The sander / sand box is not always the answer. Once while working some tracks in Iowa. We were called to check out and Hand test some engine burns. They were so bad the rail was ground down into the filit (area unde r the the ball of the rail). The engineer called for another engine to come and give him a shove so he could get out of the deep impressions on the rail.

Trains don't climb super steep hills. Their maximum grade is 4%, whereas highways can go to 25%.

In switzerland jungfrau region, they use gear wheels with the centre 3rd track

Train Simulator taught me that if a grade is too sharp (~4°), you need to sand carefully (sometimes still impossible), or approach at high speed (can be very risky). Trains are freaking awesome, man.

Also the large coal trains going through Western US require helper engines. These are 2 seperate engines that hook to the back of the train and help it up the hills. Once they are up the hill they detach and then help the next train.

There are specialised mountain trains in Austria that have a massive gear that engages with a third rack rail on a particularly steep climbs.

Been playing Train Sim 4 and it has given me a lot of respect for all the challenges moving these beasts. It makes the overhead electric lines where every car is powered feel like cheating compared to delivering power from a locomotive and trying to keep traction

Train driving student from Sweden here. We can use sand in front of the wheels yes. But also a brake against “slipping”. A button is pressed and the brakes gently hold the wheels a bit to prevent them from sliding around but does not brake them to much that they stop. In worst case you need to use the “slipping brake” and the sand at the same time and not have too much forward drive. Usually this can make you go up any hill at least in Sweden. We have strict rules and regulations so there are not super steep hills here in the railway

Sand is also used in Emergency Braking, at least in Germany. When you apply the Emergency Breaks you can hear and feel the sandbox spraying sand.

Modern EMU's use active wheel slip protection systems with pickup speed sensors to avoid/minimise wheel sleep.... Of course the sand box is a must nowadays as well.

The sanders are not the only devices used to help gain traction. in the UK at least, most "modern" trains (built after 1970) have a system called WSP (Wheel Slip and slide Protection). It works with the brakes and the traction systems (electric motor controllers, the motors themselves etc). Stopping the wheels from slipping whilst going uphill under traction as shown, the system will cut power to the traction packages for a few moments, allowing the wheels to find grip before then applying the power again. The WSP also does a similar thing whilst a train is braking, it pulses the brakes (much like ABS does in a road vehicle) to prevent the wheels sliding as wheel slips and slides, due to the amount of friction from a multi-tonne train, it can cause damage to the wheels and change the molecular structure of the steel wheels and rails, effectively hardening both and making them more brittle, which in turn may lead to cracks, splits and in the case of the wheels, cavities which reeks havoc on the wheel bearings.

My respect to all the railroad men. My father was a crew railroad chief.

Another technique I’ve used is feather the independent brake ( the locomotive brake) up to 10-15 lbs of pressure to get some amperage and grip the wheel to stop it spinning. Climbed a hill about 6-12 mph for 5 miles doing this.

Some steam engines have sand-containers on top of their boiler, to keep the sand dry and warm.

They can also use bankers, which are locomotives assigned with the job of pushing behind trains to help them up the hill.

A maxium grade for a train is 7%. Trains in the Swis Alps can go up to 48%. They ultilize a tool called the cogwheel. On steep parts of the track, there is a third rail in the middle with teeth. The cog on the train is basically a gear ⚙️, gripping the track. This pushes the train up the hill allowing it to go up to 48% grade.

That's assuming, of course, that the sand is replenished during servicing. More likely than not, there is no sand. Modern AC traction motor locomotives don't rely on sand as much. The system is able to control power to each individual axle if one starts slipping. It's not foolproof, but it's better than nothing.

You learn something new every day, didn't know that!

So many bad videos in a row and i suddenly find this gem, thanks for saving my night

Banker locos are used Its a set of 2 3 locos coupled together and attached at the rear to help them push through the hills

This is the power of having someone obsessed with Thomas and Friends, because I already knew that from a episode I watched.

Let me tell you sand is very important for any loco climbing gradients ..sanding makes a big difference between climbing and stalling...

The sandbox has been around as long as there have been trains.

