All language subtitles for Impossible Engineering s06e06 Rise of the Hyperloop.eng

In this episode,
the need for speed.

The unique challenges of making
the world's railroads

run faster than ever...

When you see tiny, little pods
moving at incredible speed

down these tubes,
you can really see

why this could be
the transport of the future.

And the ingenious solutions...

Without this fleet of trains,

the whole railway
would grind to a halt.

That make
the impossible possible.

It was to be among one of
the fastest trains in America.

There's no doubt that this train
captured the imagination.

Captions by vitac...
www.vitac.com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

since the invention
of railroads over 150 years ago,

engineers have been
pushing boundaries in the quest

to reach the world's
most remote locations.

Inspired by progress
and the desire for adventure,

trains are continuously
breaking records

and traveling further
and higher than ever before.

But for train engineers,
making engineers go faster

poses a unique set
of challenges.

The problem is, every
time you go twice as fast,

air resistance becomes about
four times more of a problem.

We needed to
make the network a safer place,

and at speeds that don't delay

other passengers
or freight trains.

Compared to
other forms of transportation,

trains are easier to access
and provide travelers

a way to avoid traffic jams.

But in the quest to go faster,

hitting high speeds
can mean compromising

something pretty crucial
if you're a passenger.

Few countries' histories
have been more strongly shaped

by its railroads than the U.S.

By the 1950s,
advancements in the aerospace

and automobile industries

captured
the nation's imagination.

Americans were now looking
to the future of engineering

and not the past.

Engineer Dan Dickrell
is in Missouri

to track down the train
that was designed for speed.

This is a 1947 Cadillac
and an amazing example

of American automobiles
of the time.

People were falling in love
with this car and cars like it.

Why would you want to be
packed into a crowded train

when you could be riding
in a magnificent vehicle

such as this?

By the 1950s,
the train was increasingly seen

as a slow and uncomfortable
way to get around,

leaving it in real danger
of being left behind.

The task of revolutionizing
train travel

fell to general motors'
legendary designer Chuck Jordan.

His solution... the aerotrain.

Named the train of the future,

its bold design
aimed to entice passengers

to get back on board,
making traveling by rail faster

and more comfortable
than ever before.

So, this is it.

It's the aerotrain.

It's an unbelievable train.

This train was the big bet.

This was the thing that was
gonna save the industry,

revitalize it,
and make trains cool again,

make you want to ride on it.

The aerotrain
was designed to tap into

the public's enthusiasm

for the futuristic styles
being used by car manufacturers.

Looking at the similarities

between the aerotrain
and the Cadillac,

it's obvious, the influence...
The nose, the streamlining.

It looks almost identical.

Taking inspiration
from the roads,

the train's passenger cars

were designed like vehicles
of the time.

But developers had more up
their sleeves

than producing a train with
just updated external features.

One of the solutions
was materials.

It was gonna be made
of aluminum,

which was revolutionary

because most trains
of the time were made of steel.

This made it very, very light.

At around half the
weight of a conventional train,

the aerotrain was
a speed machine,

able to reach nearly
100 miles per hour.

It looks fast...
That beautiful nose,

that sweeping windscreen.

The 1,200-horsepower engine
could get it up

to speed very quickly.

But in reality,
it was a huge failure.

Unfortunately, what
the aerotrain gained in style,

it lacked in functionality.

The engineering doesn't hold up.

This area right here, this...

This beautiful curve
actually acts like an air scoop.

Air is forced in with nowhere
to go, slowing the train down.

So it's an example of where
the designers wanted

some really, really
powerful visual statements.

The engineering says, "mnh-mnh."

This beautiful shape
actually makes this train

go a lot slower.

But aerodynamics

wasn't the aerotrain's
only issue.

The train's lightweight body led
to some unfortunate consequences

for the passengers on board.

There was a big problem...

The cars themselves
were so light

that the wheels had a hard time

staying on the rails
at top speed,

so the passengers inside
would be bounced around

like basketballs.

A problem intensified

by perhaps the most innovative
design feature,

hidden behind
the train's sleek bodywork.

