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Why does the Pendolino tilt?

By tilting, the train could go around curves designed for slower trains at higher speeds without causing undue discomfort to passengers.



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Tilting trains are meant to help reduce the effects of centrifugal force on the human body, but they can still cause nausea, a problem that was widely seen on early passive tilting trains that exactly balanced the outward force.

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By tilting the train combats the centripetal force which causes inertia e.g. when standing you losing balance as you come around a curve. So when the curve goes to the right, the train tilts right, making a more comfortable ride as well as allowing faster speeds.

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The Lickey Incline, south of Birmingham, is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in Great Britain. The climb is a gradient of 1 in 37.7 (2.65% or 26.5‰ or 1.52°) for a continuous distance of two miles (3.2 km).

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Apparently the reason is a design flaw. These trains have septic tanks, unlike the old IC125s which emptied onto the track (hence 'do not flush the toilet in the station'). I heard that when they designed them, they positioned the toilet tank vent next to the air conditioning inlet. Hey presto the train smells of poo.

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The maximum speed currently possible in the UK is 186mph, achieved by Eurostar trains on the HS1 line between London and the Channel Tunnel . The HS1 line is used by Eurostar services and Javelin commuter services from Kent, although the latter have a max speed of 140mph.

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While most Shinkansen currently operate at a maximum of 300 kph (186 mph), the E5 “Bullet Trains” of Japan Railways East (JR East) run at up to 320 kph (200 mph) on the Tohoku Shinkansen, which runs north from Tokyo to Shin-Aomori.

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NYC No. 999 4-4-0 was quite the speed demon for its time. The first locomotive to travel over 100mph, 999 hauled the Empire State Express and hit a world record speed of 112mph!

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Trespassing on the railway is illegal and dangerous. You could be taken to court and face a £1,000 fine.

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Trains use their horns to signal what the train is doing. Weather they are approaching a crossing, or passing through or stopping at a town or station. 1 long horn blast means approaching station.

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