Although calling Breitspurbahn just a train is the same as calling the Mona Lisa just a portrait, it seems correct, but does not reflect the essence in any way. This project was planned to be implemented in Germany before World War II. These huge high-speed trains were supposed to have a 3-meter spacing between the rails, along which trains the size of a house would move at a speed of 250 km / h.
The authorship of the project belongs to Hitler and designer Albert Speer. The map representing the plans of the Breitspurbahn network demonstrates truly imperial intentions. The ancients said that all roads lead to Rome. The Rome of the twentieth century was to be Berlin, where key transcontinental rail lines converged.
Breitspurbahn track network.
The idea of supertrains was supported by the companies Krauss-Maffei, Henschel, Borsig, BBC and Krupp. Initially, the distance between the rails was supposed to be even 4 meters, but then a three-meter one was adopted (the European one was “only” 1.435 m, and the Russian one was 1.524 m.)
As already mentioned, the speed was supposed to be 200-250 km / h, and for such large trains, appropriate locomotives were required. Many projects were developed for the Breitspurbahn idea. The largest locomotive, supposed to be over 120 m long, with 52 axles and 40,000 hp.
Comparison of locomotive projects for. Below is the American Big BoyBreitspurbahn.
The rails on which these trains were supposed to run differed from the then standards not only in size. The novelty was supposed to be in the way of laying: not on sleepers, but on supports installed in the ground, which should significantly reduce vibrations. This solution is beginning to be used in modern high-speed railways.
Promotional video:
Freight trains had to move at a much slower speed - about 100 km / h. In order to improve logistics, each of the freight platforms had to transport standardized containers. This can be considered a prototype of container transport, which came into operation after a certain amount of time.
The huge costs delayed the start of the project, and the lost war completely canceled out the possibility of implementation. But the idea of super trains turned out to be right - high-speed trains, the Japanese Shinkansen, launched in 1964, or the French TGV, which has been in operation since 1981, despite being much more modest in size, implement the concept behind Breitspurbahn's plans.