The rail isn’t such a problem in Edinburgh. It’s more the hills behind it that blocks expansion. The rail isn’t such a big problem – tunnels are easily dug.
That isn’t a contrail, because contrails are only visible 50-100 meters after the engine (depending on the type). Here the aircraft is probably flying in a humid area. I can’t explain this effect completely, but it isn’t a contrail.
There are contrails however. As you may know, fuel contains under others Hydrogen (H) and Carbon (C). The Hydrogen, which is a connection of two atoms (=H2), undergoes a connection with O2, which we breathe. The waste product of burning Hydrogen is H2O. But, for example, H2+O2 doesn’t connect. You therefore need 2H2+O2, which creates: 2H2O. This is called a reaction equotation.
Because our engines aren’t running on pure Hydrogen, this equotation does not apply to this system. However, this is what makes contrails. The water that comes out of the engines is still in the aggregation state of gas. When it is exhausted from the engine, it quickly cools down from the very hot inside of the engine to normal temperature. Very small parts of water (or ice) make a cloud. Contrails are actually just clouds. Because the parts are so small, they don’t drop to earth. There is of course other crap exhausted from the engine, but we don’t see that because it isn’t present at a big quantity and has other boil and melt temperatures.
Tried to explain it my best, if you ahve further questions about this chemistry, feel free to PM me.
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