Man im in awe about those great machines. I cant believe those little steel wheels can stay on those little tracks. I have many electric trains and they always derail until i make sure the tracks are super smooth.

Water annoys but, as long it isn t the first rains, pretty harmless with minimal impact on traction/braking. Leaves are far worse

Distributed power units:

Trains also have engines on the back of them. That way the engine pulling doesn’t slip. Also the train on the back pushes the train up hill as well helping it out.

I HAVE wondered that! Thanks.

they have to send the sandman, either we have to sleep down the slippery slope...

The last conversation I had with my grandpa before he passed, he explained this to me. Gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Weight works against a train uphill. You just blew my mind!

In other countries.. some steep tracks have a rail in the middle of the sleepers that connect to a hydraulic aux motor in the carriages... it auto attaches and provides way more power to get up the incline... Like a ladder as your climbing up it.. Lot easier ❤

I happened to "catch a ride" on an M60A1 MBT while on maneuvers in the Army in the mid 70's. There was a small amount of snow on the ground (Ft Carson) and this tank was spinning its tracks going up a small off road hill. I couldn't believe it. I believe they weighed about 54 tons.

Your hard work really paid off!

Grand scheme of things (even though I'm not an experienced engineer): 1). Use of sand (obviously), or 2). Traction output modulation On the note of No. 2, there seems to be ways of going about this. Some of them were mentioned. Here's my total take: 1). Feathering the independent 2). Throttling between notches Apparently the newer locomotives have computer-controlled traction. I'm genuinely interested in how that works tbh (the logic, etc). Prior to the advent of 3rd gen and later locomotives, wheel slip control was controlled by the engineer or, on the Dash-2's, the WS-10 module. This comment is really sloppy but that's as much as I know about train traction control, and there's probably so much to learn/talk about. It's honestly a fascinating subject I find.

Just call up Big Boy 4014 for a push up the hill.

When the wheels spin but the engine goes backwards, the term is called, “Wheelslip.”

I never knew that. Something so simple yet technologically advanced.

i still can't believe how well trains work in general

Rain does not effect the wheel slip, the things which have the worst effect are Dew ( condensation on a cold damp morning ), oil, from leaves crushed on the rail top, rubber on the rail at level (road) crossings from vehicle tyres crossing the tracks.

real ones know DPUs are the most prevalent way to help a train up or down a mountain

This channel is very educational. Things I never knew have been exposed.

"Have you ever wondered how trains managed to clim super steep hills" Now this looks like a job for me

In the United States the grade of a slope never exceeds 2%

They use cog system in Europe

Your personality shines through in every video.

“your not trying gordon your not trying at all!”

Can people stop posting about trains and sand?! Ok we get it! It was common sense, sand on tracks=friction

I'm a train driver. Sand is only for poor grip, on a dry surface it's useless. When the train is too heavy for the slope, the locomotive is added to the rear of the train which "pushes" the train.

Sand has been used as long as there have been trains.

My dad and his friends used to grease the tracks of a particular trolley car in the gay bay and when it started spinning out, would run up to it and snatch the emergency wire. That would disable it. The car would roll backwards down the hill and 1/2 way up the other hill before it came back down. There was nothing the conductor could do but let it see saw back and forth until it came to rest at the bottom and re-attach the emergency wire. They never got caught. This was 1930? or so...

They don't climb super steep hills.

Sandblowers are the oldest trick in an engineer's book.

I got those mounted on my pickup truck. Works like a charm for those icy slippery mornings👍

I was literally driving a train for the first time yesterday, and i saw the tube that releases the sand for grip 😅

This is pure talent shining through.

On the steepest of climbs, trains are able to get to the top with ease by chanting "I think I can, I think I can".

THANKS FOR PUTTING THE INDIAN TRAIN

They don’t need a sandbox. They just need Edward to help Gordon up the hill

Steep for trains is relative, because the maximum grade before requiring a hoist system or gear rack is only a few percent. The sanders help a lot, but the first thing you need and need to keep is momentum. I have years of experience running real trains on very steep, often slick track. You want to be redlining your train at speed before beginning to climb steep track.

