Many Railcars were present at the time of the 1920s but modifying an ordinary Railcar into a propeller-driven and adding the engine of the airplane, which is ready to run on the railway track, must be the idea of brilliant Engineers only. Schienenzeppelin was the one modified Railcar. 

Further, will be going in-depth about it and how other Railcars were invented later in 1940 taking the idea from Schienenzeppelin.

What is Schienenzeppelin or Rail-zeppelin?

Schienenzeppelin (Rail-zeppelin)

Schienenzeppelin or rail zeppelin was an experimental railcar in the appearance of the zeppelin. Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship moving in the sky. Keeping the structure of the zeppelin in the mind.

The structure was made of a train with a look-alike zeppelin and the body of a bullet train, with a hybrid structure of aircraft engine and propeller-driven at the rear end. The Inventor behind making this beautiful invention was Franz Kruckenberg, who was born on August 21, 1882, in Uetersen.

He was a German mechanical engineer and railway designer. He was a pioneer of express rail traffic; 

History

Vintage Railcar

Back in 1920, when many railroads passed passengers and goods from one country to another. Slowly railways were evolving and with the evolving nature, engineers were trying to change the world with their thoughts and ideas.

In late 1929, One such German aircraft engineer named Franz Kruckenberg decided to add an aircraft engine to a train to create something that resembles like airship on rails. As he was an aircraft engineer, he started designing Zeppelin airship dreaming that would run on the rails. Numerous years were spent on designing it. 

He started to put effort into making the body like a bullet-shaped train. When finally the body and the engine were built, this railcar or train (Schienenzeppelin) was propelled with a propeller at the end(rear) of the train. In 1930 it was ready to run on the rails.

This train was named Schienenzeppelin.

About Schienenzeppelin

Model Schienenzeppelin

It was invented by German engineer Franz Kruckenberg in the year 1929. 

It had the engine of the aircraft and a propeller at the rear end. The body was designed as a bullet train and the material used was aluminum. It had a capacity of 40 passengers. 

It broke World railroad speed on 10th May 1931 up till 1954. It had a top speed of 143 mph or 243 km/hr which set a record for gasoline-powered rail engines at that time. Rather other railcars had a speed of 139 mph. It had a height of 2.8m with 28.5m long. 

This Schienenzeppelin was only once built and was later scrapped in 1939 due to its risk factors.

Modifications made

Schienenzeppelin was built in 1930 at the time of the Hannover-Leinhausen division of the German Imperial Railway Company. The railcar was modified several times like the original had was powered by two joined BMW IV 6-cylinder gasoline aircraft engines with 4-blade propellers.

But later due to a large crowd was not able to catch this run machine(Schienenzeppelin) it was Increased by changing the engine to a single BMW VI 12-cylinder, with 2 bladed propellers.

How did Schienenzeppelin(Railcar) work?

The propeller at the rear(end) of the Schienenzeppelin

The engine provides trust to rear-pointing to a four-blade fixed ash propeller. The shaft attracted to the propeller was raised by 7 degrees from horizontal to provide a downward thrust to push the railcar forward.

Problems faced after some years

One of the most important was concern over its safety. The open propellers were far too dangerous in crowded railway stations. 

The engine also had no reverse drive.

Also, the rear-ended propeller was not clear whether it would pull the additional railcar.

Since this revolutionary design would require a massive amount of investment for further modifications. Instead, a new monorail was designed and sent for approval and got approved.

The end of Schienenzeppelin was near

With the small capacity of passengers and concern over the safety and investment in it in the future was too much difficult later in 1939, this Schienenzeppelin was scrapped.

The time was a world war, and the German army also needed material instead of saving it in the museum it would be used for war was the motive. 

The engines that had power were cannibalized and fitted to german light bombers. The rest body of the railcar(Schienenzeppelin) was melted down for the german warship.

The invention of further Trains using ideas from Schienenzeppelin

Aeromotowagon Railcar

Schienenzeppelin was a great invention but had various factors that had risks in it, which pulled it near failure. Several inventions were made by the inventor Franz Kruckenberg. He later opened his company and started producing vehicles that did not last for a long time.

By far the best invention award was given to Franz Kruckenberg for his invention Schienenzeppelin.

 G.H.Hardy and Ramanujan both were great mathematicians. They loved talking about numbers. One fine day Ramanujan's health was not good due to the weather in England and its food and he was admitted to hospital. So Hardy thought he should visit Ramanujan for asking about his health. So Hardy prearranged a taxi and headed to the hospital to meet him. But while traveling, Harrdy always had a habit of noting down the taxi's number whenever he traveled from the taxi.

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Story of Hardy meeting Ramanujan in hospital

Hardy noted down the number of taxis in 1729. When he looked at the number he felt it was a very unimportant and ordinary number. He reached out to Ramanujan and asked him about his health. Then Hardy talked about the number(1729) with him. 'No Hardy' said Ramanujan. Ramanujan with his explanation about how unique is the number. 1729 is the world's first smallest number which can be expressed as a sum of two positive cubes (for example 12^3 + 1^3). 1729 is known as the second Taxicab number or 'Hardy-Ramanujan' number as it derives its name from a story starting from that taxi cab. This was a famous story about one of India's great mathematical geniuses Shrinivasa Ramanujan.

