TerraLiner:12 m Globally Mobile Beach House/Class-A Crossover w 6x6 Hybrid Drivetrain

[dwh]

BTW, over the next year or so, if you ever come across anything even remotely like this, even if explored only at the conceptual level, please warn me.

Haven't read the entire thread, but there was a post here on ExPo about a Tatra 8x8 for sale on Craig's List a while back. The owner had apparently started an integrated design build and hadn't got far in his project. There were some photos of the truck partially complete, and also, in the ad, a conceptual pic.


Googling about I found a couple of screen shot pics that someone grabbed from that ad, but can't find any of the concept drawing:







The concept pic was for one big integrated vehicle with a recreation/observation deck on top.

 

[biotect]

Haven't read the entire thread, but there was a post here on ExPo about a Tatra 8x8 for sale on Craig's List a while back. The owner had apparently started an integrated design build and hadn't got far in his project. There were some photos of the truck partially complete, and also, in the ad, a conceptual pic.

Googling about I found a couple of screen shot pics that someone grabbed from that ad, but can't find any of the concept drawing:









The concept pic was for one big integrated vehicle with a recreation/observation deck on top.

dwh,

Many thanks for this lead! Gosh, it sure would be nice to see the concept drawing.... I tried to do various image-searches in google, but like you, came up short.

Still, those searches landed me on the “Bangshift” website, where most of the original Craig’s list information is preserved – see http://bangshift.com/general-news/c...rv-1985-tatra-t-815-czech-built-military-8x8/ :

Full Info From Ad:


TATRA T-815 (8×8 Wheel Drive) — “Expedition Vehicle” / R.V. Conversion —– 9,800 miles

V12 Twin Turbo Charged, Air-Cooled Multifuel Engine. This 8×8 Wheel Drive vehicle has a towing capacity of 200,000lbs. Perfect running condition – Only has 9,800 miles on the clock. Not even run in.

This military vehicle was said to have been captured in “Operation Desert Storm”. This partial complete “R.V. Conversion project vehicle is for the “Adventurer Who Dares to Build Their Dream Vehicle”.

DETAILS of CUSTOM PROJECT

CUSTOMIZED: FROM “CARGO-TRUCK” to “R.V”

* CHASSIS MODIFICATION – CUSTOM: Truck has been extended by additional 5ft

* “SLIDE OUTS” – CUSTOM: Fitted with 2-Custom 12ft opposing hydraulic Slide Outs (Hydraulic Pump and all fittings are available but not yet hooked up)

* “SUNDECK” – CUSTOM: A custom fold down “Sun Deck” is located on the Right Rear Side of the vehicle. When folded up (Closed) the “Sun-Deck” seals off the Door Entry Way for added security. When “Sun-Deck” is folded down, you can access the “Tilt-Up-Roof” for the Sun-Deck. The “Sun Deck” roof framing has been pressure tested to accommodate water mist sprayers for additional outdoor relaxation and comfort.

* “ROOF SEATING AREA” – CUSTOM: A roof seating area is located on top of the cab roof and is accessible by stairway leading up from the RV living Area.

* “OBSERVATION DECK” – CUSTOM: Is located on the roof and accessible by stairway leading up from the RV living Area.

* “STORAGE AREA” – CUSTOM: At the rear of the vehicle is a lockable tilt up lift gate to access additional storage area. Perfect for propane tanks and drinking water filtration systems. The “Sun-Deck” railings are configured to be stored in the lift gates frame work.

* WATER & FUEL STORAGE AREA – CUSTOM: Behind the rear wheels of the vehicle and situated in the frame chassis, is an area allocated to add additional fuel and water tanks. Heavy structural design with 1/4″ plating to protect tanks. Note: Tanks need to be fabricated – not included.

* TOW HITCH – CUSTOM: The original complex tow hitch system mounted, on the truck, was removed and relocated into the new heavy duty rear bumper system.

* AIR PURIFICATION: In the rear of the cab is a “Chemical Warfare Air Purification” System which feeds 8-gas masks.