So, instead of traditional
coiled mechanical Springs,

the aerotrain had a system
of pneumatic air bladders.

Actually, if you can look up
here, you can see them.

They're positioned around
the corners of the carriage.

Initially hailed
as revolutionary,

the train's air ride
suspension system would,

in theory, isolate passengers

from the effects of vibration
and body roll.

The train was intended
to literally float

on a cushion of air.

The pneumatic system
of the aerotrain

is set up with pneumatic
bladders underneath...

Air bladders...

Similar to these right here,

the idea being the bladders
and a control-box system

could adapt to the conditions
of the train...

The weight,
how many passengers were...

Giving a tunable ride.

The aerotrain's
suspension system

was another engineering
advancement with huge potential

that, unfortunately,
was left unrealized.

Got a board on top
of very similar bladders.

Now, this board, as we can see,
with a little bit of motion,

creates quite a...
Quite a vibrational ride.

The quality of the ride
is gonna be similar

to the water in this cup.

So, what I'm gonna do is,
I'm gonna apply

a little bit of force here,

and what we can see
is a little amount of force

creates a lot of displacement,
sloshing the water around,

meaning that the passengers
in this particular carriage

are being shaken
all over the place.

A very unpleasant ride.

A design fault which
could have been easily rectified

by making the train cars
heavier,

but at the expense of speed.

Now, what this does...
By adding the weights,

it effectively
stiffens the Springs

in the suspension system...
The air Springs...

By increasing
the internal pressure,

creating a tension
in the bladder.

With a stiffer suspension
and the added weight,

the same amount of force
applied creates less shaking,

less displacement.

The result is a more
comfortable ride

for the passengers
in the carriage.

Even though
it never went into production,

the aerotrain's place
in automotive history

has inspired train engineering
of the future.

Thanks to the development

of its innovative
air suspension system,

today, passengers are able
to travel in comfort

and faster than ever before.

Well, there's no doubt
that this train did do

what it was supposed to do,

but, actually, it did
something much harder...

It captured the imagination.

So much that,
even 60 years later,

the aerotrain still lives on
in miniature version,

appearing in theme parks
around the country.

People all over
still love this train.

It's a remarkable train
in terms of its appearance.

And even though, ultimately,
it wasn't successful,

I'm glad they tried.

But designing trains to run fast
is just one of the challenges

facing engineers
in the need for speed.

It's quite intense today because
we have some unexpected event.

Laying the tracks
for them is another.

He can move and hurt somebody,
so it's an operation

that you have
to carry out with concentration.

Across the world,

trains are reaching
great distances at high speeds.

Thanks to technological
advancements,

engineers are testing
the limits in the need

to make the planet's
railroads run faster

and more efficient
than ever before.

But in order to travel fast,

a train is only as a good
as its tracks.

Great Britain.

A nation
that relies heavily on speed

to keep its vast
rail network moving.

Completing nearly
4.7 million trips a day,

London's trains cover
over 21,500 miles of track.

But keeping
this huge infrastructure

in working condition

is an enormous-yet-vital
challenge.

Historically, rail lines
were inspected manually,

creating delays

and causing an astonishing
1.3 million man-hours a year.

When I started in 2001,

we needed to test track
more efficiently

and make the network
a safer place,

and at speeds that don't delay

other passengers
or freight trains.

But what could test the tens
of thousands of miles of tracks

without disrupting one of the
world's busiest rail networks?

The answer?

The new measurement train,

a 125-mile-per-hour
speed machine,

more commonly known to locals
as the "flying banana."

To anyone who may see
this train race past,

only its distinctive color
would suggest anything unusual,

but on board are some

of the most innovative systems
in the world.

The new measurement train
can test the infrastructure

all over the country
at light speed,

which means, basically,
we can put the train

inside other trains' paths.

That means we're not
delaying passengers

or passenger trains...

We're keeping up
with passenger trains.

Engineer Richard Wilkinson-Ford

is riding this specially
converted intercity 125

as it conducts tests
on a section of the track.

The new measurement train can do
'round about 1,000 mile a day.

So we're pretty well
a 22-hour-a-day operation.

