Awesome Things with Wheels

This post is all about things with wheels. Now, I'm all for anything with wheels, but the word before the word 'Thing' is Awesome! Which means the things that will feature on this list will be better than normal things are. I'm a bit of a transport fan. Anything that moves people and items, I'm all for. Cars, Trains, Planes, Boats, etc. This starting post focus' on them related to land going vehicles. Let's get started.

The Bucket Wheel Excavator
What a great way to start a list! Bam! Straight into the deep end with this one. Surprisingly it doesn't have wheels...ah. Oh well, we'll still carry on because this is awesome. Bucket Wheel Excavators are used in mining. That's probably thier only practical use. But what makes it a contender for this list? Well, have you seen it? This sort of thing makes even Optimus Prime shake with fear!. It looks like something hell-bent on destroying the Earth. Actually, that is kinda what it does, except it more or less just digs it up. JCB's are known for thier digging ability but this just takes the biscuit! Vatican City is smaller than this. Bagger 293 (pictured above) is so big, it's scored the Guinness World Record the biggest land vehicle ever at over 738 feet long, 319 feet tall and weighs over 14,000 tons. Funnily enough, it only requires 5 people to operate it making it very simple for it's size.



Challenger 2 Trojan
Again with the tracks...To be honest, I really wouldn't want to come face to face with a tank. The Challenger 2's are scarily awesome as they are. They shoot missiles out of that long tube on the front, travel over rough terrain at 40mph and blow up whatever may be in the way. Buildings. Planes. Bridges. Other tanks. Now, I know tracks aren't really wheels but it should still be here. The picture above is only the front of one of it's variants - the Trojan - and it isn't made any less scary with Uncle Albert in his day glow jacket pictured slightly to the left of this menacing machine. Yes, they have removed the cannon, which is relief. Whoa, hold ye of little faith as this bit of war kit has been decked out with all manor of lovely looking things (and by lovely, I actually mean dangerous). The Trojan is fitted with an excavator bucket so it can pick things up and move them. Things like buildings, planes, bridges and other tanks. The plough has got them evil teeth to help clear mines and push things out of the way. This has been used in Afghanistan (and on Top Gear, where I first saw it) to go on ahead to create a clear path for other vehicles. Well, that's what they say. I think it's used to scare the living daylights out of whoever may be around...

Roller Coasters
Can we say that roller coasters are a form of land transport? For the ease of my selfish self, I'm going to say yes. Mainly because, roller coasters are a form of such feats that they sort of have to be. For example, the worlds fastest roller coaster is Kingda Ka. Kingda Ka resides in one of America's world famous Six Flags parks. It is made even more special by what it is designed to do: go from 0-128 mph in 2.8 seconds. Put this into consideration. It is a safe way of going above the US speed limit without a car. 128mph is fast on anyone's account. But getting there in less time than thinking about getting off, you're hurtled along the track and up the worlds tallest drop. And the thing is with roller coasters is that they're incredibly initiative. Air at Alton Towers is the worlds first flying roller coaster and although it doesn't go very fast, it gives a whole new roller coaster experience. Alton Towers has a thing with worlds firsts. Oblivion (above), Air an Th13teen are the worlds first "Dive Machines," Flying Roller coaster and aptly named "Psychoaster" respectively which isn't bad for the fact they're all British. Speaking of world firsts, Universal Studios in Florida has the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit which add a soundtrack to your ride. It's the little things you know. So, are they a contender for the list? Letting you travel faster than the speed limit, safely throw you into loops and barrel rolls in a little train...yes, they do! Hmmm, train...

London Northern Eastern Railway Pacific Class A4 4468
Also known as Mallard, for those of you who don't want to say London Northern Eastern Railway Pacific Class A4 4468 in your head every time you read it, is, well, quite simply a steam train. But not just any old steam train. Mallard is the worlds fastest steam train. Now, 126mph doesn't sound very fast (I mean, Kingda Ka goes 2mph faster) but it powered it's way to it's record breaking journey in 1938. That's a record that's been held for 74 years! The only way you could have gone faster in 1938, would have been by plane (very expensive) or to throw yourself off a very tall building and wait until you reach your terminal velocity, which may or may not be 125mph - depends on how streamlined you are. America tried to have a go with the PRR S1 Prototype but it was unofficially recorded, so Mallard keeps the title to this day. That's true, British engineering for you. New-fangled trains now do that speed legally on the line, showing that you can only just as fast then as what you can now (I say that, today's trains can go faster but tend not to).

ThrustSCC
ThrustSCC is a car. But not any ordinary car. There's no boot. There's no place for your passenger to go. There's not even a spare wheel in case one gets flat. What Thrust is, is berserk. With Thrust, instead of an internal combustion engine, there are two Rolls-Royce jet engines either side of the cockpit. SCC stands for Super Sonic Car. It was designed for one reason in particular. To break the land speed record for and the sound barrier. It went so fast, that the team behind the car had to give the controls to RAF pilot, Andy Green, to cope with the forces this 763mph car could create. And to put it into perspective. A Boeing 777 cruises at just over 500mph. 763mph is just over Mach 1 (very fast). It really is an upside down airplane with no wings. The car broke the speed limit set by it's predecessor Thrust2 in 1997 and now the British/American creators aim to go 1,000mph with their new vehicle Bloodhound, but that's not til next year so ThrustSCC is staying firmly here.

The Segway
Now, hear me out. There is meaning behind the madness. How can a device used to usher fat Americans around be here on the same list as the stupidly fast ThrustSCC or the almighty Trojan? Well, the answer is simple. In fact it's too simple. In actual fact I've given the simple of answer of simple a few times in them few sentences. It's because it's so simple! I have been on a Segway and how they work is just nothing short of remarkable. The laws of physics state that it should not work; it should just fall over, only having two wheels on the side n'all. But the technology in there makes it stand upright. So upright that it can take the strain of a person. Just lean forwards to go forwards and lean backwards to stop or go backwards. And to turn, simply turn the handlebars like you would with a bike. In that small casing under your feet, there's a gyroscope that senses movement and make it act accordingly. It's very easy to operate but unfortunately, it doesn't like to fit in with society in the UK like what it does with America and that's why it hasn't caught on over here. Which is a shame really. Just goes to show: we're a lot different to the Americans really.

The Batmobile

I wanted to be ironic with the last vehicle and wanted to pick a car that was made famous from a movie. I only chose the Batmobile (Tumbler from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) because it looks pretty menacing, with it's stealth armour and massive rear wheels to name a few of it's features. But I could have also chosen the DeLorean DMC-12 from the Back to the Future trilogy; that could travel through time itself. I could also have chosen Ecto-1; The converted hearse from Ghostbusters. Or I could have chosen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. There's so much choice! Bond's Aston Martin DB5; Herby the VW Beetle Love Bug; Lightning McQueen; The murderous Christine from the film Christine all deserve a mention. All because they're all awesome in their own unique way. Usually the wheels end up becoming more famous than the films they appear in or the films become more iconic, thanks to the car!