* TIRE INFLATION SYSTEM: Tires can be inflated or pressure dropped from inside the cab (Similar to Military Humvee’s)

* HYDRAULIC WINCH: Is located under the mid section chassis and cables can be routed to the front or rear of the vehicle. This is controlled from the cab area

* WORKSHOP MANUALS: Owner & parts manual is included.

* TOOLS: A variety of tools is included along with gas masks and some spare emergency parts.

At this point the project requires to be cladded on the outside. All interior & exterior plywood paneling has been tailor cut, treated and ready for installation. The outside “Sheet Metal Cladding” has been cut and bent to size and shape and ready for installation – included in price. Note that Hydraulic pump & equipment for the 2-slide outs (12′ wide) is available for this project but not included in the above sale price. This also applies to the hydraulic pump system and 4-heavy duty self leveling jacks that are available for the vehicle.

Note that a custom built trailer has also been built for this project. It has additional steel fuel tanks, S/S tanks for water – All this is fabricated into the floor. Not included in the sale of the TATRA T-815.

———- 9,800 Miles (Not Run In Yet)

———- V-12 (Multi-Fuel Engine)

———- V-12 (Multi-Fuel Engine)

———- Twin Turbo Charged

———- Air Cooled

———- 355HP

* VEHICLE CURB WEIGHT:

———- 36,000lbs

* LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY:

———- On Bed: 20,680 Lbs

———- Tow Weight: 220,000 Lbs

* TRACTION:

———- Full Time 8×8 Drive

———- Moment Torque Axle Divider

———- Differential Locks

But alas, not the concept drawing…..

Apparently this Tatra had such low mileage (9,800 miles) because it was captured during Operation Desert Storm, and has not been used much since – see http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?76411-Looking-to-buy-Tatra-8x8/page2 . Here are some pics from the Steel Soldiers thread, which seem to be slightly higher-res original images:





However, this Tatra is 8x8 and not 6x6, and for much of this thread it has been more or less agreed that 8x8 is simply too big. In the trade-off between size and geographic reach, 6x6 is about the upper limit for an expedition motorhomes. Furthermore, according to the information above, this truck has been extended an additional 5 feet, so who knows just how long it is. Notably, overall length information is missing from the description. From the photographs it seems that it was built to the American motorhome length-limit of 45 feet, or 13.7 m, which would make it much too long for Europe and much of the rest of the world, where the length limit is 12 m.

The "Chemical Warfare Air Purification" system and 8 gas masks included in the sticker-price are also a bit too "bug out" and post-Apocalyptic for my taste.....:Wow1:


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1. Where best to sit out the Zombie Apocalypse


Don't get me wrong: I enjoy post-Apocalyptic film and television every bit as much as the next guy. Over the past few months I've been working my way through the BBC's "Survivors" television series, both the original 1975 version and the recent 2008 remake -- see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072572/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivors_(1975_TV_series) , http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258189/ , and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivors_(2008_TV_series) . But I hope I won't offend anyone on ExPo if I say that trying to survive the Apocalypse on land in an expedition motorhome always seems a bit short-sighted.

If a genuine apocalypse-level H5N1 killer-flu virus were to hit, then the best possible place to be is out in the middle of the ocean, in a large self-sufficient catamaran stocked with provisions for 4 or 5 months, seeking landfall on some remote island. :088: And here a 55 or 60 foot "Gunboat" would do very nicely. Gunboats are constructed completely out of Carbon Fiber, almost everything, including the kitchen sink. This is not just a matter of conspicuous consumption or the quest for racing speed, although both certainly play a role in Gunboat design. In a long-range, globally capable cruising catamaran speed also means safety. The lighter the catamaran, the faster it can sail, and the more likely that it can out-run a storm.

