I’ve googled it but just can’t seem to grasp it. How do they stay on as well as they do at such high speeds, with so few incidents of crashing or derailing? Especially when anything could be lying across the track waiting to get lodged in the wheels.
I hear so often that trains are so safe, but I don’t think I can get over my anxiety with them until I understand *why* they’re safe.
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They stay on the tracks because there is a flange on the inner side os the tacks that stop them from sliding off.
Train tracks are very smooth so the trains will be in contact with the track all the time. Curve radiuses are very large and there strict speed limitations you need to keep. The tracks are alos often not flat in a curve bit build with a slight incline to the train tilt inwards.
Train is very hthe eavy and wheels are solid steels. If you look at locomotives they tend to have something in the front that looks a bit like a snow plow or just a large piece of metal that extends down quite close to the rails that is there to stop stuff from getting under the train. There is also not a lot of stuff that ends up on track.
Even if there is a truck on a railway crossing it will weigh less then the train and the result a truck that breaks apart or is pushed into of the train. You can compare a car vs truck collision with a truck vs train. Small locomotives are in the 80 tonnes range and large in the 200 tonnes. Passenger cars are around 40 tonnes. Quite short freight cars for material like ore can be 100 tonnes loaded each.
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