Why They BANNED the 97-Foot _Rail Whale

Video Description

Title: Why They Banned the 97-Foot "Rail Whale" Why did the railroad industry quietly erase the largest tank car ever built? In this documentary, we uncover the secret history of the GATX "Rail Whale"—a 97-foot monster that proved too big for America's twisted tracks. From the obscure "Railway Iceberg" to the limits of mechanical ambition, we explore 10 of the most bizarre and experimental railcars ever engineered. We look at the "Rail Whale's" jaw-dropping 60,000-gallon capacity and why it was exiled to a museum after failing to navigate standard curves. But that’s just the beginning. Discover the "Vert-A-Pac," which packed 30 Chevy Vegas nose-down in a single car , the terrifying "Torpedo Cars" carrying molten iron at 2,500 degrees , and the Cold War "Peacekeeper Rail Garrison"—a nuclear missile launcher disguised as a standard freight train. If you love railway engineering, fallen flags, and obscure rolling stock, this deep dive explains exactly why these extreme machines were built—and why many of them disappeared. In this video: The Failed Giant: The 97-foot GATX tank car that was too long for the system. Hidden Dangers: Torpedo cars that risk tipping over with molten metal. Cold War Secrets: The train designed to hide ICBMs in plain sight. Heavy Haulers: The massive Schnabel car that expands to the length of a football field. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 The Mystery of the Rail Whale 0:44 The Scale Test Car: Small but Heavy 2:04 Pneumatic "Whale Belly" Hoppers 3:27 The 97-Foot "Rail Whale" Explained 4:54 Santa Fe's Articulated Super Hopper 6:14 Southern Pacific Vert-A-Pac 7:03 Hogshead Tobacco Boxcars 7:34 The Torpedo Car (Molten Iron) 8:30 The "Hutch": Boxcar-Caboose Hybrid 9:15 Peacekeeper Rail Garrison (Nuclear Train) 10:32 The Schnabel Car: World's Largest #Trains #RailroadHistory #Engineering #RailWhale #RollingStock #Documentary #Railfanning #HeavyHaul