Born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Madras Presidency, British India. He went to a local school named Kangayan Primary school in Madras. He was not able to speak until he was five. He did not like school in Madras and tried to avoid attending it. His family enlisted a local person to make sure he attended school. As time passed he created an interest in mathematics. In primary class, he came first in mathematics in the village. He took admitted to Town higher secondary school for his higher studies. 

At the age of 13, he completely mastered a book on advanced trigonometry. By that time, he had also discovered sophisticated theorems on his own. Solving college-level questions in primary school got to know his talent in mathematics. He got a Subramaniam scholarship due to mathematics but perhaps lost it due to scoring low in other subjects. He tried to score good marks in class 12th but failed in it too. This was the worst phase of Ramanujan's life. He had financial problems so he took classes for college students. As he did not have a college degree no one was able to give him a job. He got married to a girl named Janki in 1908.

How was the Bernoullis number invented?

He went to Madras and contacted deputy collector V Rama Swami Iyer, he was a great mathematician as well. At last, the deputy collector knew the potential in Ramanujan and decided to give Rupees 25 scholarships per month to Ramanujan. Staying in Madras for 1 year he published his first research named 'Properties of Bernoulli Number'.

Remembering India's one of the greatest mathematical geniuses Srinivasa Ramanujan on his birth anniversary on 22 December.

Though life is long or short if you believe in yourself, dedicated to your work, then you will get success.

Over the past few decades, contemporary literature has addressed the emerging factor influencing the new economy of the over-the-top in India. In the last few years, a chunk of the digitally sophisticated audience has shifted its interest to new-age OTT platforms as a source of entertainment. 

What is OTT?

History Of OTT Platforms:-

Over the past few years, OTT platforms have been clamoring to get market share in one of the fertile grounds to be in India. Unlike other countries, India is growing with the viewership on the OTT(Over The Top) immensely.

But it all started with the first dependent Indian OTT platform Big Flix. Big Flix was launched by Reliance in the year 2008 but it was not impactful. After years passed, in 2013 Ditto T.V.(Now known as Zee) and Sony Liv was launched which got a good response. It was a time when data had a high price and there was no subscription to any OTT platforms. Thus many of the audience could not afford to watch online. 

Many other OTT platforms were also rising like Youtube, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, and many more by the year 2015. By the time people were aware of watching TV serials online. And then there was an entry of Reliance Jio which changed India from a lack of internet usage to most users of the internet in the world.

The Rise Of OTT Platforms in India:-

The Rising Wave of the Indian OTT Market:-

The Rise of OTT platforms was when data(internet) was cheap, this was all possible due to Reliance Jio entering the market in the year 2016. Jio gave unlimited data(internet), due to which there was a lot of usage of the internet and due to which OTT platforms were growing.

People got more attracted towards digital platforms by the year 2016 be it watching cricket on Hotstar or watching movies and web series on various other ott platforms like Netflix, Prime, Hotstar, and many more.

From the year when data was the cheap rise, OTT platforms were rising tremendously. Ott was also rising because of its original content shows. 

How do OTT Platforms make money?

OTT has to buy the rights to the movie for release or streaming on their respective platforms. The process is that the respective OTT platform gives a fixed amount to the filmmakers and the producers make the film for less than that and the remaining is the profit of the OTT platform.

They also generate revenue from subscriptions that they take from their audience, by which they can produce their own shows or movies, or web series and present them on their own platforms.

Opportunity To Talent (OTT):-

OTT has given underrated actors unforgettable characters. Standing in support and providing an equal platform and opportunity to showcase the talent irrespective of their background. Letting on work and talent of the actor shine.

For many well-known actors who didn't have work in past years, OTT has given them chance on their talent. The common man got a job due to these platforms. 

The emergence of OTT during Covid Pandemic:-

A good step taken by OTT Platforms for age restrictions:-

Is one OTT platform enough for the Indian viewers?

One OTT platform is simply not enough for Indian viewers.
Because Indians are so hungry for online video content that they are lapping everything available.

There is various content on each platform. So the viewer will not rely only on one platform.

For example, Netflix content can't be seen on Hotstar and vice versa.

Conclusion:-

The media and entertainment industry witnessed a rapid change in the current year with disruptions due to technological advances and cheap data and mobile penetration. 

OTT engagement is expected to grow steadily in the years to come. The Indian market has a huge potential to be one of Asia's biggest media and entertainment markets.

Thus it is safe to say that the OTTs have revolutionized the entertainment industry and with their steadily growing potential they will continue to keep us glued to our screens.

So to conclude, the Indian OTT industry still holds many opportunities, yet to be explored. With growing access to mobile data and internet-based services in the rural parts of the country, the no of users and subscribers is set to be on the rise.