stackyFACTSThose jagged little rocks covering the train lines aren't decorative. It's called track ballast, and its entire job is locking wooden ties in place and draining rainwater so a multi-ton beast doesn't randomly sink into the mud.
Keep exploring facts in this topic.
Transport →STACKY FOR IPHONEKeep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Railways have always chased one dream: speed. To shave mere minutes off a journey, builders carved holes in unforgiving granite and strung bridges across…
Discover more
Mother Nature loves to remind us that our indestructible infrastructure is just a hot day away from turning into al dente pasta. Steel expands when subjected…
Discover more
Cracking open a beer on a city bench might get you arrested, but doing the exact same thing while rolling at 80 miles per hour on a passenger rail is…
Discover more
If your car breaks down on a railroad crossing, get out immediately. A fully loaded freight train moving at 55 miles an hour has so much kinetic energy that…
Discover more
To prevent structural collapsing, transit crews sometimes blast the surrounding soil with liquid nitrogen. They literally carve through solid frozen mud just…
Discover more
In the UK, nobody actually uses the term 'dump bed' for that massive hydraulic dirt-thrower on the back of a truck. Calling it a skip makes the violent act of…
Discover more