Equipped like
a moving laboratory,

testing is made possible
by unique,

cutting-edge gear
designed to recognize faults

at a mind-blowing
125 miles per hour.

The four screens we have
on the right-hand side here

are our plain line
pattern recognition system.

We've got a very high-powered
white light

shining down on the track
and seven cameras.

We're taking individual photos
every .8 of a millimeter.

That's
an incredible 10,000 photos

taken every second.

We knit those photos together
into almost a film

to identify
where faults are on the track.

At super-high speeds,
the flying banana's cameras,

lasers,
and mechanical measurements

are able to recognize
three critical track defects...

Twist... when one rail
is raised or dropped,

causing the train to tilt...

A dip in the rail surface,

which causes wheels to bounce...

And inconsistent Gauge width,

which, left undetected,
could lead to a derailment.

If a fault is picked up,
the images are sent back to base

and analyzed
for repair at a later date.

Alright, guys.
Whereabouts are we?

But in the most serious cases,

a defect could be deemed as
one needing immediate attention.

You will have
a block-the-line fault,

which is quite a severe fault.

The system will give us
an alert.

We'll stop the train, get down,

and actually talk
to the signaler.

We're blocking the track,
so no other trains can run,

and we're basically telling
the guys to get out there

and get it repaired now
because it's a dangerous defect.

To avoid these
potentially devastating faults

going unseen,

maintenance engineer Roger gains

must ensure the flying
banana's innovative equipment

is in perfect condition.

If you look, you can see
there's a camera here

that points in this direction.

Then, you've got one that
points directly above it,

and then another one that points
on the other side of the rail.

And the same on the other side.

And then, you've got one camera
in the middle,

and the system joins all those
together to make one big,

long picture of the actual rail.

It also works together
with another system...

A laser system,
which is behind us.

And that takes
3-d images of the rail.

All those images are stored
on computers above us

on this train.

And it looks at all the faults
and can tell which ones

are proper faults
and how dangerous it could be.

As it speeds around the nation,
the game-changing flying banana

is transforming rail safety,

with track breakages reduced
from approximately 1,000 a year

to just 100.

Without this fleet of trains,

the whole railway would
probably grind to a halt.

This fleet is crucial to making
the railway

more efficient and safer.

There is no question
that track maintenance

is crucial to ensuring
safe rail travel,

but repair work
can only go so far

when it comes to keeping
the world's railroads

running smoothly.

France.

A nation with the second-largest
rail network in Europe.

15,000 trains speed through
the country,

carrying 5 million passengers
every day.

To keep up with the demand,
this heavily used network

is under construction to restore
nearly 2,000 miles of tracks.

But this critical job is one
that has to be done fast,

taking place at night
during a very small window

when traffic is at a minimum.

Engineer Karl Signer is
part of a team near Maurienne,

just south of Lyon,

preparing to put in another
intense track-renewal shift.

The team is expected to replace

almost a mile of track
in the next seven hours.

It's a difficult operation

that starts with preparation
of the line...

Cutting the existing steel track
for removal.

It would take a team of 500

to replace the entire track
by hand.

But with only hours left
until sunrise,

Karl and his team will have
to get the job done quickly,

and their solution...
A 220-ton mega machine

that can replace up
to a mile of track in one night.

In order for trains
to run efficiently,

they must be maintained.

Tonight, engineer Karl signer
and his team

are repairing a track
near Maurienne, France...

a crucial component

of the rail-maintenance
production system

that will allow passengers
to get to their destinations

safely and on time.

The P95 track renewal machine
is a 220-ton train

that can replace up
to a mile of track in one night.

This 235-foot-long powerhouse
is engineered to work

through the several stages
of the track-renewal process.

First, the stripping.

As the train moves,

the old rail is pushed aside.

Then, the old ties, or sleepers,

are scooped out
by a clawlike arm

and moved by a gantry crane
to the rear of the train.

The ballast is leveled out.

New concrete ties are collected

and moved to the front
of the train,

where a conveyor belt
delivers them into position.

Finally, the new rail
is moved into place.

As the train continues
to move on to a new section,

the team bolts
everything together.

