European Railroad Discussion > Chalk Another One Up for Value of Railroads in Time of War

Grain can't get hauled out by blocked ports in Ukraine, so is being hauled more by rail in Europe.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraines-ports-blocked-trains-europe-154330981.html

Victor B.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/22 09:58 by wabash2800.

The railways are stepping up on multiple ways. But sinking a few more of the invaders ships would also help matters. 

How are they handling the change of gauge between Ukraine and rest of Europe?

Mexrail

This morning, CBS had some video footage of Russian trucks hauling grain out of Ukraine and toward Russia. Cleaning out the elevators.

The Russians did that in the 1930s as well, leading to the great famine in Ukraine.

mexrail Wrote:
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> How are they handling the change of gauge between
> Ukraine and rest of Europe?
>
> Mexrail

The difference in gauges is definitely problematic.
In 1960, the USSR officially adopted a railroad gauge of 1520mm, a change from the earlier Russian Gauge of 1524mm or 5Ft.
Standard Gauge is 4Ft 8.5In or 1435mm. (In the US, the Gauge is allowed to vary from 1420mm to 1460mm for running at 60MPH. This is a tolerance of 40mm for trains operating at speed.)
Getting back to the problem of gauge, the difference between the Ukraine Gauge 1520mm and the Standard Gauge 1435mm used by its western neighbors is 85mm.
To solve the problem, they construct a transition track with a gauge of 1477mm. Cars of either gauge can be slowly rolled onto this track from either direction. As cars are rolled onto this track, they are first jacked up. Then the trucks or bogies are rolled away from under the cars back in the direction they came from. Next, bogies from the direction the car are going are then rolled under the cars. The cars are lowered onto the bogies. Finally the cars are slowly rolled off the transition track to continue their journey on a different gauge track..
The only alternative is to transfer loads from one gauge car to the other.
The same process works for passenger cars.
Hope this addresses your issue.
ALLEN

Thanks for the detail.  Now's the time for those gauge changing machines in Spain and of course flexible boggies on each car!

Mexrail