All language subtitles for Impossible.Engineering.S06E03.Monster.of.the.Andes.720p.WEBRip.x264-CAFFEiNE

Narrator: This time on

"impossible engineering:
Impossible railroads,"

The incredible challenges
facing mountain railways...

[ woman speaking english ]

Narrator: And the remarkable
engineering solutions...

Man: They told me,
"bruno, you're crazy.

That's impossible."

[ man speaking english ]

Narrator: ...That make
the impossible possible.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Narrator: As they make their
epic journeys

Across the continent,

Railroads continue
to push boundaries...

♪

Inspiring engineers
to find new ways

To tackle
all of nature's extremes.

♪

But there is one challenge
that raises the bar

Higher than any other...

♪

The mighty peaks
and sheer cliffs of mountains.

From their treacherous,
winding terrain...

Man: Semmering features grades
and curves

That has never conquered before
by a railroad.

Narrator: To impossible inclines
for trains...

Man: The steeper you make it,
the bigger the train you need in

Order to overcome this incline.

Narrator: And passengers to keep
safe and happy.

Man: The challenge here is,
because the natural wall

Is more or less vertical,
so we have to find a way.

Narrator: It was the challenge
of one epic climb

That faced swiss engineers
in the mid 1800s.

The swiss alps,

Part of the largest
mountain range in europe

And home
to some of its highest peaks.

But with their unrelentingly
steep terrain,

These mighty mountains

Are a railroad's
most formidable opponent.

Railroad technician
steffen reichel

Is traveling
on the rigi railway

To see how adaptations
to the track and the engine

Made it one of
the first railroads

To take on a seemingly
impossible mountain climb.

Man: Look at that sunshine.

Look at the rigi mountain.

I love it.

And now you can hear the engine
start working hard,

Because it's very steep on rigi,

And now listen to that noise.
[ engine chugging ]

The fireman is doing his work.

He needs to shovel
500 kilograms of coal

Into the boiler
up to rigi staffel.

Narrator: Today, this train is
one of the most popular

Tourist trains in switzerland,
but in the early 1800s,

The only way to reach
the dizzying heights

Of mount rigi
was on foot or by carriage.

In 1869, engineer and locomotive
builder niklaus riggenbach

Was commissioned
to connect vitznau

On the shores of lake lucerne

With the summit of mount rigi
5,898 feet above sea level.

♪

Narrator: Having seen trains
slipping and losing traction

On other railroads
with shallower gradients,

Riggenbach knew his solution

Would require
radical rethinking.

The railroad would have to climb
over 3,600 feet

In just over 3 miles.

♪

♪

Narrator: Riggenbach designed
a toothed rack rail

Between the running rails.

A cog wheel was added to
the center of the wheel axle

To mesh with this rack rail
and give the train traction.

♪

♪

Narrator: In 1871,
the rigi railway

Was the first rack-and-pinion
railroad in europe

To conquer a mountain.

Reichel: It's like riggenbach
built a stairway to heaven.

Narrator: Taking nearly
two years to complete,

Riggenbach had finally brought
this mountain to the masses...

♪

And today,
as many as 500,000 people a year

Make the journey to the summit.

Reichel: Up here, this is one of
the best views

I ever have seen
in my whole life.

I have been to
many mountaintops,

But none of them had
that panorama as we do.

Now I know why riggenbach
conquered the mountain

With that tiny railroad,

But up here,
it's only half of the problem.

Narrator: Having managed to get
the tourists

To the top of the mountain,

The elevated incline
presented riggenbach

With a challenge
of equally tough proportions.

With a 25% gradient,

The rate of descent
was creating too much stress

On the boiler and band brakes
of his locomotive

As well as damaging the track.

Reichel: Usually, on an incline,

Most railways
encountered very problem,

Because the wear on the brakes
was so high

That the brakes could fail,

And so you rode down without
any brakes and could derail,

And many accidents happen.

Narrator:
For a train full of passengers,

This could've been catastrophic.

Riggenbach needed to find a way
to slow the train down.

Reichel: Rigi was too steep
for normal braking systems,

And so he decided to use
a different brake system,

A brake system
which could not fall apart.

Narrator: Riggenbach surmised
that if the engine was

Strong enough to push
the locomotive

And carriages up the mountain,

Then it should be strong enough
to slow it down on its descent.

