Ever noticed sand in a tram? Spoiler: it’s not for sandcastles
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 เม.ย. 2024
- Shoutout to @JulianOShea for the video!
Subscribe: ab.co/2YFO4Go
Like: / abcscience
Follow: / abchealth
---------------------------------------------------------------
This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation TH-cam channel.
Please see the ABC Online Terms of Use for the reasons why we may remove content from this page, or ban people: about.abc.net.au/terms-of-use/ - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
so trams have pocket sand?
Was wondering when I’d find another gribblehead
Pocket sand was my senior quote lmao
@@the.dirt.man.you mean Shackleford, Rusty Shackleford.
Shaa shaaaaaahhhh gribble defence strategy omega activate!
Pocket sand shaa shaa
I think it's just funny that there's just a button that says sand
🔴
SAND
I would've assumed it's some kind of logic gate lol
Me too 😂
Thats actually an acronym. Pretty sure the car in the movie "the hangover" also had this button.
It stands for "send asian nakd dude", and it springs out the dude in the trunk.
RELEASE THE SAND
"Australian Hank Green doesn't exist"
I'm glad I'm not the only one! He started speaking and I was like he's doing a good job of the accent 😂
I was about to say he looks like the lost green brother.
I thought this was Hank short that's why I clicked
He's a Hank Green x Tom Scott amalgamation
Little bit of Tom Ska
Tram operators be like:
"I love sand. It's coarse, rough, and it gets everywhere"
This is the comment I was looking for.
@@TheFiddleFaddleHe can't go about his business.
The reason this is obviously the case is that sand helps when a tram doesn't have the friction to make it up a steep hill. So sand literally helps the tram to have the high ground.
Ok Anakin Skywalker🙄🤫🤣
corny
"ding-button" sounds like something an Australian grandfather would yell at a car that cut them off
In railway speak, the action of putting sand on the railways is literally known as "sanding". Very creative, I know XD
@@sachaguilhemjouan2082 Now THAT I didn't know. And it's superbly hilarious!
lol
my ADHD-ass brain is going to randomly and unpromptedly tell the wrong grandkid at 85 "trains had a sand button for sand" and get put in an old-folks home, so thanks for that.
I dont think that trains then wont have sand. I mean, I recently saw railroad ties from the thirties... Trains aren't gonna go out of fashion that fast, as we have all that infrastructure already.
My autism brain is going to do the same thing, let's wish each other luck
LMAOOO
they used to
@@kennichdendenn Hovertrains.
*Tram enters slippery conditions*
Driver- "SHUH SHAA POCKET SAND!!"
"You don't know who I aaam.... but I know where you liiiive~"
It works because sand is coarse, rough and gets everywhere
It’s also good for keeping Darth Vader away from public transportation
I was looking for this comment.
A few years ago the higher ups in Germany had the great idea that sand was damaging the rails and not realy needed for ice and snow, because of the great anti slipping tech trains have, so the new trains would not have sand.
Then wet leafs started falling on the rails. Snow and ice, yeah computer controlled braking and accelleration can deal with that. Wet leafs? What kind of unknown sorcery is that?
Not "wet" leaves, but "oily" leaves, when they get crushed by the wheels, they leave behind a greezy residue, that causes wheel slip
There was literally a Thomas episode about James getting stuck on a hill because of wet leaves
That explains why the trams I know don't have sand. Thanks for letting me be lazy and not research it
Why not a belt of rubber? Or better yet, auxiliary rubber wheels for slippery conditions only?
@@meta5291 the whole advantage of light/heavy rail is that it's metal on metal, significantly more efficient than rubber, and a metal connection is needed for the electrical power
I knew the sand in trams is for braking. Hurray for public transportation!
I thought it was for firefighting like for the Romans. They couldn't use water as it was precious (for trams is more an electric hazard but still...) so they had firefighting guards with bags of sand with which they'd suffocate the fires
@@kino_61 Could you provide a source for sand being used in firefighting in ancient Rome?
All the sources I find say only water was used and instruments to destroy surrounding buildings so the fire couldn't spread as easily.
Also water is helpful with many more types of fire than sand is.
