Railroad-monster: how did one of the most ambitious projects of Hitler

In the Third Reich loved all the giant and impressive. The world's largest cannon, the huge tanks, colossal buildings even just an impressive furniture was a special place of Hitler. Not spared this passion and few people know that one of the most ambitious projects of the führer, was that the railroad was a monster that connects the main city of the future Empire. This project, like many others, was not implemented, but its scope is evidenced by extant technical documentation.

Train dreamed of Adolf Hitler and his entourage, would have impressed even the modern man. The height of the locomotives and wagons had to be 7 meters and a design speed of composition would have been more than 200 km/h. A train could carry up to 4 million passengers and tens of thousands of tons of cargo.

The idea of a big railway, which is under development called just — Breitspurbahn ("broad gauge"), appeared before the war, in the mid 1930‑ies. Then Hitler was fascinated by the building and planned to rebuild all the major cities of Germany.

A key figure of the program was young and ambitious architect albert Speer, for which, it seemed, nothing was impossible. Working on the project of the capital of the Third Reich, Speer impressed Hitler as their project of the Assembly hall with a dome at the highest point reached the mark of 200 meters!

The area of the building was to be an incredible 350 thousand square meters, and instead of logging was planned to erect a triumphal arch, more ambitious than the Brandenburg gate. In addition, Speer presented the sketches of two railway terminals renewed Berlin. Each of them was significantly greater than the whole of the new York Central station.

In the drawings, the largest station on the planet, the eyes of the führer lit up, and he planned to reconstruct the entire railway network of the country. For this purpose, the architect Speer was not good, so the fantasy of the Fuhrer ordered the engineer Fritz Todt.

The first thing the designer proposed to abandon the European standard gauge of 1435 mm and create a new, giant standard 4 000 mm. This decision was criticized by experts, suggested that in such a case, Germany would be cut off from the Railways of Europe, which has its adopted before the revolution standard.

But the Fuhrer has not suffered objections and stated that it could not care less, as it will be Germany, and very soon. Still, the railroad convinced Hitler that 4 meter for the track — it was too much and decided to stay for 3 metres.

Fantasies of the leader of the Nazis was not the limit — Hitler instructed to design highways across Europe, with bridges and tunnels to Britain and powerful direction to Tibet, India and the far East. The führer considered Eurasia as its own fiefdom and seriously planned to export agricultural products and minerals from the Urals, the Himalayas and Sakhalin, and later to build factories there, and the huge city of the German population.

But soon the aggravation passed and the leader decided to stay in Europe and Russia to the Ural mountains. Immediately it should be noted that true professionals never believed in the possibility of building a Breitspurbahn and quietly laughed at Todt, fueling morbid fantasies of a dictator. But to object to the führer and no one dared, so the best minds working on this utopian project.

The führer personally gave instructions to the specialists he's seen the new trains opponents ocean cruise in comfort and luxury. According to his instructions appearing on the paper cars with great restaurants, cinemas and swimming pools, beauty and baths.

In the development Breitspurbahn was occupied by dozens of companies creating projects railcars, locomotives, interior design, develop powerful gas turbines and electric generators. Total capacity electric trains-monster exceeded 18400 kW and this number is required to find new solutions.

Passenger train moved Titanic locomotive was to have a length of 500 meters, while the length of each car is 42 meters, width 6 meters and a height of 7 meters on two full floors. 4 000 passengers in that train would feel free and comfortable, and all of their requests from the casino and to the library, would be satisfied.

But with the beginning of the war, it became clear that demanding project Breitspurbahn will have to be postponed until better times, as all the forces and production facilities were designed to meet the needs of the front. In 1944, when it became clear that the Empire did not take place, about the railroad Hitler did and forgot. Fortunately, survived a variety of materials, and looking at them we can marvel at the imagination of the Fuhrer and his minions, who were completely detached from reality.