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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > Pennies on Tracks--Dangerous?

Pennies on Tracks--Dangerous?
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Feb 14, 2008, 02:25 PM
 
The other day someone asked me if it was possible to derail a train by putting pennys on the track. i never did it, i just photograph/film trains so i didnt know what to say. personally i dont think its possible. a GE Dash9-44CW running 4,400 hp wieghs around 394,000lbs. how much does a penny wiegh- 1 ounce. tell wat you think cuz i dont know else to say.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 02:26 PM
 
ya, cars, cows, garbage and people aren't much of a problem but I have seen a penny cause an entire train to fly 2000 feet in the air.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 02:28 PM
 
I nominate this thread for wacky thread of the year 2008.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 02:32 PM
 
only in older pennies, the angle of the coin side is the perfect angle when laid flat on a slightly curved surface (ala train track) to move any weight upwards.
we don't have time to stop for gas
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 02:38 PM
 
Chuck
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Feb 14, 2008, 02:43 PM
 
thanks chuckit.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 02:56 PM
 
Due to penny:
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 03:27 PM
 
You would think Norfolk Southern would be the most qualified to answer this question...

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Feb 14, 2008, 03:34 PM
 
Films trains?
"Everything's so clear to me now: I'm the keeper of the cheese and you're the lemon merchant. Get it? And he knows it.
That's why he's gonna kill us. So we got to beat it. Yeah. Before he let's loose the marmosets on us."
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Feb 14, 2008, 03:37 PM
 

All glory to the hypnotoad.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 04:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by Norfolk Southern View Post
tell wat you think cuz i dont know else to say.
No.
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 04:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
Due to penny:
Yeah, that half a truck sitting there in the corner couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 05:41 PM
 
You guys really should stop minting pennies.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 05:52 PM
 
I smell a Mythbusters episode.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 06:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by nonhuman View Post
Yeah, that half a truck sitting there in the corner couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it.
He ran over the penny also.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 06:47 PM
 
Whenever I cross the tracks that intersect my usual cycling path I see a fair number of squished pennies.
-"I don't believe in God. "
"That doesn't matter. He believes in you."

-"I'm not agnostic. Just nonpartisan. Theological Switzerland, that's me."
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 06:54 PM
 
I tried it once with a loonie which could have sent the train into orbit but the train vibrations rattled it off the track before smooshage. Guess you got to tape it down.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 07:15 PM
 
You can line up Oxycontin pills on a track and the train crushes them into a perfect line. I would recommend snorting it up quickly before another train comes.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 07:19 PM
 
Hmm... how big of a girl is Penny? Even if she was super fat the train would probably squish her. So I guess putting any Penny on a track would be ok.

Now a 1 yen coin on a shinkansen track. That would be fun....

Ooooo.... maybe I should try...
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 07:21 PM
 
Well, I've put about a million pennies on tracks before and haven't caused any mayhem. To my knowledge
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 07:28 PM
 
I have never done this...

     
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Feb 14, 2008, 08:16 PM
 
Originally Posted by Ghoser777 View Post
I smell a Mythbusters episode.
They already tested it. I forget what episode it was, and a quick search didn't turn it up, but all that resulted of the test were very thin pennies.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 08:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by Ghoser777 View Post
I smell a Mythbusters episode.
They already did it. It was busted. Think about it - it's a tiny penny with little structural strength compared to the momentum of a speeding train.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 08:29 PM
 
is this the plane on a treadmill question of 2008??
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 08:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by d4nth3m4n View Post
is this the plane on a treadmill question of 2008??
See you all on page 32.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 08:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by d4nth3m4n View Post
is this the plane on a treadmill question of 2008??
I can absolutely guarantee you the train will not take off even if it derails.
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:04 PM
 
Can i have your social security number please? Thx
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:05 PM
 
237-44-5917
Did you need my credit card numbers too? Thx
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by Butthawk View Post
Can i have your social security number please? Thx
lol

457-55-5462 lol

lol
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:14 PM
 
lol
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:20 PM
 
Can I have your full name and maiden name too.

I rode on a train once and sat near this guy that kept on farting it was nasty lol
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:21 PM
 
Thx
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:27 PM
 
Originally Posted by Butthawk View Post
Can I have your full name and maiden name too.

I rode on a train once and sat near this guy that kept on farting it was nasty lol
LOLZ!!!!1! taht was funny.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:30 PM
 
I didnt think so at the time. Seriously. This guy was also very fat. I hated him.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 09:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by Butthawk View Post
I didnt think so at the time. Seriously. This guy was also very fat. I hated him.
But was he French or white? lol
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 10:23 PM
 
Where I grew up you had to cross train tracks to get to the beach and we put one cent pieces on the tracks a few times, but after the train came by we could never find the coins.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 10:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
Well, I've put about a million pennies on tracks before and haven't caused any mayhem. To my knowledge
And to think you could have been about $10,000 richer instead.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 10:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by Brass View Post
And to think you could have been about $10,000 richer instead.
I was waiting on someone's mathematical genius.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 11:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by mdc View Post
Where I grew up you had to cross train tracks to get to the beach and we put one cent pieces on the tracks a few times, but after the train came by we could never find the coins.
Sounds like you could have used tape also.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 11:23 PM
 
If they come flying off of the track and hit you it might be dangerous. The pennies, that is. They can come off pretty insistently.
He can be fixed -- you can't.
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 11:26 PM
 
analogue sprinkles why is there a red bug in all of your posts? lol!
     
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Feb 14, 2008, 11:35 PM
 
Originally Posted by Butthawk View Post
analogue sprinkles why is there a red bug in all of your posts? lol!
Why is your name Butthawk? The mysteries of life.
     
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Feb 15, 2008, 01:53 AM
 
on a side note. Why is it that on every film where a train hits a car the train then speeds on without stopping (I'm thinking of Back to the Future part 3 here specifically but it's quite common).
I'm thinking most times the train driver WILL stop after a major collision. Maybe this doesn't occur the writers!
     
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Feb 15, 2008, 02:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
Why is your name Butthawk? The mysteries of life.
Is Butthawk one of those bot like scripts that post various comments in threads? Sort of like IRC bots?
     
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Feb 15, 2008, 03:40 AM
 
I think one of the thread's participants realized the potential for comedy gold (tm) in this thread, and decided to switch screennames and post pseudonymously.
     
Eug
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Feb 15, 2008, 08:07 AM
 
     
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Feb 15, 2008, 08:13 AM
 
Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens View Post
on a side note. Why is it that on every film where a train hits a car the train then speeds on without stopping (I'm thinking of Back to the Future part 3 here specifically but it's quite common).
I'm thinking most times the train driver WILL stop after a major collision. Maybe this doesn't occur the writers!
Hit and run. They'll never figure out who did it if they can get far enough away from the scene of the accident.
     
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Feb 15, 2008, 09:37 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
"A local group of young kids were playing on what seemed to be fluffy white snow... they never saw it coming."
     
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Feb 15, 2008, 11:54 AM
 
Did AOL invade MacNN?
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Feb 15, 2008, 11:55 AM
 
Reminds me of an episode of Pete and Pete.
     
 
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