Stranger Things: rail line in forest

[TUC]

Watching Stranger Things, I was struck by a scene in season 2, episode 6 where two characters are walking down what looks to be a real rail line in the middle of a forest, with trees all around them. This left me slightly puzzled in terms of all the usual 'leaves on the line' issues. Do other countries have different approaches to this problem, such that they would have a line in the middle of a forest?

 

[Fragezeichnen]

I'm not really sure what you mean.

If you need to build a line to somewhere and there's a forest in the way, then you have to build a railway through a forest. You can't really go round a forest, they tend to be pretty big. Does Britain really not have any railway lines in forests?

One difference I know of on the continent trains typically have magnetic track brakes, which is an electromagnet which hangs from the bogie and when energised clamps to the track to provide a highly effective emergency brake even in low adhesion conditions. In Germany it would be difficult to get a safety certificate for passenger trains without this, as the emergency brake stopping distance would be too long, but some reason they are never seen in the UK.

Apart from that I think the usual mitigations are used - spraying track to reduce leaf film, and training programs for drivers.

 

[AlterEgo]

I'm not really sure what you mean.

If you need to build a line to somewhere and there's a forest in the way, then you have to build a railway through a forest. You can't really go round a forest, they tend to be pretty big. Does Britain really not have any railway lines in forests?

We do have lines in forests, but the trees tend to be cut back some distance from the railway to minimise the problem. Some railways in the US, especially heritage ones, do actually run through forests with the trees so close that there is a canopy over the tracks.

 

[TUC]

In this case the trees were right up to the lineside, with multiple leaves across the line.

 

[duncanp]

Is this the picture you mean.

The series is set in the United States, and they have different conventions for where you can and can't build railways there. Witness the number of occasions when full size trains run down the middle of the street.

I suppose if you need to build a railway through a forest and there is no alternative, then you can clear a path through the trees.

My main concern would be fallen trees blocking the line, especially after a storm, rather than leaves on the line.

 

[stuu]

Mr Google says its Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta, which has a tourist railway through it

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

For a minute I thought we were talking about the Stahnsdorf Cemetery line in Berlin.
This was a branch off the Wannsee Railway (now part of the S-bahn) which served a large cemetery, built in 1913.
However, when Berlin was divided after WW2, the cemetery itself was isolated in East Germany, behind the Berlin Wall, while the access line was from West Berlin.
So the line was abandoned during the cold war, but it shows today as a heavily overgrown single track line disappearing into the undergrowth.
Wiki has several pieces on the railway, and there are some good pictures in this article, also with a link to the Netflix film Dark.

The Friedhofsbahn: The Old Wannsee - Stahnsdorf Railway Line

Here we will talk a little bit about the reason why the Friedhofsbahn was built, how it shut down, and why some people want it back. Also…

fotostrasse.com

Berlin has a vast transport network composed of S-Bahn and U-Bahn lines that cover almost 500 km of tracks across the city. And the town used to have even more tracks, but due to political divisions, world wars and economic problems, some of those tracks were abandoned. One of those is known as Friedhofsbahn, and it used to connect Berlin-Wannsee to Stahnsdorf.
Also, since this is the same abandoned train track used as a location in Netflix’s series Dark, we will talk about the hike in the forest, following the train tracks the connect the bridge to the church in Dark.

Part-way, the Stahnsdorf line crosses another stretch of abandoned railway, about 8km of the original Berlin-Potsdam line (known as the Stammbahn, or original line).
This line actually ran along the West Berlin/Brandenburg border and was abandoned during the cold war.
Remaining trains were diverted via Wannsee and the one crossing allowed between East Germany and West Berlin at Griebnitzsee, close to Potsdam.
There has been talk of rebuilding this route, but all the investment has gone into restoring other routes and building the railways via the new Hauptbahnhof.

 

[TUC]

Is this the picture you mean.

The series is set in the United States, and they have different conventions for where you can and can't build railways there. Witness the number of occasions when full size trains run down the middle of the street.

I suppose if you need to build a railway through a forest and there is no alternative, then you can clear a path through the trees.

My main concern would be fallen trees blocking the line, especially after a storm, rather than leaves on the line.

View attachment 118241

Yes, that's the one.