new map for you all: "how big can trains be?" across europe using declared loading gauges from the ERA RINF. purple = big trains, red = small trains, green = somewhere in between.
https://compute.olie.science/expo/?data=loading_gauge/2026-03-18#x=8.0973&y=48.8056&z=5.0605
thanks go to @kaat0 for helping with the data. all mistakes are my own :)
uk loading gauge data added thanks to @wnd
i was really hoping for it to be a bit more interesting but it turns out that british trains are fairly uniformly tiny
(HS1's GC gauge annoyingly not in the data before anyone asks :) )
same link as before: https://compute.olie.science/expo/?data=loading_gauge/2026-03-18#x=11.4357&y=50.3034&z=3.6377
@bovine3dom @kaat0 yup. This is actually no surprise to anyone who looks at this stuff.
(I will add the HS1 gauge to the repository once I get the rest of it working.
But you won't get nice things if you don't invest in the infrastructure.)
@wnd if we got the french to run their GB gauge TGV-Ms across the network as a kind of freedom of navigation exercise eventually the gauge would improve
they may need to up-armour them mad-max style first
Oliver Blanthorn
Will Deakin