Plus the Romans had advanced water technology. Knowledge about fire and materials catching fire and technology spreading large amounts of water over large burning areas were problems. Not providing water.
My sources were several Wikipedia articles about the history of firefighting, firefighting in ancient Rome, and several papers by universities appearing when I googled "firefighting in ancient Rome", "history of sand use in firefighting" "first use of sand in firefighting", "fire bucket".
I just can't find firefighters in ancient Rome using sand bags, sorry! Kind regards!
Not for braking but for slip prevention
@@TheBleetbleetWhich will happen if one brakes too hard on a wet surface! :)
@larsiparsii if you need sand to stop, you are in big trouble already, im a train conductor in real life. Sand is usually used on uphill climbs to prevent rolling backwards when the engine is struggling to pull. Regularly using it for braking would be hard on equipment and use sand for no reason. That said, in an extreme emergency, im sure my engineer would dump sand because why not. (However, it would likely be futile)
Nice to see Julian extend his expertise onto ABC from his TH-cam channel
We're stoked Julian's joined the team!
omg I didnt even see this was on ABCs channel until you pointed it out!
Same here! Glad to see someone who is genuinely passionate about our cities getting some proper recognition. Keep up the great work Julian!
Agreed! Seeing Julian here on ABC Science, was such a bloody good surprise 😊
I'm literally subscribing to this channel now, just for him :-p I've avoided subscribing to this before because there's just too many animal videos etc... But already the couple he's done over here are great, excited to see more, bloody smart move hiring him, very valuable to the team! 🌈 Australias own Hank Green/Tomska haha, love Julien feeding our curiosity 🌻
I was on a tram that ran out of sand so we all had to get off, and that was how I first learned of this!
did you get back on after the problem was overcome or did you have to push ....
The guy on the intercom:
*"We ran outta sand, feck off."*
Funnyly enough there is a different reason for sand in trains here in germany, although it still has to do with braking.
In autumn leaves drop everywhere and gunk up the rails, causing the braking efficiency to be almost absent. To counteract that sand is blasted from parts of the train to remove the leaves from the tracks as you brake.
PSA: When the wind blows between the buildings in Melbourne and dust picks up from the tram tracks (or an emergency service vehicle races down the tracks), don't keep staring at the road like a certain idiot writing this message did. You WILL get grit in your eyes!
Dont stare at roads in dry weather in general. I got reminded of it when going out in strong wind without glasses.
The wind really does make that sand move at unsafe velocities
@@user-zr9hu3tf1y Hahaha, indeed!
I’ve never been to Australia, but I’ve wondered about this for years since my local public transit has it too. My favorite place to sit has always been the seat with the box of sand under it. You can feel the sand moving around when the train rocks back and forth.
Thanks for answering a question I’ve had for years!
The issue arises where you have the trams running on dedicated tracks down "sleepers" like on Dandenong Road, or the route 96 and 109 light rail. The sand builds up.
i love simple solutions for complicated problems!
It explains all the dust you see when trams are in Bundoora very dusty between polaris and Uni hill.
IT'S JULIAN!!
ON OUR ABC!!
I'm glad to learn more about the nuances of Nick Mason's tram driving experience.
This much sand would turn me into a Jurassic Snark
Mr. Sandman, sand me a man. Make him the sandiest man that you can
Public transit my beloved ❤
I forgot I'd seen this on a tram years ago, and so now I have the answer to an old question I'd completely forgotten I'd ever wanted to ask! Thanks!!
It really does get everywhere.
My dad has kitty litter in his car for this same reason. We live in a rural area so when it snows, it's hard to drive due to the hills. Kitty litter also soaks up oil. He works in a kitchen and he emptied the fryer once and forgot to put the bucket under.... Oil went everywhere so he went to his car and grabbed the litter, he said it worked well!
The sparrows bath in that sand. I always wondered why it was in the tracks and on the trams.
"Deploying sand button for sand"
I always knew freight trains used sand, but I never knew there were passenger trams using them, too.
In France we use this exact system on all of our High-speed trains
Two types of Melbourne trains use sand as well 👍
@@TheFlighteur I am pretty sure that ALL trains use sand, the only ones that dont use it are maglev.