See http://www.gunboat.com/app/webroot/userfiles/178/File/ProBoat144_Gunboat_EdFinal-SMALL.pdf , http://www.gunboat.com , http://www.gunboat.com/series/gunboat-55 , http://www.gunboat.com/series/gunboat-60 , http://www.gunboat.com/media/download-a-gunboat-brochure-page , http://pdf.nauticexpo.com/pdf/gunboat-32721.html , http://www.oceannavigator.com/October-2013/Gunboat-60/ , and http://www.gunboat.com/media/press:








Also see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmgoa5rUp4I , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvyYH2jTBXA , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC3O2wYcY-0 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEw1UjlGuxg , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCHFhPT5yYM , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd4TePZiYXk , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMNmSjq1tbg , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWkZsJZw7tw , http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvh58u9RpIajXcjeXDohs-Rp5lm5UmNgn , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImU82SmmtQI&index=2&list=PLvh58u9RpIajXcjeXDohs-Rp5lm5UmNgn , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-zHceQ0Qu4&index=4&list=PLvh58u9RpIajXcjeXDohs-Rp5lm5UmNgn , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruz_xV2VS3I&index=5&list=PLvh58u9RpIajXcjeXDohs-Rp5lm5UmNgn , http://www.xssailing.com/tag/gunboat-66/ , http://sailinganarchy.com/tag/gunboat/ , http://www.gunboat.com/video-gallery , and http://www.youtube.com/user/gunboatSC.

Whereas on land, any so-called "bug-out" vehicle would be a sitting duck: an easy target for the virus transmitted by air from dying humans, as well as for physical attacks by the same. And post-Apocalypse, after more than 90 % of us are dead, the most serious threat will continue to be fellow humans, and most humans tend to live on land.....

:1888fbbd:


So honestly, in what kind of vehicle would most people rather sit out the Zombie Apocalypse?

That's why I honestly can't understand the militaresque "bug-out" subculture in the Overlanding community. Perhaps you could explain it to me, dwh? Or anyone else reading this, who'd care to give it a shot?


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2. "Glamping" versus "Kombat Kamping", and Italian Kitchen Design

In any case, as stated earlier in the thread, my explicit design target is a luxe 6x6 expedition vehicle suitable for "Glamping", or "Glamorous Camping". And not for "Kombat Kamping".:REOutShootinghunter

Sure, an integrated design will have to be built on a torsion-free military chassis, either a Tatra 815 or MAN SX-44 or SX-45. But the target will be a design that in spirit is very lose to the Doleoni MAN-KAT already discussed on pages 33 and 40 of this thread: see post #328 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...pedition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page33 , and post #394 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...pedition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page40 (standard ExPo pagination). Also see post #63, at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...BEST-High-Altitude-Solution-for-Heating/page7 . And for a full description of the Doleoni MAN-KAT, see http://www.expedition-trucks.com/brokers/man-kat-6x6-expedition-truck , http://www.doleoni.com/wp/en/ , http://www.doleoni.com/wp/en/man-kat-1-a1/ , and http://www.doleoni.com/wp/#portfolio.

But I wrote "in spirit", because personally speaking I'm not a big fan of rectilinear Italian minimalism, of which the Doleoni MAN-KAT's interior is a typical (albeit superb) example:





Rectilinear Italian minimalism is undeniably elegant, in a minimalist sort of way, and the Milan furniture fair is always packed to the brim with Italian kitchens and bathrooms that look very much like the spare, elegant interior of the Doleoni MAN-KAT pictured above -- see http://www.cosmit.it/tool/home.php?s=0,2,67,71,75 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Furniture_Fair , http://www.boffi.com/EN/Collections/kitchens/case_system_5_0.aspx , http://dada-kitchens.com/kitchens/prodotti/elenco/idcp/43/kitchens.html , http://www.ernestomeda.it/cucine/elektra , http://pedininy.com/dune-kitchens.htm , http://www.pedini.it/bagni/ , http://www.poliform.it/index_ita.html , http://en.stosacucine.com/catalog/1-modern-kitchen , http://www.stratocucine.com , http://www.toncelli.it/invisibile/ , and http://www.valcucine.it/cucine/cerca?program_slug=riciclantica.

