Excited type of train, New York!
By Patrick J Lyons January 25, 2008 December 53 pm January 25, 2008 December 53 o'clock.
Smiling German railway posed for deep breathing Beijing-Hamburg Container Express train demonstration Thursday in Hamburg, the terminus of a road-6,200 miles across 6 countries Roland Magunia AFP Getty Images.
In these days of overwhelmed, frustrating transportation systems and dropout delays in his hat, he's heading to stun and beat the heart of the maiden voyage of a new direct intercontinental rail service between China and Germany, first train filled with cargo containers have at their destination in Hamburg ahead five days a trip that would have been something of a logistical triumph if she had taken the expected 20 days was completed in 15 Bloomberg News and other reported with some practice, officials of the railways say they may eventually be able to hit that up to 10.
It was not stunt your With more and more products in the world being manufactured in the Far East every year to do things the wealthy consumers of the nation who want's a question more and more in particular for products relatively inexpensive but bulky, such as furniture and toys, transportation can be an important part of the final sale price.
Until now, the usual route from Chinese factory to shelf the German store was by the sea, in large steel containers stacked on a huge ship spawning his way through three oceans for a month or more goods that are quite valuable and can get quite compact there by air 10 or 11 hours, but s prohibitively expensive for most things Trucking things is theoretically possible, but very difficult roads out there in the vastness of Central Asia are not exactly lined highways of Exxon stations and Cracker Barrels and Motel 6s every thirty miles, and even if they were, you still need a driver or two for each truck loaded with goods , which manages direct rail service labor costs promises to be both faster and cheaper than using either ships or trucks, and of course much cheaper than airplanes.
But hardly smooth, which is why it is we are trying serious Close The reader will notice that doesn first sentence of this post does say that a train went all the way from China to Germany by Mongolia, Russia, Belarus and Poland just that freight has.
For reasons Arcane half lost in the darkness of the industrial revolution, the Russian railways are built with their rails about 3 1 2 inches farther away than the standard gauge used in most of Europe, the United States and China dishes locomotives and cars that run on a gauge can t usually use one for a train can t make the trip.
Instead, the 49 containers of electronic products, shoes and clothing shipped from Beijing to be laboriously moved from a normal route to a Russian gauge train when they reached the border between China and Mongolia Mongolia uses Russian system, then new standard-gauge equipment when he crossed from Belarus to Poland, which mainly uses the European standard.
Setting the full itinerary rails a single gauge would be a huge undertaking, but it's happened before the German invasion troops converted the tracks in areas occupied during each World War to have the return of troops Soviet convert get them back a similar break Of- US gauge problem was solved in 36 hours in 1886 by aligning the entire rail network of south America with tens of thousands of track workers and have them all heave a rail three inches closer to each other and smash again.
There were other worries, too border crossing paperwork, incompatible signaling systems, even a rule in Germany which limits the maximum length of a freight train at about 2300 feet, 1000 feet shorter than in eastern country, which means that the burden should be divided into two shorter trains for the last leg of the trip.
Yet the hassle weren t as bad as expected, a sign that the new cooperative effort between les six countries and their National Railway can be quite hard to get routine, reasonably reliable service in place by next year as expected then all they will need is a catchier name for the train, like the Wabash Cannonball or receipt appointments Chattanooga Choo Choo.
1st Beijing Beijing The acronym internationally recognized standard three letters to Beijing Capital International Airport PEK 2A today my experience Mongolia-China border is 2004, the train goes to a shed where coaches are jacked and bogies replacement of the new class are directed as coaches, which are then lowered onto the new fixed wheel Neat no bolts or screws, coaches are simply slid down on a single tip thickness from the bogie wheel takes many hours; you, the passenger can choose to stay in your coach and spectate the window that you are stuck in the car throughout the process if you make that choice, or you can go down to the station and wait for the re-set of wheels to reappear.
