. A century later, mostly travelers admire the engineering accomplishment.
Because of the steepness of the “Devil’s Nose” slope, builders had to make zigzag roads to overcome it. Until 2007, tourists loved to watch the train climb the mountain, right from the roofs of carriages. However, after a low-hanging electric cable killed two people, and after a series of landslides that regularly destroyed the line, outdoor travel was strictly prohibited.
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Tren a las Nubes
In 1948 the Salta – Antofagasta railway was ceremonially put into operation, connecting Argentina with Chile, on the way over the Andes. Tourist train Tren a las Nubes, “Train in the clouds”, for eight hours, delivers its passengers from Salta to the pass Polvorilla, located at an altitude of 4220 meters above sea level.
Extreme natural conditions sometimes interrupt the enjoyment of expensive force majeure. In 2005, the “Train in the Clouds” got stuck at an altitude of 3.5 kilometers, and passengers were forced to be evacuated by helicopters. And in 2014, the train was entirely off the rails at 4000 meters.
Argo Gede train
The Argo-Gede railway runs from Jakarta to Bandung in Indonesia. It passes through a very high pylon bridge Cikurutug. It can cause shivers in the knees of even the bravest man, as the train overlooks a subtropical valley dozens of meters below. And the fact that the bridge is notorious for its repeated accidents makes the route one of the most dangerous roads in the world.
The Death Railway
Surely many people have heard or seen the cult war film “The Bridge over the River Kwai”. The railway crossing the bridge over the river, which was shown in the movie, still exists. The death railroad, as the locals call it, is located in Kanchanaburi province in Thailand, near the border with Myanmar.
It is here that hundreds of British and American prisoners of war died while building a bridge during World War II. So this one definitely can be one of places you should never visit.
The Kuranda-Scenic Railway
Located in Australia, this railway is both incredibly dangerous and fabulously beautiful. It dates back to the late 19th century and passes through magnificent rainforest, while part of the railway runs through the Barron Nature Reserve. The railroad tracks are located on giant piles that are set along a mountain gorge. Waterfalls falling from the mountains can be seen in the windows of carriages, and splashes of water very often hit the glass.
Arequipa – Puno Train
One of the trains you won’t believe exists is the one that passes at an altitude of 4781 meters above sea level, which creates difficulties. As this is an altitude, there are problems with oxygen, and passengers are therefore offered oxygen masks. There is always a doctor on the train who is available to help. It is very calming and inspiring.
Well, the highest altitude, 5100 m above sea level, is Qinghai-Tibet Railway, China. It connects the Chinese city of Xining, in Qinghai province with Lhasa, the center of Tibet.
Dawlish Warren Train
Another place where the actual train that exists can wash away the storm finds in England. A small stretch of land runs through the town of Dawlish Warren. According to BBC News, on the morning of 5 February, it became known that in Dawlish, located on the Channel, a huge sea wave destroyed the coastal fortifications and blurred the railway embankment. As a result of the disaster’s impact, the railway, which is one of the main communication routes in the region, for several tens of meters was unusable.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
Passes between Chama, New Mexico, and Antonito, Colorado. This railroad is more like a nightmare ride in an amusement park than a transport highway. There are wobbly old tracks above the abyss, a mountain canyon, and dangerous ledges in the rocks. The most dangerous sections are the Cumbres Pass and the Toltec descent. The road has been closed because there was a danger of forest fires from an ancient steam locomotive.
Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe Train
A unique railway track that runs directly over the ocean and is considered the most dangerous and exciting in Africa. The railway was built in 1928 and connected the cities of George and Knysna, and its length is 67 km, today this section of the track can be overcome in three hours. Today, the Caymans Bridge, which overhangs the Indian Ocean, is considered the most dangerous part of the road.
The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway
The Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway funicular train takes passengers from Lynmouth Village to Lynton Town on a hill. The railway was built in 1890. It is the highest and steepest waterway in the world. The composition is driven by water from the nearby river, flowing to Lynton Station by a pipe. There are several steep ascents and descents along the way, almost like on a roller coaster.
In April 2018, the cliff railway was closed due to safety checks following a landslip near the middle bridge. The accident, caused by a combination of freezing conditions, heavy rain, and high winds, deposited debris onto the track.
TGV POS Train
The French TGV POS is one of the fastest trains in the world. It’s the first in terms of speed among rail trains, but the second in absolute standings on the planet. Amazingly, when the speed record was set, the train accelerated to an impressive 574.8 km/h, with journalists and maintenance staff on board!
But even taking into account the world record, the speed of the train when driving on commercial routes does not exceed 320 km/h. Still it probably can compete for having one of the most dangerous railroad crossings in the world.
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Maeklong Railway
Maeklong Station is located in the center of Samut Songkhram city. According to the traditional scheme, this is where the ordinary Thai market was located next to the central station. But after the construction of the highway, the role of the railway began to diminish. At the same time, the market itself grew and took over all the space around it. The railroad was no exception.
At a certain time, the announcement of the approaching train is heard on speakerphone. That is when the market is starting to wrap up and in about 2 minutes, it turns into a railroad.
What do you think about these trains? Tell us about your fascinating or maybe dangerous travel experience.