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 Replies: 25 / Views: 1,528 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3513 Posts |
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It would take a lot more than that to derail a train. Thank Gad! Though we had some relatively close calls with those 60mph commuter trains, none of our crew ever got hit by a train. Just the occasional, very sharp. very fast moving coin/projectiles. The tape idea was leading edge technology, and we did pass it along to the up & coming group of stupid kids, that played on the train tracks.
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Moderator
 United States
66551 Posts |
I wonder how many people found their coin still on the rail after a train passes.
My guess it would be very low on this happening.
You see, a train loco drops sand on the rail in front of the drive wheels, then it has a blower just behind them to clear off the sane after the drive wheels pass. (it saves wear on the wheels of the cars that follow)
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Moderator
United States
159316 Posts |
That dollar on the 1976 slide is a star note!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2224 Posts |
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You see, a train loco drops sand on the rail in front of the drive wheels, then it has a blower just behind them to clear off the sane after the drive wheels pass. (it saves wear on the wheels of the cars that follow) The more likely cause of not finding the coins placed on the track is the vibration and the wheels throwing them off the track after contact. this is why I waited until train was fairly close. The sanding takes place when extra traction is needed (like starting off, steep grades, wet and slippery conditions and braking).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3513 Posts |
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The sanding takes place when extra traction is needed Very good info there. I never knew about the sand trick! Interesting fact: the 2 steepest grades on U.S. commercial train lines are in North Carolina and Indiana. Living in Colorado I woulda thought Here would be more likely, but nope.
Edited by Tacc
03/11/2025 5:50 pm
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Valued Member
 United States
475 Posts |
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That dollar on the 1976 slide is a star note! It is also a silver certificate. I think the skit might have intended for the silver certificate to be on the 1955 slide instead of the series 1963a.
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Moderator
Australia
16210 Posts |
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NOTE: It is not illegal to deface coins unless there is fraudulent intent. While defacement and flattening of coins isn't illegal in America, using a train to do so almost certainly is unless you've got your own private railroad. Walking on to a railroad track, even on a grade crossing, is technically trespassing if you don't directly cross the track without stopping, and deliberately placing a coin (or any other object) on a track is against state law, if not federal law. These laws aren't there just to be killjoys. And it's not because the train might derail or the track might get damaged, those are really very low probability events. A coin dislodged from under a train's wheels can be expelled with considerable force; getting hit by a flattened coin moving at such speed would be not unlike getting hit by a staple gun. It probably won't kill anyone - but it might, if it hits you in just the right spot.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3513 Posts |
Agree Sap, they can be sharp as a razor too! We were occasionally scolded as kids to get off the tracks by railroad employees
wielding beautiful , vicious German Shepards.
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Moderator
United States
159316 Posts |
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It is also a silver certificate. I think the skit might have intended for the silver certificate to be on the 1955 slide instead of the series 1963a. 
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Moderator
United States
32884 Posts |
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I can't find a single picture online of a train-smashed half dollar or dollar coin. In my meager collection, I have 4 cents, 1 nickel, and 2 dimes. Pretty sure that all my quarters were spent at the arcade and didn't have anything larger in my pocket those days.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Replies: 25 / Views: 1,528 |
First Page
Posted 03/11/2025 08:26 am
Uncirculated American Silver Eagles 
