Comments
great_auks t1_j6gtj5y wrote
they didn't do nearly as good a job destroying them as General Sherman did
Dat_Beaver t1_j6iddbs wrote
Different kind of sabotage. The confederates didn’t have the industry to make new rails, the Russians did. Just twist the rails and they can simply be replaced. Rip apart the supports and you have to dig them out and place new ones.
ghidfg t1_j6gug69 wrote
how were they broken? looks like they were torn through. doesn't appear to be any clean axe cuts or anything.
Ancient-Access8131 t1_j6gvwap wrote
eugene20 t1_j6gxi7r wrote
Just seeing the layout of the damage I assumed it had to be something like that but it still blows my mind that can just slice through them and keep on going
Edit: in action thanks to u/samfreez
Kayback2 t1_j6h1kit wrote
What amazed me is they had something like this.
Can't get troops winter clothing but take the rail plough just in case we retreat!
browsing_around t1_j6ibvv1 wrote
One piece of metal is a lot easier to produce and provide than hundreds and thousands of multi piece garments that have to be stitched together.
Kayback2 t1_j6iitji wrote
It wasn't just one plough, but yet they took them with them, on their invasion.
[deleted] t1_j6gv2jm wrote
[deleted]
Silo-Joe t1_j6gt33u wrote
Trying to see how a train wouldn’t be still able to run on this tracks. The rails still look parallel.
Is the danger for the train an eventual shifting of the rails? Does that mean the front cars through the tracks out of alignment for rear cars?
BartVanHouten t1_j6gu5bd wrote
Trains push from the inside of the rails out, these rails are fucked
Silo-Joe t1_j6gv0fd wrote
Thanks for explaining. That makes sense now.
londons_explorer t1_j6h7kmh wrote
Doesn't look awfully hard to repair... Just replace the ties, which are standard parts you can bring in in bulk by train.
Replacing just say 1 in 10 will allow you to use the railway for light vehicles, which then allows you to do the rest of the repair all in parallel.
faketooter t1_j6hzdvj wrote
You need at least 1 for every 5 ties missing consecutively, and even then sometimes track units derail. Trust me, I'm a railroader.
BartVanHouten t1_j6igemx wrote
They have to lift the track, probably move ballast and then replace probably a couple hundred miles of ties. We have non-broken track that we have to be careful on and can’t go more than 10mph
the_colonelclink t1_j6hbc35 wrote
There’s a video of the machine used to destroy the tracks up above; it gives quite a profound visual on just how useless the tracks become.
Lord_Tedric1 t1_j6gvqea wrote
How did they break them?
redditrain777 t1_j6gzcg3 wrote
Giant hook on the back of a train
[deleted] t1_j6gywrr wrote
[deleted]
stealyrface t1_j6i5fm0 wrote
Did they just do this across entire Eastern Europe as they retreated from the sleeping Russian horde they awakened
JDQuench87 t1_j6jk6wh wrote
O.G. rage quitters
heike75 t1_j6jvh2q wrote
I was teaching at the place where these machines have been constructed: the former Maffei-Schwartzkopff site in Wildau, Germany which produced the “Schienenwolf” (“rail wolf”), which the German Wehrmacht deployed during their retreat from the Soviet Union and Italy. And in the large locomotive assembly hangar 15/16, employees built the armored locomotive of the “Führersonderzug“ (or 'Hitler's chartered train').
Adm_Mitthrawnuruodo t1_j6m101n wrote
The more I hear about these here Nazis, the less I care for them.
samfreez t1_j6guung wrote
Here's footage of the giant hook they used to accomplish that. Gotta fast forward a fair bit to see more of it immediately, but here's a good place to start