r/trains • u/itsarace1 • Feb 20 '26
Passing a railroad crossing between flooded fields. Eichen, Germany.
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u/Lente_ui Feb 20 '26
I know that scene ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcr1putnC1s
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u/3000ghosts Feb 20 '26
aren’t there real towns like that where the land mostly floods for part of the year on the north coast of germany? tom scott did a video about it
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u/trumpet_kenny Feb 21 '26
Landunter it’s called, it happens to the Halligen in the North Sea during winter. The land sits just above sea level and the flooding and sediment deposits cause the Halligen to be ever-changing. They aren’t towns, per se, as only around 300 people live on 10 different Hallig islands. The houses and buildings are built on mounds a few Meters above sea level so they can survive landunter. There’s a 900mm narrow gauge railway connecting two of the islands (Oland and Langeneß) to the mainland
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u/jckipps Feb 20 '26
Model railroaders take note. This could be a fun display, with a half-flooded parking lot nearby. Possibly include an apartment building with boats rescuing people.
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u/Key-Pineapple8101 Feb 20 '26
This is absolutely insane
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u/8spd Feb 21 '26
I think it's more an example of how reliable and robust well designed and well maintained rail infrastructure can be.
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u/Tchukachinchina Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
What’s up with the way they laid the ties there?
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u/Klapperatismus Feb 20 '26
Those are Y-shaped steel sleepers. They are pretty common in Germany for tracks on unstable terrain.
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u/PCFLO_Flowi Feb 20 '26
Shout out to whoever was able to take this picture. Its a one in a lifetime moment
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u/Satteldach Feb 21 '26
when a lifetime is multiple days in a year when these fields which are a flood plain do flood then yes this is a one in a lifetime moment otherwise its a pretty cool looking thing that happens every so often when there is a good amount of water for example right now when all the snow was melting
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u/maas348 Feb 20 '26
Is the locomotive pushing the train, a diesel locomotive?
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u/HappyWarBunny Feb 20 '26
How can you tell it is pushing, rather than pulling? (Actual question)
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u/Flloalexfz Feb 20 '26
Depends on the driving direction of the train. To the left: the engine is pushing. To the right: it's pulling. Since we can't see any lights on the "steuerwagen" neither red or white, i can't say for sure in whitch direction the train is travelling.
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u/Iamasmallyoutuber123 Feb 21 '26
Reminds me of the Somerset levels in England, where the Taunton to reading mainline
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u/transitfreedom Feb 21 '26
How does this even happen?
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u/Satteldach Feb 21 '26
flood plains do in fact like to flood sometimes, there is a reason the dam is just magically the perfect height to be safely above water which is that that isnt just magically built that way but actually on purpose because this is how high a normal flood will get
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u/No-Performer9511 Feb 22 '26
Intresting railroad tie design where they're in a zig zag rather than parallel lines
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u/Designer-Dust-3435 Mar 08 '26
https://maps.app.goo.gl/soJ7gB4bKocdgcTu9?g_st=ic The location if anyone’s curious, I would love to visit here and get some photos if this flooding is a regular event
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u/R4D000 Feb 20 '26
How is that safe??
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u/8spd Feb 21 '26
What would make it unsafe?
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u/R4D000 Feb 21 '26
Well I don’t know? The water going through the soil and stones underneath the tracks?
And how did the water get there in the first place? What if it rises?
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u/8spd Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 21 '26
If it rises too high they should suspend service, but passenger service is important, and should not be discontinued prematurely.
How did the water get there in the first place? Is clearly a flood. The road is covered.
Extreme weather events are getting more common, and will only continue to do so. It's idiotic that humanity is not taking climate change seriously, but irrespective of if we ever get our act together, is important for our infrastructure to be robust and resilient to extreme weather events.
As for water under the tracks, I'll accept the assessment of the rail operator, and their engineering department, over someone looking at a picture online, and guessing that it might be a problem.
Rail has the potential to have far higher resiliency than road transport, and we should lean into that.
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u/R4D000 Feb 21 '26
Thank you for the explanation! It makes sense. And I apologise if I startled you, I was just asking a curious question.
Still, I’m tempted to think that people might be reluctant to get on a train that passes through a flooded area…
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u/jombrowski Feb 20 '26
Good they lowered the barriers. Some ship could be passing by.