As this mighty machine
moves along,

it prepares the line
for the new rail.

Tonight's work is
part of a bigger plan

to upgrade half of France's
entire network by 2024,

so working at full speed
is critical.

But with only half of the job
done,

there's a problem that even
the P95 can't overcome.

Without the power lines cut,

the cranes on top
of the P95 machine

can't move the new ties
into place.

This step is crucial to ensure
that the trains are running

and on time
for the first stop of the day.

In just a few hours,

the first trains of the day
will be approaching.

It's a tense night for the crew.

But, finally, the power is cut,

and the P95
makes up some serious ground.

Oh!

As tonight's window
of opportunity closes,

the P95 performs successfully,

an unsung hero
of the railroad network

reaching its seemingly
impossible target once again.

When it comes to reaching
high speeds,

engineers are striving
to push the boundaries

when looking to the future

and creating the world's
most extreme railroads.

Right now is a really cool time

because we have
multiple solutions

for a number
of our engineering problems,

and now it's piecing
all of those together.

When you see some of the footage
of these experimental tracks,

some of the tiny, little pods
moving at incredible speed

down these tubes,

you can really see
why their creators think

this could be
the transport of the future.

Since the beginning,
railroad engineers

have been driven by one thing...

The need for speed.

From streamlined designs

to sheer power...

The world's innovators have
tried everything in the quest

to make trains go faster.

The question is, what's next?

The need for speed
has pushed designers

to create some of
the fastest trains ever built,

but there are two obstacles
that stand in the way

of achieving this
ultimate ambition for speed...

Air resistance and friction.

The first problem
is the friction

between the train
and the track...

Those steel wheels rubbing
against the steel track,

heating up,
and causing energy to be lost.

The faster you go, the bigger
these problems become.

And air resistance
is even worse.

Every time you go twice as fast,

air resistance becomes about
four times more of a problem.

In order to tackle the joint
problems of friction

and air resistance
as we travel ever more quickly,

engineers are gonna have
to come up

with some ingenious solutions.

Deep in the Nevada desert,

one design company believes
their experimental project

may be the answer.

Their solution?

The Virgin Hyperloop One.

Using magnetically levitated
pods propelled up to 620 miles

per hour
through a low-pressure tube,

it's an entirely new breed
of super-fast vehicle.

When you see some of the footage
of these experimental tracks,

some of the tiny, little pods
moving at incredible speed

down these tubes,

you can really see
why their creators think

this could be
the transport of the future.

Making it all possible
is a team of engineers

based in Los Angeles

led by project engineering
manager Kristen hammer.

Hyperloop one is building
a new form of transportation.

We're going two to three times
as fast as high-speed rail.

And the ingenious system
dramatically reduces the forces

that slow
traditional transport down.

By using magnets
mounted to the pod

that repel against the metal
track to create lift,

the carriages ride
on a cushion of air.

It uses magnetic levitation,

or Maglev, to float slightly
above the steps of the track,

eliminating all of
that contact force.

We don't have friction
from wheels,

so it allows us
to go really fast...

Upwards of 1,000 kilometers
an hour.

There's no bumps in your ride.

There's no turbulence.

It's none of the discomfort
that you associate

with the uncomfortable parts
of other travel.

But without an engine that
drives wheels along a track,

an alternative method
of propulsion is required.

Incredibly, they're using
groundbreaking technology

pioneered by
professor Eric Laithwaite.

When switched on, this machine
will levitate itself

above this aluminium sheet
and also propel itself along.

Switch on.

This is a scale model of
a high-speed transport system.

We don't yet know how good
this system would be

if it were scaled up
to full size.

Physicist Andrew Steele
has traveled to a facility

located in England's Midlands,

where they're helping to make
Laithwaite's dreams a reality.

This is a linear
induction motor test track.

It's essentially
a scaled-down version

of what they're proposing
to put in the Hyperloop.

And it's effectively
a rolled-out version

of one of these...
A rotary induction motor,

the sort that you might find
in an electric car

or driving your washing machine
at home.

This motor is made up
of two main components...

