[brazzy]

There was also a design with a layer of rubber between an inner steel wheel and a thin outer steel tire.

That was used by high speed trains in Germany - until one of the steel tires broke at 300 kilometers per hour and got stuck in a switch, causing the train to detail and hit the support column of an overpass, which collapsed on top of the train. 101 people dead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschede_train_disaster

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

I heard that in this story the managers took a ride on train at high speed and wanted it to be smoother/quieter and that these wheels with rubber would do that, but the engineers said it was a bad idea but were overruled - at least until the tragedy.

There was a documentary about it but I can't find the link.

[Sharlin]

Jesus Christ. Talk about a catastrophic failure. And crazy unlucky to happen just before an overpass.

[TedDoesntTalk]

Crazy story. Thanks for sharing.