Express Sino-Heino referring to the popular German singer Heino Or maybe the Ridiculous Sublime express reference to the disparity in the quality of both products of the countries Or maybe Super cheap a tribute to former great leader who ran the width of our continent.
I am struck by the cleanliness and clean lines of the note from the German locomotive is also electrified, as the most important lines in Europe no diesel fumes spewing idling Compare there this single piece of equipment with this you usually see here in the US and it is a freight locomotive If there would be a US land connection to China, the flow of goods is one way of their finished products to come here and our agricultural products go as it is now by boat But since it is Europe expect a steady stream of German cars, cars manufactured in Italian hands and other high quality products on the trains that go to China for all these new millionaires who won t hit settle for the Made in China label.
Well, since it carries goods from the East to the West, why not the West Express.
The lines are electrified in Europe because of a commitment of their government to railway infrastructure The return on the initial investment for electrification in the United States will take too long for private investment to consider shareholders are unhappy now, when the railways are making money is the most practical in the corridors of high density.
If it's any consolation, diesel locomotives that China buys their railways are two of the biggest manufacturers GE and Electro-Motive Diesel former subsidiary of the world's GM.
Travel by train in Europe even in wide gauge Asia fmr USSR Russia Trans-Siberian has always been much more effective and comfortable that people in the US could never imagine the problems may be different in nature The TGVs 21st century France, ICE Germany, like SUPERtrains Japan, Spain, Italy, etc., even the vast PANEURO InterCity rail network, put our poor late trains shame attempts Amtrak Euro are cheaper as well.
There are a few years, I travel by train from London, by the Hook of Holland ferry being rolled over now to cross the English Channel Chanel, Holland, and the two Germanys in Warsaw in Poland, I had my own compartment filled with trunks and luggage I moved with books, etc. Who didn t the opportunity to go by sea to my utter dismay of the car sleep I transferred to Hook of Holland and his staff were Soviet Russia, I am multilingual, including Russia, but was petrified, especially when Soviet drivers confiscated my passport, to facilitate border crossings at night after I went to Warsaw, the train continues in the Soviet Union, Moscow in connection with the Trans-Siberian to Vladivostok on the Pacific.
The positive is that overnight Russians serving fantastic chay Russian tea freshly brewed in original samovars, very, very cheap as long as one was paying in Western currencies, they desperately needed was tea stakanchiki served in Russian money - special holders that retain the true taste even better than bone china tea China the dining car for breakfast was open early in the morning with handles and removable glass inserts lass clear thin, slightly shorter than our highballs ,.
The trip was very good as such, but destroyed by the controls Staasi East German borders, four times at the entrance and exit of East Germany and the Soviet sector of Berlin, also the one of train stops while we were not aware of the border crossing between the UK and Holland, and Holland and Germany federal West German commies provided quite a traumatic experience in the middle of the night, they suddenly opened the doors locked from the outside without warning compartments, with a MASTER key, and without switching on the light, shine a strong light on the type of police interrogation in sleep woke face of travelers and passengers of eyes in bed, naked, shocked after our passports were not confiscated to wake up very, very scary and confusing, since one was barely réveill And could not see the faces of the German soldiers was shouting silly questions in German like a bad Nazi film the explanation was that they needed to see if the passport photo passenger door was like after this drama, the day the Polish control and also the Communist border was friendly and fast, just pro forma Throughout the trip.
24-30 hours from London to Warsaw, you could walk around, eat in the dining car, or order room service, which delivered cooked meals at reasonable prices in a tremor now and showers were some , one might have to wait I have not seen my passport again shortly before the Warsaw supposedly an insurance policy against if someone had the idea of landing in Germany or Holland Federal According to the Russian imposed rules the passenger was as free as the written ticket Surprisingly, this was all legal official, all these countries were sharing codes that airlines have to do so often over the years later.
