Who the hell greenlit the idea to also make said train track go *over* a mountain, resulting in a straight vertical drop, and then decided it would be a good idea to build that *twice* ?
It would have been better if they'd just had confidence in the scene, and cut out all the goofy crap that distracts you from how awesome what is happening really is...
I think the worst part is that he really isn't just pulling the levers randomly, he is making the correct motions to get the train to go between forward and reverse as quickly as possible. I've also just sort of always assumed that the "logic" here is that the train is torque steering, but it is still very cool. The amount of detail crammed into this animated Christmas movie is insane.
That engineer in a previous life was one of the Titanic’s engine room personnel. He’s been given a second chance with the Polar Express, and he has sworn an oath to keep that train on the rails and out of harm’s way AT ALL COSTS. His quick and fast lever pulling is to make the train Torque Steer with as much momentum as he can keep it with. It’s almost exactly what the engineers on Titanic did when they used the reverse motion on the propellers to aid in maneuvering the ship… in that one James Cameron movie. Confirm or deny if that was real, historians.
The engine crews did not, to my knowledge, use the torque of the propellers to swing the stern. However, despite going full astern on the portside and starboard shafts, they maintained ahead slow on the center shaft to maintain water flow over the rudder to allow the ship to turn.
@@jamesharding3459 I think they did pop it into full reverse to try to make the turn. A wrong call. Had they just dead stopped the engines and let it hit straight on they'd have been okay.
You're asking the wrong questions. Are we going to ignore that my man was able to REVERSE THE TRAIN BACK, AND IN LESS THAN 3 MINUTES MAKE IT LAND ON THE RAILS EXACTLY. ABSOLUTE LEGEND
Considering how well the Conductor, Engineer and Fireman do this, i'd say that too. I would however say it doesn't happen super often, but it has happened many times. My guess is they've been through it 5-10 times before this, enough times for the Engineer to figure out how to turn the train around, and to understand the Conductors slang for left and right, like "hang a louie" and "toss a richie", without thinking. These times however are somewhat infrequent, maybe on average every 3 or 4 years, but it doesn't happen like clockwork. Maybe also this is the only time that the was cracking under them.
@@galahad6300 To be fair, when the conductor starts throwing out slang for left and right, it wouldn't be too hard to believe that the Engineer and Fireman just knew to flip the trains direction whenever the Conductor shouted anything.
@@Collisto2435 Thats a good point. Also considering the Engineer could roughly see the relative location of the track out the side. But if it were the first time, the Engineer might be a bit confused by what the Conductor is saying, and hesitate in his lever pulling. Its atleast what i might do, if i were the Engineer.
The locomotive is based off a Berkshire type steam locomotive which was a superheated and reused the stem twice. They were meant for fast freight service on railroads like nickel plate road, pere marquet and chesapeake and ohio. They were also built by lima locomotive works
One small thing I noticed about this scene, while it isn't the most realistic movie, they did realistically animate what wheel slip looks like. When the pistons go full speed, that's a wheel slip. It can happen on ice or when getting the train first moving, basically when it doesn’t have traction or momentum. Its the attention to small details that I love the most
Besides the fact it hurts your brain, especially if you're a railroad engineer. The train cars themselves literally start *bending* when they climb the mountain and its gets really obvious at the top.
4:45 Just think of how precise they had to be to get the train back on the rails. The flange on train wheels are about an inch thick. These guys nailed the landing on those tracks like gods
Jokes aside props to the train drivers who actually know how to operate the "Polar express" on ice and also props to the Film Devs for this masterpiece of a movie
Actually this train in real life is the only train that could pull this off as it actually did happen and the writers decided to do it for the movie…this whole sequence was based off a real life scenario that actually happened where they had to drift the train without tracks on the ice
I will never forget this cartoon, this video reminded me of my childhood, I used to watch it every time I watched it on TV as a child, and watching these 4 minutes makes my hair grow. These old engine is just Beast, no doubt, the moving of pistons OMG. I just love this (Watched this during lockdown, corona virus)
Well I'd be happy to tell you that if you enjoyed watching this engine in the movie, you can see it in real life! They based the Polar Express loco off of Pere Marquette 1225, which currently operates in Michigan, check it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xqr-F6yOHjA.html Hope you enjoy :) Sincerely, Mr. Bl0ckm4nn, your friendly neighborhood railfan
I love the fact that there's an extremely heavy steam train Plus six or seven train cars on a sheet of ice and yet one tiny cotter pin makes the entire lake crack open
4:08 Anyone else notice how the passenger cars don't appear behind the conductor? Animation slip up i assume. 4:13 "You're gonna lose your ticket." I think everyone has lost their tickets in the passenger cars from how much this train has been shaking around.