Finally, a short that I didn’t know the information and I actually found interesting

Never Drove A Train In My Life, Learned This From An Android Game.

I seen the craziest thing today, a lady using a joystick to operate a train without sitting on it.

Love how they showed the cog railway in Switzerland like the sand does anything for that line lol.

Never wondered but info made me that much smarter today. The goal is get a little smarter every day Thank you

I've played Train Simulator enough to know nearly anything about trains 😂😂

I'm just amazed that they can move at all, to pull that much tonage on metal to metal is truly amazing

"I cant do it, those noisy trucks pull me back"

As a former engineer for 'we'll run a train uphill if need be' railways .. i concur with everything said. I can confirm it all.

A non railway person trying to explain how we drivers drive a train is painful to watch. 😂

This really felt like one of those videos that wasn’t going to answer its own question, but it did. 👏

Driver: "S**t I forget to fill up the sand Box, were screwed"😂😂😂😂😂

Engineer Dave taught me this when I was little. i still think about his videos

Learnt something new today...

Using the same principle of adding traction, I used a rake to give my new driveway traction when the cement was drying. Works super well at preventing it from being slippery during the rainy season.

And millions of ants on train tracks can stop a train too.

As a soon to be tram driver i can say, we're not allowed to sand onto a spinning wheel because the sand starts flying and can literally sand down the machinery underneath the engine

For various reasons, my 12 hour shift last week only made it 25 miles. Our ultimate downfall, after waiting for 4 - 5 hours twice for the train ahead of us is the sander on the conductor side started dragging and kicking ballast. We didn't even hit anything. Dispatch told us not to use a knife to cut it off, apparently rubber tubes aren't plentiful. I was able to lift the sander and rig it up there for the last mile before we stopped... maybe it was 30 pounds. It was beyond zip ties. ;-)

On Tram driving I learned, while raining it actually isn't much worse than while dry. It's just really bad traction when it just starts to rain, because all of the dust gets wet and slimy. After a short whil the traction is good again. :D

If you put about 10lbs of engine brakes (independent brake) on when climbing like that it cleans off, and dries wet wheels and stop them from spinning like that.

Man trains doing burnouts seem cool

THAT's a cool tidbit of knowledge !

This is traction control but for trains. What a marvelous invention.

Drinking coffee every morning at the same time and place may summon sword missiles

Rumor has it, Corvette drivers love sardines

The worst is when they stop creating a traffic jam.And your late for work

As a Railroad Tycoon 2 player I know sand is important. Having sand tower at the station is a must.

The reason trains go for long rails is that they are making the climb gradual and keep their momentum as long as possible.

I learnt this from Thomas and friends back when I was a kid 😂

And THIS is why in games like railroad tycoon you build both water AND SAND towers.

Locomotive Engineer here. The adhesion point on a track and Locomotive wheel is only the diameter of a dime!.

When I was a Kid, Rice Hill in Oregon was a long grade for the trains. We used to go greese the tracks , and watch them sit there for HOURS,while they decreased the track. FUNNY AS HELL

I mean doing a burnout in a train is sick as hell

So that's how the little train could: Sandbox.

In Spain there's the famous "Rampa del Pajares" it's almost constantly a 2% uphill for 50 kilometres, the total elevation is about 1km and it's almost all curves. Last year they opened a series of tunnels for high speed trains there, 50km of straight line tunnels with the longest being 25km long.

Those "DRIVERS" are called Engineers!

The company I work for uses the big and fancy BNSF locomotives to load sets of 100+ rail cars. We have older, smaller locomotives for dumping and switching them. The other day we went out to seal the bottoms of a loaded set of 114 cars and discovered that the railroad employees had left the sand on. It was probably just bumped to the on position by accident. We tried calling them to run us through how to turn them off, but no answer, so we tried figuring it out (we’re located in the Red River Valley, one of the flattest parts of the world, so sand is almost never used) but failed. Oh well. They’ll discover the lack of sand the next time they need it. 😂

Sandbox doesn't provide traction. They provide necessary friction

Henry: You! You Can't Climb Hills!

.....thanks so much. i would have never known that going up hill in a train is harder than moving on flat land.