Trams, metros, trains, locomotives, almost all have sand.
Free sand just left on public access property??? Ohh ho! Lemme at it!!!
Should have included literal sand dunes on the road in San Francisco next to ocean beach (just for fun, it's obviously not from the light rail (muni), but there are sand dunes on the road from wind blowing the sand onto the road next to the beach)
The Cable Cars in San Francisco have a sand container that comes in handy, especially when navigating those steep hills. It is the same deal with the underground MUNI METRO trains. They return to the terminal to get sand refills.
Sand is also used to stop trams/trains incase of emergency
Sounds completely fake. a SAND button?? And all it does is... spit sand? And there's little windows of sand on every tram so you can keep an eye on the sand levels?!
But it's completely true! Sometimes the simplest solution works just fine!
The high school I went to is along a tram line and on a hill there’s a mountain of sand underneath the track at all times, Melbourne trams definitely have sand in them
Tram to the rails: "I'm gonna put some dirt in your eye"
“Sand deployed!”
I knew someone who used to drive the street sweeper on the tram tracks many years ago.
I learned about this from my Little Golden Book of Transportation about 65 years ago 😅
the tram vacuum up its own sand, run it through a filter.
When it runs over the sand it gets crushed into an even finer and less useful size. Cant really recycle it because the finer ground stuff doesnt meet the the requirements after being crushed a couple times. I remember an engineer from a steam railroad museum saying that after about the 3rd pass over the same spot on their loop, the sand is basically nonexistant as far as their train is concerned. Plus, far cheaper to just get another truckload (or hopper car load) of sand than to put expensive vacuums and filtration systems on every single tram in a city.
That's really interesting.
Though it was to cover up vomit.
Multi-use sand
This has been going on since trains were put into ise
Fascinating, so not the ballast I thought.
Love My ABC 💜
Cool bit of engineering!
Nice that they also figured to work the sand into the design of the trams, though I'm curious on how difficult that makes maintenance
Maintenance to the tracks or maintenance to the sand boxes/ dispenser systems.
I do maintenance to trains and honestly sandbox repairs are the easiest, it’s not over complicated at all. Trains built in the 90s have sand boxes, it’s not an overly new concept.
But the tracks however! A pile of sand that gets moisture in it and then hardened by the sun has derailed trains in the past! Definitely means more maintenance to tracks!
You’re on abc Julian!? Good for you mate
DEPLOY TACTICAL SAND
I actually was wondering what those sand containers are for. But then I remembered the game Railroad Tycoon II were you had to build sand maintenance buildings at train stations, so that trains can run up hills. So I thought that's for. And now your video checks out that theory. Thank you and gaming.
My school bus 50 years ago had sand in case the roads were too slippery for the bus.
“Train on the water, boat on a track!”
HA! Jokes on you Mom! I actually CAN make a living playing with sand!
My job is literally playing with sand, gravel, and all kinds of dirt
Always used to see piles of sand in the old Toronto street cars!
on the siemens trains they have sanders thatuse a german sand. box with a tube on certain wheels, when the train detects traction failure it will dumb sand on the tracks. Siemens are the best brakers, gotta love them.
Not only just trims but also trains
In Glasgow we're developing a system to pick up the sand behind the tram wheels so we have to fill up less often
Bit like a giant vacuum cleaner
Very cool 👍
This man would be a great guest for Jay Foreman's Unfinished London
Unfun fact. A steam train dropping sand on the track near Hawskbury river NSW interfered with the signalling system sending a commuter train after it while it was struggling uphill.
Resulting in a collision resulting in deaths.
I think steam trains are no longer allowed to drop sand here as a result
This is a cool snippet. Thanks!
I didn't know this.
Thank you
This reminds me of Shawshank Redemption
i work on a line where our trams don't have a good way of knowing if there is sand remaining and lots of problem with humidity too, honestly, it's a nightmare to maintain and repair
I have noticed sand in a tram, but on all the trams I've been on, the indicator of how full the sandboxes are (if present at all) is a dial that gives the weight of the contents. I have not seen a tram where the indicator is a window which you look through to see physically whether there's sand in the hopper.