The stator, which is this bit
'round the outside,

and the rotor...
This bit in the middle

that spins 'round.
Hence, the name.

The stator is made up of a load

of overlapping coils
of copper wire.

And when you pass a current
through those coils,

it induces a magnetic field,

which actually rotates around
inside the motor.

Now, that rotating
magnetic field

induces an electric current
again inside the rotor,

which is made up
of metal plates.

And that means that the rotor
is effectively constantly

being attracted and repelled.

That causes the motor
to spin around.

Now, if you want to create
a linear motor,

rather than rotating the rotor,

instead of accelerating it along
in a straight line,

what you need to do
is get this stator

and roll it out
into a straight line,

and that's exactly
what we've got over here.

You can see we've just got these
huge loads of copper coils,

loads and loads of copper wire
wrapped around

and around to generate
a magnetic field,

and then, here, we have,

effectively,
our model Hyperloop.

Now, this one doesn't Maglev.

It just goes along
on these wheels here.

And then, in the middle,
we've got a big aluminium plate,

and that's literally all it
is... a piece of metal.

And when those magnets
are turned on,

then they generate
the magnetic field in the metal,

and that magnetic field
is what fires that metal down

to the other end of the track.

So, let's give this thing a go.

Wow!

Did you see the speed
of that thing?

So you can just imagine, if you
had kilometers and kilometers

of these linear motors,
how fast you could go.

This is just such a simple,
elegant piece of technology...

No moving parts and such
incredible acceleration.

That was amazing.

Thanks to linear induction...

It's now possible to move
extremely fast

without any contact
with the track.

But developing new ways
to increase train speed

comes with its own unique set
of challenges.

Now engineers needed to develop
a solution

to overcome a natural force...
Wind resistance.

The answer is contained
within the Nevada test track

known as the Devloop.

The pod is propelled
through a tube

where most of the air
is removed,

so we're at enough of a vacuum

to give us
an aerodynamic advantage,

but not so much of a vacuum

that it's very difficult
or expensive to maintain.

By using simple vacuum pumps
to reduce the density of air

inside the Devloop,
the pod can move

in more favorable
atmospheric conditions,

similar to an aircraft.

What that does
is reduces the air resistance.

It reduces the amount of air
that individual carriages

have to push out of the way,

and that dramatically reduces
the amount of force

you need to accelerate it
and maintain those high speeds.

And the potential benefits

of this super-fast travel
are equally exciting.

A journey that would normally
take you hours

is taking you minutes,

and you really don't need
to plan your entire day

around your travel,
because the time taken to travel

is so much less than
what we're used to right now.

It's an enticing vision...

And one that is due to arrive
as early as the mid-2020s.

Thanks to Kristen and the rest
of her engineering team,

the future looks fast.

Right now is a really cool time

because we have
multiple solutions

for a number
of our engineering problems,

and now it's piecing
all of those together.

Where the first route goes

is not necessarily
100% certain yet,

but I plan to travel
to wherever it is

and get my ride in
with everyone else.

For some trains,
the need for speed

is only one part
of the equation.

The solution?

Build more extreme railroads.

Speed... the driving force

behind some of the world's
greatest railroads.

The need to make trains
run faster than ever before

poses engineers
with unique challenges...

Requiring the most
inventive solutions.

And there's one country
leading the race.

Spain.

Famed for its historic
and thriving cities,

iconic centers of commerce
all sharing one goal...

A need to be connected
to each other at high speed.

But standing in the way

is a seemingly impossible
geographical problem.

Spain is one of Europe's
most mountainous nations.

Engineer Jon Veitch
is very familiar

with the elevated landscape.

Spain has some really
interesting terrains.

Engineers love these problems
to solve.

So engineers were given
a challenge to, obviously,

deliver
a very high-speed network.

Some of these routes
went through mountainous areas.

That brought some challenges
in the train technology,

the infrastructure technology.

The only way to
conquer this terrain is to twist

and turn around the obstacles
that stand in the way.

But such frequent and tight
cornering is the enemy of speed.

So, Spain, with its
geographically spread areas,

cities, regions, and the real
drive to really drive economy,

bring people closer together,
needed a solution.