Reichel: And now we go down
by riggenbach.

And this is what riggenbach
really invented

Is the brake system.

What we hear right now is air
is moving into the cylinders,

And it's pressed out by the
silencer next to the stack.

Did you hear it?

The chugging noise has changed.

It is now a noise
of compressed air.

Narrator:
When the engine is running,

The riggenbach air valve
is switched

So that exhaust will leave
by the blast pipe.

To apply the brake,
the throttle valve is closed

And the riggenbach air valve

Is switched
in the opposite direction,

Allowing the pistons
to pull clean air in.

This air becomes compressed
in the cylinder,

Acting like a cushion
and slowing the pistons down,

Which, in turn, slows the train.

Reichel: Personally,
I think this is

The best dynamic braking system

For a steam locomotive
you ever can have

Because it has no additional
structure or details

Which need to be special.

You can build a steam
locomotive of any type,

And it's an absolute reliable
brake system

Because it applies
the brake pressure by itself.

As fast as the train goes,
as harder the brake is acting.

Narrator:
The rigi railway became

The highest standard-gauge
railroad in europe.

Reichel: Being here at rigi is
something very, very special

Because it's the oldest
operating cog rail in europe.

It's an absolute
awesome ride upwards,

And then going down,
with the riggenbach brakes,

Smooth, soft.

That's the invention
we are all for here.

This is what makes the genius
of riggenbach.

Narrator: The riggenbach
railroad represents

Just one of the many
ingenious ways engineers

Have overcome seemingly
impossible gradients.

Given enough firepower,

Most ordinary trains
can climb a hill,

But cograils aren't the only way
engineers have gotten creative

To solve the incline problem.

After all, extra muscle
only goes so far.

Ecuador.

From the pacific ocean
to the mighty andes...

It's a country full of
larger-than-life landscapes

That seemed insurmountable
in the late 1800s.

♪

Man: The andes mountains in
ecuador ran north-south

For about 600 kilometers
with peaks over the 5,000 meters

And then actually getting down
to zero level.

It was very important to connect
the capital city,

Quito, and guayaquil,
the main port,

That were
geographically separated.

Narrator: Although only

166 miles apart
as the crow flies,

These two strategically
important cities

Were separated by
raging rivers...

Dense cloud forests,
and deep ravines.

The ambition was to build
a railroad across this terrain,

But as tren ecuador's
alex ortiz knows,

Achieving it would be
no small feat.

♪

Ortiz: Guayaquil, it's in
the lowlands at sea level,

And quito, it's over
2,800 meters above sea level

And then getting to
the central valley.

So the engineers had
this incredible task

To go from the coast
through the mountains

Through this steep valley.

It's very difficult to imagine
a train

Going through these mountains,
through these vertical walls.

♪

Narrator: For centuries,

The perilous journey
between the two

Had only been possible
by mule,

Taking up to 12 days
to complete.

At the end of the 19th century,
the country's leadership

Enlisted the help
of two american brothers,

John and archer harman, to start
work on the transandine railway,

But there was one section
that was seemingly impossible

To overcome...

♪

The devil's nose.

With its near, precipitous drops
and impenetrably hard rock face,

Building a track
that could circumvent

And descend this section

Would pose a nearly impossible
engineering challenge.

But as it turns out, the team
behind this project

Did not have to look
far for inspiration.

♪

♪

Narrator: When engineers needed
to overcome

The impossible challenge
of building a railroad

To scale the devil's nose
in the andes,

They were inspired
by the trailblazers

Of the region's past.

Ortiz: So the trails that --
they are all around over here,

The ancient trails in zigzag,
like a switchback,

Like the ones I have on my back.

They thought this could be
the great solution.

♪

Narrator: In 1908, after 10
arduous years of construction,

Using a workforce of thousands,

The first major rail network
of the republic of ecuador

Was completed,

Finally connecting quito
and guayaquil by rail.

♪

Ortiz: This is the devil's nose
historic railway,

A feat of engineering.

I've seen it many times,
and it still blows my mind.

It's incredible.

Narrator: Made possible only by
a feat of engineering

At this most imposing section
of the line,

This is one of the highest
active narrow-gauge railroads

In the world.