I’m so glad we have a movie like this that portrays trains as the terrifying and majestic beasts that they are. Seriously, trains are fkin scary. I love this movie.
*Saw this masterpiece in 3D maaannnyy years ago , it’s an experience I’ll never forget … miss u dad* *This edit is absolutely amazing!* Also the song so emotional, in a good way!
This is my favorite childhood movie. Legit though I must have watched it over 11 times in a single day on Christmas when I was younger, and I could almost recite the whole movie word for word then. I haven't watched it in years though, and will most likely now watch it again because of this video
Having watching this movie a bunch growing up. Just hearing the You say run melody, plus this awesome scene really does bring a tear to my eye of just how much more awesome this scene can get.
Bro, that's gotta be the best locomotive crew in the world. It's all fun and games until it's off track, but these guys were handling the engine like it's Tokyo drift.
Misutā Dōtai aka, The "Holiday Train" Hero - Conductor. Quirk: Polar Express. Quirk Type: Mutant. Quirk Range: Close Range. Quirk Description: Similar to Ida's ability, Conductor's quirk afford him great speed & agility. How they differentiate, is that Conductor needs a steady supply of coal (which his body has adapted to eating) to keep running similar to how a train needs it to keep running. (The costume can appear based on your interpretation)
Ive seen this so many times repeatedly and i no matter what its a fantastic and amazing sequence. I like it better when theres different background music instead of the original
The journey in life you’re usually skating on ice and don’t even know it. Strait is the way and narrow is the path and very few that find it. Balance from left to right until you find your grove. Then step on the gas and take it all the way till the top
Using my knowledge of physics, I can calculate that the speed of the train at 1:34 is 193.8 mph faster than at 1:25, so assuming the train was already going 150 mph, the train accelerated to 343.8 mph at 1:34.
sweet fuckin jesus. Thats faster than the China Railway CRH380A! The base model has a top speed of 236 mph with a cruise speed of 217 mph, while the 16 car variant once got up to 302 mph! The Polar Express was going faster than a fucking Chinese bullet train when it hit Glacier Gulch!
You know, I read the book like 20 times when I was a kid... I don't remember something this awesome being in it, sure was awesome too see in the theater 😎😍😁
Hydro Wolf The turning came from the coaches’ inertia as they slid across the ice. That inertia just so happened to be enough to maneuver the locomotive in whichever direction the coaches were sliding.
I’ve never really thought about that before but my explanation would be that the right cylinder of the locomotive has just slightly more thrust than the left cylinder or the left drive has more friction or the wheels are not aligned perfectly straight. I mean, under normal conditions it’s the job of the rails to keep the train on track, so it doesn‘t need to be precisely balanced like a car. That would at least explain why the train slides to the left when the wheels turn forward and to the right when it’s put in reverse, which of course would immediately stop the train if it wasn’t for the low friction of the ice and the massive inertia of that heavy thing, which James already pointed out. The first turning can be explained with uneven brakes and the second one could be possible because the reversed locomotive compressed the wagons behind it, so they got interlocked with one another and acted as little anchors that forced the locomotive to spin in one direction until they were fully unfolded. Or maybe all of that is complete bullshit and this is just a special train that has tank-like steering for whatever reason ^^ Anyway, I would be really surprised if the animators used a realistic physics engine with a realistic locomotive model when they rendered this awesome scene. (;
When you look they are constantly switching from forwards and reverse. My guess is that the change in how the train was gaining traction was changing allowing them to quote on quote "steer".
Peter Parker well it’s actually logical and would work in real life, the rotation of the wheels would cause the engine to start turning in one direction like a single prop plane would veer of to one direction as it accelerated down a runway, so to change the direction they reverse the wheels causing the train to veer the other way and because it’s a heavy steam engine that has already built up speed they don’t need to worry about it affecting the speed That force is called gyroscopic precession
I’m not sure what I’m impressed with most how well the song syncs up or how good the movie is or how well they can drive a god damn train on freaking ice and line up to the tracks