Even still, it's not my personal taste. For me, the most interesting designs in Milan tend to be those that are more "eco" and/or biomorphic -- see for instance http://inhabitat.com/milan-furniture-fair/ . Thankfully the Italians are not quite as rectilinear as the Germans; see for instance http://www.siematic.us/Modern-Kitchens/S1/siematic-kitchen-s1.htm . A number of Italian companies continue to experiment with more biomorphic designs; see for instance http://www.giemmegicucine.it/en/series/13-giemmegi-cucine/kitchens/50-americana-kitchens , http://www.giemmegicucine.it/en/series/13-giemmegi-cucine/kitchens/51-qg-round-2 , http://www.ernestomeda.it/cucine-speciali/tron , http://www.ernestomeda.it/cucine-speciali/z-island , http://en.stosacucine.com/catalog/1-modern-kitchen/3-patty , http://www.snaidero.it/cucine-moderne/ola20 , http://www.snaidero.it/cucine-moderne/acropolis , http://www.inoxpiu.com/en/products/cooking-units/monoblocks/C1101021/unica.html , http://www.inoxpiu.com/upload/file/catalogoUNICA.pdf , http://moltenigws.electrolux.se/prepublish/international_english/node473.asp , http://moltenigws.electrolux.se/prepublish/international_english/node474.asp?ProdId=703&CatID=198 , http://moltenigws.electrolux.se/files/international_english/0-999/Molteni_Podium_II_EN.pdf , http://moltenigws.electrolux.se/files/international_english/0-999/Molteni_Podium_III_EN.pdf , and http://moltenigws.electrolux.se/files/international_english/0-999/Molteni_Podium_IV_EN.pdf .

The last company is French and not Italian, but Molteni's "Podium" series of kitchen monoblocks are without a doubt some of the most beautiful examples of curvilinear kitchen design yet created.

And so taken literally, the Doleoni MAN-KAT is not really my idea of "glamping" either. Whereas the curvilinear design work done by ARC or by Christopher C. Deem most certainly is, as already discussed at length in this thread -- see http://www.arcairstreams.co.uk and http://www.cdeam.com/projects/discipline/airstream.


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Now even though this semi-completed Tatra conversion seems primarily intended as a post-Apocalyptic bug-out vehicle for Kombat Kamping, it does include some potentially "glamp-worthy" design features like slide-outs and a drop-down rear deck, plus a roof deck. Again, it would sure be nice to see the concept drawing! But that drawing seems to have disappeared from the web. If anyone reading this ever comes across it, or by happenstance downloaded it before it disappeared, please post!

Here’s the link to the thread on ExPo where this vehicle was briefly advertised – http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/102893-1985-8x8 . And again dwh, many thanks.

All best wishes,



Biotect

 

[dwh]

A) I don't give a crap about any zombie apocalypse. (I plan to BE one of the zombies. Hell, I plan to be King of the Zombies!)

B) I was simply responding to your request that if anyone saw a large integrated vehicle of the sort being discussed, please inform you. When I read that, I remembered seeing that Tatra 8x8.

C) I certainly wasn't *recommending* an extended (5' yea, to the rear obviously) 8x8 for your design study.

D) The concept drawing on that Tatra was a "glamping" design, not a "combat camping" design. Perhaps if the owner had gotten a bit further on his project, that might have been obvious. [EDIT: Now that I think of it, I believe the concept truck had some sort of graphics letting. Something to the effect of, "Africa Overland Tours"...some such gist anyway.]

E) I tried the bangshift site, but for some reason, whenever I goto it (including from your posted link above) I get a 403/forbidden error. (And considering the fact that I'm a Master Level Network Engineer (retired), who use to have several specialties, including load-balanced high-capacity web server clusters, I could probably figure out the problem. I just don't care enough to bother.) I'm glad you got in. Too bad they didn't have the concept drawing.

F) Don't denigrate that NBC air system too soon - it might just what you need to have readily available pressurized air at 14,000' in Tibet.

For that matter, you might consider pressurizing your entire design, to avoid anoxia (and truly *evil* headaches while trying to sleep). It would also help keep out the ever-present and never-to-be-sufficiently-damned road dust:

http://www.xor.org.uk/silkroute/equipment/choosevan.htm

 

[dwh]

Dunno if the bangshift site has it, but I've found archives on the net with that CL ad. Including the phone number. You might try calling to see if you can get a copy of that concept drawing emailed to you.

