ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Hillclimbing (railway)

Hillclimbing on a railway is kind of like when you climb a hill on your bike or walking up a big staircase. But instead of a bike or staircase, it’s a big train or locomotive that has to climb up a tall hill.

Sometimes, trains need to climb up a hill that is really steep and hard to climb. That’s where hillclimbing comes in! The train will need a lot of power to get up the hill, kind of like how you would need a lot of energy to climb a really high hill on your bike or on the stairs.

The train will go up the hill slowly, using a lot of energy and power to climb. Sometimes, the train might even need to have extra engines added to it, to help it climb up the hill better. It’s like having your friends help you push your bike up the hill, except instead of friends, it’s extra engines on the train.

Hillclimbing can be a little bit tricky, because the train needs to be careful not to go too fast on the way up the hill. If it goes really fast, it might lose control and not be able to stop, kind of like how you might fall over if you’re going too fast on your bike up a hill.

So, hillclimbing is when a big train or locomotive climbs up a steep hill using a lot of power and energy. Sometimes it might need extra engines to help it out, and it has to be careful not to go too fast.