[ blowing horn ]

Tour guide santiago makes
this famous journey

On a regular basis.

Man: I never get bored of share
these views with the world.

It's pretty amazing.

The landscapes --
it's an amazing route.

Narrator: The ingenious solution
engineers turn to

Was a switchback,

A zigzagged section of track
with reversing points.

This enables the train to
traverse this extreme gradient

And gain 330 feet in altitude

As it travels between
two switchbacks.

What is important to mention
about this maneuver

That's pretty amazing,
is that the mechanism

That allows
to exchange the tracks

Are hand-pulled by
the vaquero --

The members of the crew.

Right now, the vaquero leave
the car, pull the switch,

Allowing us to go
through it in reverse.

[ honks ]

Again, when we reach the end
of the zigzag there,

We will stop
for a few seconds, the vaquero

Will leave the unit again,
pull the switch,

And from there
we go straight forward.

If you look closely
to the window,

You get lost in the view,
and you feel like

You're floating in the train
through the track.

Narrator: This inspired concept

Solved the most
troublesome section

Of the railroad,
and in doing so,

A journey that once took 12 days
was reduced to just 14 hours.

♪

Paredes: The establishment of
the track for ecuador

Was something very important.

The connection was better,
transportation with goods,

Cargo, passengers,

So it was a better dynamic
on the communication

Between the two main cities,
guayaquil and quito.

Narrator:
Despite flood damage in 1998

Which destroyed
much of the line,

The devil's nose section
never closed.

♪

Ortiz: The engineering behind
the devil's nose is outstanding.

To get through these mountains

Was thought
impossible for so long.

Despite the massive challenge
of building

The devil's nose section,

Today,
over a century of being built,

It's one of the most stable
areas of this line,

And that's the testament

How great was
the switchback solution.

I think this is probably

The most
incredible railway in the world.

♪

Narrator: Finding a route that
can reduce the gradient

Is one way
to tackle a mountain,

But some inclines are so extreme
their engineering

Is from the realms
of science fiction.

With steep-sided mountains
and arctic winters,

At nearly 4,300 feet,

The alpine village
of stoos in switzerland

It about as remote as it gets.

The existing public funicular
was aging

And failing to keep up with
the needs of the passengers.

Senior engineer bruno lifart
was all too aware

Of the increasing demands
it had to meet.

It had to go faster,
carry more people,

And be easily accessible.

Here, we stand on
the old stoosbahn.

This, in 1933, it was really

The steepest funicular
in europe,

But the track is going around
the mountain

This 120 degrees,

And we had to find out
a new track possibility

With a straight track.

So therefore, after 84 years
in use,

We had to replace it,
and we had to build it

In parallel
to the old funicular.

Narrator:
But to find a new route

Meant confronting
grueling mountainous terrain.

Lifart: They told me,
"bruno, you're crazy.

That's impossible."

But I was not happy
with this answer,

So I challenged them, say,
"hey, as long as you don't say

It's no go,
we will find a solution,"

And now you can see
the solution is built.

♪

Narrator: Stoosbahn,
the greatest incline

Ever conquered by rail,

Opened to the public
in December 2017.

Lifart: We have done something
nobody else has done before,

So it's really a new area,

And we created
a new type of funicular.

Narrator: Ascending a whopping
2,500 feet

From the base of the mountain

At a jaw-dropping angle
of 48 degrees,

This 21st-century funicular
is truly groundbreaking.

♪

With such a precipitous incline,

Keeping the passengers
upright on the journey

Was the first challenge.

The answer was
a cutting-edge carriage.

Man: One of the main goals
of the new stoosbahn

Was we make it
horizontal at both stations.

Narrator: Mechanical engineer
niklaus moser

Was part of the design team.

Moser: The demand for
easy access

For the passengers
is increasing,

And then we have some very steep
sections and flat sections,

Which, really,
it required a leveling system.

Narrator:
What the team came up with

Was a carriage
with a fixed chassis

And individual cylindrical cars
that rotate

To keep the passengers
and freight horizontal

During transit
at such a steep angle,

The first of its kind
in the world.

Moser: We now are below
the train,

Where we see best
how the leveling device

Is done during the ride.

And then you see these two
cylinders on the left-hand side

And the right-hand side?