 

[biotect]

Hi dwh,

Many thanks for the clarification!!

Sorry for interpreting the vehicle as a post-Apocalyptic bug-out design, and again, many thanks for posting it.

In the pictures the vehicle is still in such a "raw" state, and still painted military olive drab, that when I read about the "Chemical Warfare Purification System", it seemed likely that surviving the Zombie Apocalypse was at least one component of its intended design target. Gosh, it sure would be great to have that concept drawing, and yes, I will try to contact CL right away.....

As for pressurizing the entire camper to avert Anoxia: how would you do it? I also very much agree that pressurizing could be a good way to keep out dust.

What follows below is some background information about the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, whose specially built passenger cars provide oxygen masks to combat Anoxia. This seemed like a good place to post some of the material that I've gathered about the railway, because you raised the question about pressurization and Anoxia. I'll return to your suggestion at the very end of this series of posts.


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1. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway


Later in this thread I will be posting at even greater length about the “Qinghai-Tibet Railway”, which China has pushed right across the Tibetan plateau, all the way to Lhasa, finally completed in 2006 at great expense. Variously called the “Lhasa Express”, the "Sky Train", the "World's highest railway", it is without a doubt an engineering wonder – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinghai–Tibet_Railway , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhasa_Railway_Station , and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5133220.stm:







The following are travelogues about the Qinghai-Tibet Railway railway that appeared in the western press: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/sep/20/china.jonathanwatts , http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/journeysbyrail/8697365/Hong-Kong-to-Tibet-by-train.html , http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_mishra , http://www.sfgate.com/travel/articl...-highest-railway-is-2547632.php#photo-2644315 , http://www.gluckman.com/TibetTrainFEER.html , http://www.tibetrailway.com/articles/25-iconic-rail-adventures.htm , and http://www.100trains.com/china-beijing-lhasa-qinghai-tibet-train.html . And here are some partial histories of the railway written by non-Chinese, resident on non-Chinese web-servers, because they include criticism of the railway: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/chinarail.html , http://archive.wired.com/wired/images.html?issue=14.07&topic=chinarail&img=1 , http://www.economist.com/news/china...s-tibets-integration-rest-country-taming-west , http://idsa.in/jds/2_2_2008_TheTraintoLhasa_SArya , http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat6/sub37/item1039.html , and http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/china-tibet/ .

Whereas the following are Chinese accounts of the railway that should be read with some skepticism because, unsurprisingly, they are completely laudatory and contain no criticism – see http://zt.tibet.cn/english/zt/tibetologymagazine/..\TibetologyMagazine/200312007421130047.htm , http://www.tibettravelplanner.com/train/qinghai-tibet-railway.htm , http://www.tibettraintravel.com/MajorChallengesBuildingTibetRailway.htm , http://www.absolutechinatours.com/china-trains/qinghai-tibet-railway.html , http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/51139.htm , http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/24/content_3397297.htm , http://www.tibettravel.org/qinghai-tibet-railway/ , http://www.tibettravel.org/qinghai-tibet-railway/foundation.html , http://www.chinatibettrain.com/tibet-railway.htm , http://thesignaturemusings.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/qinghai-tibet-railway/ , http://www.tourschina.com/travel-tibet/qinghai-tibet-railway.htm , and http://www.amazingtibettravel.com/tibet-transport/train-to-tibet.htm .

The following is a comprehensive and quite useful pdf, but again, completely uncritical – see http://www.tibettravel.org/e-book/tibet-train-e-book.pdf . And here are some articles about the more technical aspects of the railway's construction, including an interesting warning about altitude acclimatization – see http://www.yowangdu.com/tibet-travel/tibet-train.html , http://www.esri.com/news/arcwatch/0308/feature.html , and http://www.chinatibettrain.com/solution-to-permafrost.htm .


