Kraków's Magic Carpet Ride on the Last Train to Clarksville

[puška]

Originally Posted by Tegyrius

I'll just leave this here for you:

http://tetro.spb.ru/_eng_projects/09_example_air.html

- C.

Love cutaways and diagrams. Awesome.

Granted, these PCs aren't recon Marines, but they have survived so far...

[recon35]

Put the flat car at the back of the train and let the tail hang out over the tracks...

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by recon35

Put the flat car at the back of the train and let the tail hang out over the tracks...

That's definitely the easiest way to do it. There COULD BE one complication though. If the overall length of the helo allows the tail to strike an object alongside a BEND in the tracks or a BEND IN A TUNNEL, you could be in trouble. I remember a Norfolk & Southern train accident in West Virginia a few years back that was the result of putting an 89ft Flatcar on a track with a very sharp bend just off of a stanchion bridge. The end of the car struck the stanchion and derailed. Not one of NS's better days.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

I don't recall seeing many railway tunnels in northern Poland when I was there in 2010 but there were enough cases of tracks passing under a traffic bridge or situations where trees grew close to the line even at bends on the tracks, for the same principle to apply. There were also cases where the tracks ran between tall walls/fences in the outer areas of towns.
I'll stress again, that what I saw was mostly northern Poland, I didn't check any rail lines in the south of the country.

I think you could probably successfully pass through some of these locations with the helo's tail hanging over the back of the rear flatcar but you'd want to be aware of them in advance to ensure you could get the clearance needed. Which would require scouting ahead or the like, all of which would slow the pace of travel for as long as it's necessary to do a recce - and then you might have to cut down trees or shift the helo to move the tail out of the way. In a worst case scenario you would have to remove the tail, so it might be worth doing that right at the start anyway.

[Legbreaker]

Another issue with putting it at the rear is you're sacrificing the chance of properly defending the rear arc of the train. Sure you can put a couple of machineguns and sandbags there, but not a lot more. Having a box car, or even just an empty flatcar at the rear allows building up a decent strong point.
Probably not a huge concern while the train is moving forward, but as we know in 2000 Poland there's a LOT of bridges and tracks destroyed or damaged - the train will be motionless, or even travelling in reverse more often than not while repairs are made, or an alternate route found.

[recon35]

Good points. I agree, that if you have the expertise, removing the tail boom is best. I know in the US, active rail rights of way are generally kept clear of trees, so I just assumed the same was in effect in Europe. These shouldn't have grown to the point of serious hindrance from the start of war to the present. As for rear security, another flat car, followed by third flat with fortifications or box with same should suffice.

[Legbreaker]

Bear in mind though that there are only limited cars available as per the module, and their order, at least to begin with, isn't exactly ideal for most purposes (although adjustable with a little time and effort). Also two of the three flatcars are already loaded with rails and sleepers.

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by recon35

Put the flat car at the back of the train and let the tail hang out over the tracks...

Put the chopper on a flat car, and have another flat car (an "idler") under the tail, but don't tie it down. The tail can swing loose over the flat car.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

Put the chopper on a flat car, and have another flat car (an "idler") under the tail, but don't tie it down. The tail can swing loose over the flat car.

Again, there are only three flat cars available, two of which are loaded with rails and sleepers.

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Again, there are only three flat cars available, two of which are loaded with rails and sleepers.

Surely, one of these won't be stacked so high that the tail boom cannot swing freely above it?

[Legbreaker]

I don't see how.

Attachment 4138

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Even if you can get the helo with tailboom intact onto any of the flatcars, there's still going to be the problem of some railway bends in Poland are quite closed in. Either because they have trees growing within a metre or two of the tracks or because they have fences/walls in some areas or they pass under bridges with support pillars within a two metres of the track.
Obviously on the straight there's no problem but the Mi-8 family is about 18 metres long from nose to tail with seven or so of that being the tailboom so corners are something to be concerned with.