They are connected to the lower
part of the round-shaped cabins,

And once they move this way
or that way,

That means that the cabins
are rotating around.

Narrator: Built-in inclinometers
sense the angle of the track,

Signaling the hydraulic
cylinder system to kick in

And compensate
for the incline

By rotating the carriages
accordingly,

Always keeping
the floor horizontal

And the passengers upright.

Moser: You don't really feel

That the train is changing
the gradient

As you stay on the floor.

You just glide up to the top
station, and you don't feel it.

Narrator: A routine test reveals
just how the mechanism works

To overcome
the 110% incline.

Moser:
So, now we are testing again,

And we go to a full inclination
of the train on the track

Would have respectively now
with our cabins.

I'm holding on strong here
that I don't fall over.

We're not yet there,
but we're getting there.

I hope my muscles are strong
enough to hold on

Till we get
to the very end.

Oh... Oh.

♪

That's the limit.

Narrator:
But for the railroad engineers

Of this pioneering project,

Traveling up wasn't
the only challenge.

Lifart:
One of the biggest challenge

Was to ensure the safety
for the workers.

Narrator: How to build up
required a unique solution.

♪

Narrator:
High-altitude railroads...

Testing the limits
of engineering...

To conquer nature's
most difficult terrain.

And one ambitious train
that faced a series of problems

Is the stoosbahn funicular.

♪

Today, project leader
bruno lifart is heading back

To the site of stoosbahn's most
demanding engineering ordeal,

Building the track.

Even now, the final stage
of this journey

Is not for the fainthearted.

Lifart: The challenge here is
because the natural wall

Is more or less vertical,
so we have to find a way.

And so, therefore, we created
this tunnel that's 48 degrees.

Narrator: Three tunnels would be
cut through solid mountain,

Starting with the highest,

Excavated using the simple
drill-and-blast method.

[ explosions ]

Narrator: But with
a near-vertical gradient,

The lower two tunnels would need
a completely new approach.

Lifart: So the steepest area
was right here,

And the next 200 meters down.

This tunnel here is 250 meters
long,

And 200 meters of this 250
are 110%.

Narrator: The team used
the raise-drill technique

With a specially designed
drilling device.

A very small pilot hole
is drilled

Using a directional
drilling tool.

Once it emerges, the drill
is then replaced with

A rotating metal cutting tool,

Which is drawn upwards,
creating a wider circular hole

Big enough for the explosives
to be inserted

And the tunnels to be
enlarged to their final size.

Lifart: That seems to be
the most efficient method,

To create tunnels
in such steepness.

During the enlargement,

All the rocks which came out
went down because it's so steep,

And the total amount was around
25,000 tons of material

Which we had to move.

Narrator: Having managed to use
it to their advantage

With waste disposal,

Gravity still posed
a significant risk

For the construction team
harnessed to the mountainside.

Lifart: One of the biggest
challenge was really here

To ensure the safety for the
workers because it's so steep.

When you lose, for example,
a tool

And somebody else stands
10 meters below,

This tool will have
such an energy

That is very, very dangerous.

I can say now, really,
to summarize,

We didn't have any really
strong accident,

And therefore,
we are very thankful.

Narrator:
At 5,700 feet long,

The new track includes
1,900 feet

Of some of the steepest
train tunnels in the world.

Moser: Suddenly, you're out
in the open again,

And then the next tunnel
is coming,

Getting same steepness,

And it's really rather
an amusement ride

Than a transport
from "a" to "b."

Narrator:
Two of these massive motors

Enable both carriages to achieve
maximum speed,

Whatever the gradient.

Moser: Actually, we are now
in the machine room.

That's why it's a bit noisy.

That's the bull wheel.

It's actually transferring
the movement

From the mount to the rope,

And the rope is connected
then to the car.

That's how the movement
from the drive here,

From the bull wheel
is transmitted to the car.

Imagine 36 kilometers an hour
at 50 degrees inclination.

That's a big speed.

It's the fastest in the world
on an inclination like 110%.

Narrator: Accomplishing all the
demands it set out to achieve,

The stoosbahn can carry
1,500 people every hour

On the steepest railroad
in the world.

Travel speed is about 2.5 times
as much

As the old funicular was.

The cars are bigger.

This means that we have
drastically

Increased
the transport capacity.

