[ajuc]

> This article made me think about how the presence of trains indicate peace. Trains are so vulnerable to attack. Their existence depends on everyone with access to the tracks to trust and agree with their purpose. I suspect if we're mourning these trains, we also mourn the loss of peace and stability in the region.

Trains can also indicate war :) They are crucial for logistics, and were especially so before WW2. My country uses European gauge rails despite starting with Russian gauge rails because during WW1 Germany occupied big parts of it and switched the gauge to incorporate it in their WW1 supply train.

BTW you could deduce if some country wanted to invade the other or defend itself by looking at the rails and roads they invest in - if the lines go along the border they are more likely to defend, if the lines go perpendicular to the border - they are more likely to attack.

[hwillis]

For the curious, Russian gauge is/was 5 ft (1,524 mm) and standard gauge is 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm). Soviets eventually redefined it to a round metric number (1,520 mm), but that's a very small difference. Track width varies by around a centimeter normally.

Russian and Soviet rail profile tend to be bigger (taller by maybe an inch) but that doesn't really impact the trains aside from transitioning from one to the other.

Interestingly, 3.5 in happens to be almost the ideal change. The bottom of a normal rail profile is a bit over 6 in wide, so the new spike hole is right between the two old holes. If the difference was any larger or smaller, the new spike wouldn't hold as well.

[agumonkey]

There was some massive article about Russian logistics in WW2. It was indeed a big factor in a war. Invading a country with incompatible rails was a problem.

[physicsguy]

I recently visited the National Railway Museum in York, and they had an exhibition about hospital trains in Northern France during WWI. The British government discussed plans for train carriages and trains with train companies before war had even been declared, with the first deliveries to the port of Southampton taking place within the first few weeks of war being declared.

[nine_k]

After the invention of heavy bomber aircraft by the end of WWI, railways became very vulnerable, and regular train traffic, to my mind, could only indicate peace time. It might be a preparation for a war, but not a war yet.