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2. Photo Gallery of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway


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The next few posts are a kind of "photo gallery" of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway railway:









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In these photographs the Qinghai-Tibet Railway crosses the Kyi Chu River (more popularly known as the "Lhasa River") -- see http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-travel-guide/lhasa-river.html , http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-photos/tourist-attractions/lhasa-river.html , http://kids.britannica.com/comptons...osses-the-Lhasa-River-bridge-near-Lhasa-Tibet , http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked...hasa-River-bridge-near-Lhasa-Tibet-Autonomous , http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/wchinageo/lhasahwgeo/lhasahwgeo.html , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyi_River , http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyi_Chu , http://translate.google.co.uk/trans....wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyi_Chu&biw=1920&bih=1078 , http://translate.google.co.uk/trans....wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyi_Chu&biw=1920&bih=1078 , and http://translate.google.co.uk/trans....wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyi_Chu&biw=1920&bih=1078 :







And here is the railway on the outskirts of Lhasa:





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Lhasa station is undeniably modern, "Tibetan-looking", and very beautiful:








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3. Video Gallery of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway


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Here are some videos of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

The first set includes a long documentary by National Geographic, a documentary that does a superb job explaining the extreme-altitude engineering challenges that the Chinese faced when building the railway:


[video=youtube;1N_xI1V417A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N_xI1V417A&index=7&list=PL085C5027AAFAE07 C[/video] [video=youtube;UB7RsxopDwc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB7RsxopDwc&list=RDUB7RsxopDwc [/video]
[video=youtube;Yo7FBo4mLgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo7FBo4mLgU [/video] [video=youtube;YNYLgmLN00s]https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=YNYLgmLN00s[/video]


These are somewhat shorter news reports about the railway, 3 of them Chinese, 1 of them Indian (but all of them in English):


[video=youtube;wHK3LLU-vhs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHK3LLU-vhs [/video]

This is a really well-made, refreshing, anti-progapandistic account of a journey from Shanghai to Lhasa by two westerners, on the railway:




This excellent, self-made "documentary" continues with parts 2 and 3 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IEtWxAEZl0 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frze6wf6GZ4 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IEtWxAEZl0 , and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al2v-X6Bb0Y .



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Here are two more western accounts of journeys on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway:


[video=youtube;Oxuu0IBJDDU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxuu0IBJDDU [/video]

The following is a faux-western, propagandistic "documentary" about the Railway produced by NHK (a Japanese television network, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHK ), and voiced-over by a narrator who sounds Canadian:




Some great HD imagery, even if the narration is all Chinese propaganda. Parts 3, 4, and 5 seem to be missing on YouTube.

And finally, here are some more Chinese videos about the Railway:




For some YouTube playlists, see https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0c7yvOp5y8E6P1NAggf5b8HMjGgT0GZ , https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0c7yvOp5y9OjRujGDzFh4hjaxDqb2l5 , http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0c7yvOp5y9ZtEelLIxmSeU8TMj7djKN , https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX60tsun9gsDit_emdVvkclRDx8ZyB0zu , http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0c7yvOp5y_qBsrt-4L5II8UBbG9Gm9Q , and http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_Lo_rAOmULkNS3_G4RpBqt8dejkk4WNK .


Now don't get me wrong: the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is an astonishing engineering achievement, on multiple fronts, which I will address in greater detail later in the thread.

But even still, the railway is politically, economically, socially, environmentally, and even technologically controversial. And virtually none of that controversy is ever addressed by Chinese documentaries or websites. That a mega-project the size of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway should generate controversy is not surprising, because equivalent mega-projects in the the United States and Europe do as well. But when a mega-project is controversial in the west, the public can read about it. Whereas in China's one-party state where dissent is not allowed, the press is not free, and economic growth and nationalistic political considerations tend to trump other values, Chinese press coverage of mega-projects like the Qinghai-Tibet Railway always amounts to little more than one-sided, unqualified, laudatory propaganda.