Narrator: Every day,
the brilliant engineers

Of this futuristic funicular

Keep the villagers
and their visitors connected.

All the time when I see
the train is passing here,

It's a great feeling.

It's, in a way, undescribable.

After 14 years hard work,

I'm so proud to see
how the train goes up,

And the baby's really born,
and it works.

♪

Narrator: But for other
railroads around the world,

A climb doesn't have to be steep

To be an enormous
engineering challenge.

Birmingham -- a city
in the midlands of britain...

And one that,
in the 18th century,

Was striving to be
at the heart of industry.

But without a railroad
connecting the city

To a major port,
it was yet to become a reality.

Civil engineer fraser godfrey
is at a site

On the outskirts of the city

That would see
engineering opinions divided.

Godfrey: Birmingham, by the late
16th century,

Was a center
of manufacturing.

So growing in its industry,

It was very keen
to connect to bristol

In order to facilitate
that transportation

Of goods,
possibly around the world.

Narrator: At that time,
the port town of liverpool

Had direct trade
with america and was thriving.

Bristol and birmingham
dreamed of a link

That would allow them to compete
with these big coastal cities

And boost their economy.

In the 18th century,

The only way to get
from birmingham

To bristol was by canal,
and that was a six-day journey.

So, really, railways became
an obvious choice

To use to distribute
their goods around the country.

Narrator: But there was one
major obstacle

For engineers to overcome.

Birmingham, as we can see quite
clearly here, is on a plateau,

And it is about 70 meters higher
than the surrounding area.

Narrator: Along the southwestern
edge of the plateau

Are two parallel ranges
of hills with a valley

In between,
known as the lickey hills.

Godfrey: Hills are a great
engineering challenge.

How do you overcome a hill?

Narrator: Engineers would need
to develop

A groundbreaking solution

To negotiate
this challenging landscape

And connect britain's
major hubs.

♪

Narrator: Determined to conquer

The lickey hill
region of britain,

Designers called up some of
the world's best engineers,

Including
isambard kingdom brunel,

To power through the region's
dramatic inclines.

Godfrey: His approach was to
take a different route

To enable a much shallower
gradient, about 1 in 300.

Narrator:
But brunel's proposed route

Would take the railroad
three miles further east,

Making it longer
and more costly to build.

Instead, beating him
to the contract,

Captain william moorsom came up
with a much bolder solution.

Godfrey: He decided on this
route straight up the side

Of the lickey hills,
which formed the lickey incline.

Narrator: A 2-mile stretch with
a gradient of 10 degrees,

Around 10 times steeper

Than heavy trains
of the time could negotiate...

♪

And the only way to overcome
the gradient

Would be to use
an additional engine

Designed to push each train
up the incline

By giving an extra
boost of power,

An ingenious system
known as banking --

And one
that they still use today.

♪

Engine driver richard higgins

Shows us how
to bank a freight train.

♪

♪

Narrator: There are two methods
of banking --

Buffering, which is simply
pushing the train,

Or coupling, attaching
the banking engine

To the train it is assisting.

[ clanking ]

[ beep, hissing ]

Narrator: Today's more powerful
locomotives

Are able to cope
with the incline,

But the principle of banking
is still needed for trains

Heavier than 1,300 tons,

Or those with
a low coupling strength.

Narrator: It's the maximum
horsepower of 3,300

That these mighty
banking engines provide

That make it possible to push
1,100-ton trains up the incline.

♪

♪

Narrator: And this is still
the main rail link

Between birmingham
and bristol,

Made possible by this steepest
sustained mainline railroad

Incline in great britain.

♪

Godfrey: So, as a piece of
civil engineering,

The lickey incline
is really quite basic.

It's a railway up
the side of a hill.

But as a piece of
mechanical engineering,

This challenge forced engineers
to develop more

And more powerful locomotives,

Which helps with the development
of locomotives,

Ultimately, across the world.

Narrator: But not all terrains

Can be conquered with
sheer horsepower.

♪

The alps, europe's highest
and widest mountain range.

Stretching over 745 miles
of forbidding peaks and valleys,

This impenetrable landscape
should put the brakes

On any plan to build a railroad.

But in the heart of austria's
alpine country...