While in Poland, I got to travel further east, also by train to Moscow and Kiyev take Transsiberian Asia from there crossing the Soviet border Polish day was almost as dramatic as in Soviet sector as the Communist Germany in the James Bond films, Soviet soldiers with loaded guns were running in noisy heavy boots in the corridors of pullman cars with passengers stranded in compartments for border crossing time and also on the roofs of cars and meander under the train cars cars to check if someone tried to get into the Soviet Union with documents as if someone would be that crazy, as the cars were lifted by crane systems of the Polish Euro gauge sub-parallel parked cars ONTO wider those of Soviet gauge, and locked in position NOBODY has é side allowed out on and the toilets were closed, can not be used until the train was again in a few hours, the Soviet side Once the Poles politely quickly comes through, greeted, etc. Does he Soviets entered all compartments, with Russian Soviet soldiers talking shouting, opening all folded beds for the day, rummagimg through bedding, check luggage, all kinds of intimidation Our passports were confiscated in Warsaw are revenue just before Kiyev or Moscow.
However, most passengers many Polish students with a great sense of humor were quite fun, joking, were very ironic with the Soviets while trying to help ala Saturday Night Live, but for real people have learned some food drink for a pot -luck impromptu party under lockdown, which is in full swing once again traveling at the Soviet side, and most of the compartments did the same thing with all socialize all on Soviet drivers seemed relieved as well, put on their formidable samovars with chay fresh tea samovars two per car, one at each end, and with a little sink chilled vodka wine in and out of cars to eat along the food, it was a big party on wheels, while watching the changing scenery outside the windows Soviet folding sleeping beds were incredibly comfortable in all Categories I tried incl berths.
While all and any private business activity is strictly prohibited in the USSR at all major stations, sellers are waiting on the platform with their baskets of food carts, with ethnic food cooked home ready to eat pelmeni, piroshki, blinis, vegetables and fruits them for most vendors who traveled with products of hot climate Crimea and the Caucasus southern Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, they would drive the carriage along the rail, with edible silver exchanged through the open windows.
My heart stroke MOROZHENOYE good ice cream, the best known KASHTANY brown, as in Kiyev perhaps vanilla or inside latte, with strong chocolate layers on the best years later Hagen Dazs created similar the United States, on the stick During my childhood, my grandmother used to tell us children stories of his many travels, also Russian train moves like a very young girl from St.Petersburg in the Urals, just before the Soviet revolution of 1917, it declared that Russian imperial railway trains were on time unlike the Soviets, and had fond memories of food vendors from the train station, selling the same hot food, even amid the rigors of the Russian winter, I had seen so many years later, and his favorite ice cream MOROZHENOYE in fact, all the children in the family knew that to get a Crem e fast ice and ready at all times, we had to ask grandmother, with the Russian name MOROZHENOYE Our ice cream was served generously, without question, as we said thank you in one of 5 languages family used.
Trans-Siberian species may be too nowadays, but perhaps judged on a short piece I took there also years from Moscow to Irkutsk Baikal, even with breaks for all -stans Uzbekistan j 'was glad when it was over.
How ironic that this train brings a little more than the Chinese junk in the euro area many Germans like tchotchkies as bad as our own loyal US Wal-Mart.
Some of the names proposed above are really great Unfortunately, the name of the train will not arrive at the death of Western civilization as it Express, or the Mongol invasion II.
I think Eurasian Switcher Cherman Express, or GENGHIS BAHN children learn at school about Genghis Khan exploits after all should be quite acceptable How could they be subjected to appropriate authorities to be.
It is not clear from the photo size are these particular containers Although there by rail-car transportation, transfer a gauge to another is never instantaneous containers must be unlocked transferred to a new lock rail trolley automatic operation would probably need as much maintenance money that controls manual locking of the eyeball along the train will always be the most reliable before the train rolls on the other gauge tracks thus takes time.
With the same size throughout the United States, it is a shame that we did not much rail transport What we have left debris anyway Bailout.
Beijing Beijing is widely used WORLDWIDE I never understood why it was changed to Beijing the United States may be due to difficulty pronouncing the P- for Americans.
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