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4. Tang Gu La Station: 16,627 feet above sea level


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The “Qinghai-Tibet” railway also boasts the highest railway station in the world, Tang Gu La Station, at 5,068 m or 16,627 feet – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanggula_Railway_Station , http://www.tibettour.com/tibet-travel-information/tibet-train-tours-tanggula-railway-station.html , http://tibetfoot.blogspot.it/2013/05/the-worlds-highest-railway-station.html :










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5. Addressing anoxia on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway: supplementary oxygen, but not pressurization


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Tang Gu La's elevation is not an extreme outlier: over 80 % of the route between Golmund and Lhasa runs at altitudes of 4000 m or above:





Not surprisingly, such high altitude means that the passenger cars of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway must be equipped with oxygen supply systems. Although the passenger cars appear conventional, they are anything but, and were specially designed by Bombardier, Canada, and built in China by a Chinese-Canadian joint venture. Wired magazine dose an excellent job explaining the passenger cars, so I will quote at length from the article:

BSP [Bombardier-Sifang-Power] received the contract to build the souped-up passenger cars for the Qinghai-Tibet in 2005; the joint venture had just 10 months to deliver the first of these 70-ton cars, each of which includes extra lightning-protective structures, UV-resistant coatings, enclosed underbellies to protect wiring from snowstorms and sandstorms, ecofriendly wastewater storage measures, and an oxygen enrichment system.

So BSP is jacking up the concentration of oxygen circulating in the train cabins. Early media reports described the new cabins as pressurized, but Levin says no one at BSP or the government railroad ministry was ever serious about building fully pressurized cars. Doing so would be prohibitively expensive and impractical; the cars would need to be repressurized every time the train stopped to let passengers on or off.

Instead, generators on the trains pull in outside air and separate the oxygen. Nitrogen and other gasses are released back into the atmosphere, while the concentrated oxygen, mixed with some outside air, is pumped throughout the train. When passengers cross the 16,640-foot Tanggula Pass – the line's highest elevation point, about 1,000 feet lower than Mount Everest's main base camp – the system will provide air that is 23 percent O2 (normal air is 21 percent oxygen). Passengers will feel like they're at only about 10,000 feet. The 2 percent improvement may sound small, but it can mean the difference between riding in comfort and gasping for air. Cranking the oxygen up too high, though, could be more dangerous than keeping it too low: At a concentration of more then 28 percent, the air could become flammable.

Every passenger will also be able to self-administer oxygen whenever they need to. Woozy travelers can plug the hose of their “individual diffuser” into an outlet anywhere on the train – under every seat, next to every sleeper, in the dining car – and breathe from an air supply that is 40 percent oxygen. None of this is dangerous for healthy people – you simply feel a bit more alert – but passengers with respiratory disorders like emphysema will have to be careful: The extra O2 can trick the brain into shutting off the breathing function altogether.

All of which is to say, these trains get way up there, and even with supplemental oxygen, many passengers arriving in Lhasa can expect a headache or three.

And here is the useful graphic from the Wired article, which describes the same:





See http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/chinarail.html?pg=3&topic=chinarail&topic_set= , and also see http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/meeting-the-high-altitude-challenge.html , http://www.88dict.com/archives/943677/ , http://www.bombardier.com/en/media-...-tibet.bombardiercom.html?filter-bu=transport , and http://www.tibetdiscovery.com/train-to-tibet/tibet-train-oxygen-supply .

The last link is particularly useful, and describes in detail the two oxygen systems of the passenger cars on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway:

There are 2 kinds of oxygen supply systems equipped with on the train to cope with the lack of oxygen on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. One is a ‘dispersion-mode' oxygen supply system, which spreading oxygen in the train's cars through the air-con system. The other system is directly used by passengers through independent port. Passengers can connect the disposable pipe to a individual oxygen outlet when they get headache, feel out of breath or meet any other difficulties of traveling on such a high altitude. There are also oxygen supply tube and mask on each cabin for emergency.

As this link suggests, in addition to the "dispersion-mode" system, passengers are given their own personal plastic tubes to connect to oxygen outlets found throughout the train:







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“Individual diffuser” oxygen outlets are almost everywhere on the Tibet train. For instance, below the seats in coach-style cars:





And so too in the corridors:






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