[ conversing in german ]

...Operation manager
klaus benesch

Is taking to the tracks

To see how a seemingly
impossible line

Through the mountains
became a reality.

[ whistle blows ]

♪

[ man speaking english ]

Narrator: Today, trains like
this one carry tourists,

But in the golden age of steam,
they played a vital role

In trade across the mighty
austro-hungarian empire.

The steep peaks of austria's
semmering pass, though,

Made plotting a route
for the trains

To travel here
an engineer's worst nightmare.

♪

Narrator:
Austria's semmering pass,

A forbidding stretch
of the austrian alps

That long stood in the way
of a vital railroad

Connecting major trade hubs.

The dramatic terrain presented
a daunting challenge.

[ man speaking english ]

Narrator:
640 feet above sea level,

The steep gradients and tight
curves the line would need

To navigate left many convinced
it simply couldn't be done.

But one man thought otherwise.

In 1848, engineer
carl ritter von ghega

Decided he could defy the odds.

Narrator: His solution to
overcoming the perilous pass

Was the game-changing
semmering railway...

♪

The first mountain railroad
ever built.

Its 25 miles of looping tracks

Carve a path
through the landscape

With 15 tunnels and 15 viaducts.

Woman: The semmering railway is
the first railway line

In the world to become
unesco world heritage,

And so is very famous
all over the world.

♪

Narrator: Heritage rail expert
kerstin ogris

Has come to kalte rinne,

Where the monumental scale
of the task

Which faced ghega
is still clear to see today.

We see here
the kalte rinne viaduct,

One of
the most important viaducts

Of the semmering railway.

Narrator:
Standing 150 feet high

And curving 620 feet
across the valley,

Its rows of towering arches
are a testament

To the treacherous terrain
the line needed to cross.

Ogris: A big challenge was these
viaducts have narrow curves,

And this in combination
with the gradients,

It's very difficult to build it.

And they used such ordinary,
simple tools.

They'd take the stone chisel
and an ordinary hammer

And also this iron
to split the stones.

It was very amazing
when you think about

That these big viaducts
only made by hand.

Narrator: But deep ravines
weren't the only obstacle

Ghega had to overcome.

The route he chose meant trains
had to climb

A precipitous
1,500-foot height difference,

An impossible feat for existing
locomotives of the time.

[ train whistle toots ]

Narrator: Negotiating both
gradient and tight curves

Called for
a brand-new, custom-made train,

But ghega knew
that it would take

More than one
engineering visionary

To conquer this impossible
stretch of mountain range.

♪

Narrator: The semmering railway
was the first mountain railroad

To ever cut
across the austrian alps.

Engineer carl ritter von ghega
needed to devise a train

Capable of powering through
the track's steep inclines

And tight turns.

[ man speaking english ]

Narrator: Instead, it was one
of the contest judges,

Engineer wilhelm freiherr
von engerth,

Who solved the conundrum.

Narrator: Although built around
60 years

After engerth's engine,

This mh-class locomotive
shares the innovations

Which made it
so groundbreaking.

Narrator:
Unlike traditional trains

Where the tender
is a separate wagon,

Engerth's idea
was to build an engine

And a tender
on an articulated frame.

Narrator: The extra weight of
part of the engine

On the driving wheels
of the tender

Helped increase
the traction on the rails.

Engerth's innovation also
addressed the challenge of long,

Straight cars navigating
tightly curved tracks.

Narrator: In 1853,
engerth's locomotive

Successfully traversed
the entire 25-mile length

Of the semmering line,

Finally connecting vienna
with the sea

And completing
carl ritter von ghega's

Railroad through the alps.

Ogris:
Ghega was very intelligent

And a great visionary,

And, of course,
he had the courage to do this,

To realize this project.

So he was perhaps crazy.

Narrator: Since the invention
of the railroad,

Mountains have been
their major adversary...

Inspiring
remarkable creations...

Ogris: It was the highest
mountain they pass by railway,

So it was a big challenge
for an engineer

And also for a human.

Narrator: Elevating engineering
to new heights...

Man: This absolute genius,
these marvelous machines,

And engineering of the whole
mountain-rail system.

Narrator: ...To create
impossible railroads.

It's really a great experience
to see it running.

I think it's an amazing
engineering achievement.

Pretty special, yeah.

♪