(A random tangent to the video:) It's not actually the smaller friction that makes steel wheels more efficient than rubber wheels, it's the smaller rolling resistance (a perfectly rolling wheel always has zero velocity relative to the rail/road at the contact point). Both of which have the root cause that steel wheels deform much less. Increasing the friction without increasing the rolling resistance would always be advantageous, it's just that it's hard to permanently increase the friction of the wheels, so they use sand to temporarily increase friction when they need it.
Trams pulling the ol' Shawshank😂
love seeing the dedicated Sand button
all things need one tbh
Don't worry they also have one of those buttons to deploy the oil in case of being chased... by other trams 😂
i love this guy
It’s also coarse, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere!
Toronto's trams have similar sand hoppers.
Most trams do actually! It's an important safety feature.
The Siemens trains do that too, the sandboxes were installed due to the braking problems
I visit New Orleans often because I have a lot of family there, and I’m always seeing sand in the neutral ground (grass medians) around the tracks and the dirt there is always super sandy. I always assumed it was because of the Mississippi River, but thought it was strange that it looked like fine sand you’d find at a local craft store.
Thanks to this video, I now realize that that sand is from the street cars! They probably put down the sand to give themselves more traction whenever it rains (and it rains *a lot* in New Orleans).
The Emergency Anakin Response Button
The school buses where i grew up (NW Washington state) also had this feature in case of snow. Lil pipes in front of the drive wheels
Heaps around Plenty Rd and the Ring Rd intersection when it's dry. It always seems dusty there.
Pocket sand!
This concept has been tried on cars as well, for snow. In 1969 Chevrolet buyers could order "Liquid Tire Chain" as RPO V75. Few were sold, and because of winter driving, fewer exist today.
Wow I’m regular tram users ( in melbourne for 20 years) & just learn this today years old 😦 thanks.
Thought this was Walter white ngl
me too
Thank you for this video. I'm in the US and I ride a light rail to work everyday and I've been wondering what those weird looking containers of sand looking stuff under the seats were. Now I know! Kudos to you good sir!
does the sand wear away the metal
No that’s why they chose sand
What’s harder, sand, or metal? There is your answer. Sand will remove impurities from metal, but not the metal itself. This is why sandblasting works as a method of cleaning metal surfaces of rust, paint, debris, etc.
@@TripleXMango aha. u rite! cause i was like doesn't sanding wear away the metal but as you said it removes impurities. thanksya
Wow! I was born in Melbourne and never knew this! Very cool.
collective noun grammar kills me
Thank you! :D
POCKET SAND!
in the north of the UK, trams have lines above the tramz is it simular to this reason?
I looked at the trams all the time when I lived in melbourne but never actually rode on the whole time I was there
W class trams used to fill up sand under the seats!
Dude I am not even in Aussieland and I dig this info on sand😂👍🏻
I used to operate locomotives here in the US and those also have sand button. I think every rail vehicle does
You know those emergency triangles on every bus you've ever been on? They are also filled with sand. If we get stuck on ice we will crack them open and throw the sand under our tires for extra traction to get moving again. In 15 years of professional driving I have only used my trinagles as road markers 3 times. Every other time (at least 50) has been for the sand.
You can see the effort and quality in this video. That’s rare these days.
That’s cool. The trams in Jakarta have long been dismantled in the 60s to make way for more cars, so all we have are at least 15km of tram tracks that the govvy uncovered in the old town from digging around for the Jakarta MRT (still not done)
I want a sand button now.
I kinda love this! Pretty clever!
Wait so they needed a specific machine to clean the sand or they just created an attachment for the regular sweepers? Wouldn’t it be less economical than tyres if they had to have a specific separate machine to clean the sand up?
If you've ever ridden the Red Rocket it Toronto in the Winter, you'll know about the sand. It helps both when accelerating and braking.
i knew about them for trains but it makes sense that some trams have them too
thx 😊
well that explains something i've been wondering for 5 and a half years. I wonder if they left the sand in stuttgart's Zacke tram or if it's considered superfluous.
I love trams, I wish we had them in my city ;-;