Madrid to Seville has
historically been a key route.

But with the Sierra Morena
mountains in its path,

a dated single-track rail system

restricted train speeds
to around 60 miles per hour.

In the 1990s, a new twin track
was built to accommodate

this need for speed,

but it still had to compensate

for a similarly twisty
mountainous route.

The solution... the Talgo 350.

This extraordinary-looking
locomotive

has helped to revolutionize
train travel across Spain...

overcoming
the demanding landscapes,

cutting travel times,
and connecting cities.

So, here I am

with one of the Talgo
very high-speed train sets.

Been operating since 1994,
8 megawatts,

operating up to
330 kilometers per hour.

It's an engineering marvel

that's packed
with high-speed innovations.

So, a Talgo train
has a very distinctive nose end,

sometimes referred to
as a duck face,

but, indeed,
it's all about the aerodynamics

and reducing noise
through structures,

tunnels to achieve those
very high-speed things.

The reducing noise is
a key element of a Talgo train.

The only way to really
understand the Talgo's speed

is by riding it.

It's so different to anything
else I've ever experienced

in over 30 years' experience
across the world.

We've now departed from Madrid,

and we're moving gently
towards operational speed,

which will be around
300 kilometers per hour.

To navigate along the route
through the mountains to Seville

while still maintaining
such speeds,

the Talgo has an ingenious
approach to tackling curves.

We have a lower center
of gravity,

so, obviously,
the coaches are suspended

in a very simple way
in a vertical situation.

And then, the weight actually
balances lower,

so it enables
the coach to swing.

This tilting system
acts like a pendulum,

which relies on a pair
of air-suspension cylinders

and two straight bars
that are mounted vertically

at one end of each carriage.

When the train enters a corner,

the lower center of gravity
lets the coach move outwards,

allowing for faster speeds.

As the lateral force from
cornering acts on the train,

one spring is compressed
while the other expands,

creating a pendulum-like
swinging motion

that allows the train
to tilt into the curve

and maintain higher speed.

The faster the train runs,
the more it will tilt

and the more the lateral forces
are compensating.

In addition to its innovative
tilting system

for tackling corners
at top speed,

the Talgo has another trick up
its sleeve.

Known for its unique design,

Talgo trains have revolutionized
our need for speed.

Whereas most trains contain
a fixed-axle system,

the Talgo uses a system
in which each wheel rotates

at different speeds.

This remarkable technology
allows the train

to go up to 25% faster around
curves than conventional cars.

Deputy manufacturing director
Jos� Palomo explains

how the Talgo's technology
functions in more detail.

By having
independent mono-axles,

the wheels can travel around
curves at the speeds they need,

not resisting against the track.

With Talgo's innovations,

the journey between
Madrid and Seville

is cut from 7 hours
to 2 hours and 20 minutes,

thanks to its incredible
technology, speed,

and attention to comfort.

Nearly 3 million people
are riding the Talgo per year.

The two founding members
of Talgo thought, actually,

"how can we go fast
around curves,

but actually maintaining
the safety, the integrity,

and, indeed,
the lightweightness?"

Which was always against
traditional railway technology,

which is heavier, more powerful
things to make things go faster

and more structurally safe.

But, no, they overcame
that challenge

and revolutionized
high-speed travel.

And that revolution
is set to continue.

By 2020, Spain plans
to have over 6,200 miles

of high-speed line,

making its network
the largest in Europe.

Having worked and lived
across the world

and traveled and worked
with many types of trains,

for me, these are
the epitome of success,

and I am thrilled
to be part of this.

Driven by the need for speed,

railroad engineers are pushing
boundaries like never before...

creating
thrilling train experiences...

And breaking records
across the globe

with incredible innovations.

Oh, I absolutely
love it. Live and breathe it.

This is just making
such a positive change.

And just this technology,
for me, is a real proud moment.

It amazes me

that we keep this fleet of
trains constantly out there,

making the railway
a safer place.

And engineers
are continuing to come up

with new ways to feed
their need for speed...

To build the world's
most extreme railroads.

Look at it.

It's such a special train.

Repair and Synchronization by
Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0