Ishmael wrote: snagletooth wrote: Can you imagine the reaction when the phone call comes through at the St. Louis Zoo to borrow an elephant? Sad to say, the St. Louis Zoo is getting rid of it's elephants. Seems the animal rights people complained that elephants need a lot of room, and they are unhealthy in confinement.So they're being sent out west somewhere for retirement. Maybe they'll be used as helpers on Sherman Hill.
snagletooth wrote: Can you imagine the reaction when the phone call comes through at the St. Louis Zoo to borrow an elephant?
Sad to say, the St. Louis Zoo is getting rid of it's elephants. Seems the animal rights people complained that elephants need a lot of room, and they are unhealthy in confinement.
So they're being sent out west somewhere for retirement. Maybe they'll be used as helpers on Sherman Hill.
Ishmael wrote: Indians seem to be rather level-headed when it comes to unexpected circumstances. Years ago, I saw a photo in National Geographic of small four wheel boxcars being pushed in a factory environment by an elephant.Seems the switch engine conked out and couldn't be repaired for a while, so some smart Gunga Din decided to use the elephants.Can you imagine that at Granite City Steel?
Indians seem to be rather level-headed when it comes to unexpected circumstances. Years ago, I saw a photo in National Geographic of small four wheel boxcars being pushed in a factory environment by an elephant.
Seems the switch engine conked out and couldn't be repaired for a while, so some smart Gunga Din decided to use the elephants.
Can you imagine that at Granite City Steel?
I used to run out of there, I would not have a problem with it if it either be elephants or crane that put the coil onto the deck. But it would be a royal Brick for OSHA LOL.
Dan
trainhooked wrote:anybody got a pic of this, how hilarious - a hundred [probably a thousand] little indians pushing their train to work.......lol. Never would that occur in any other country.
Reminds me of the old joke about passenger classes on a bus line in rural Latin America (told to a relative who was traveling there in the 1950s). There were three classes of passenger tickets, even though everybody sat in the same kind of seat. Explanation was that when the bus broke down, the following applied: FIRST CLASS passengers stay on the bus, SECOND CLASS passengers get off and walk, THIRD CLASS passengers get off and push.
I wonder if the same thing applies on Indian railroads?
dknelson wrote: But I do remember the night one of late-afternoon the Hiawatha trains had to stop at Waterford Avenue on Milwaukee's south side because the bridge near the downtown depot was stuck open and nobody could find a maintainer to fix it. After a while with the train just sitting there, the doors started to open and passengers started to climb down from the train (no platform so that last step was a doozy). I am sure the conductors had not authorized this, and the bridge would not have affected freight traffic on the other track, so it was also dangerous.So all these business types in their suits are wandering around Waterford Avenue asking us railfans "where are we?" so they could call someone on their cell phones to come get them.
But I do remember the night one of late-afternoon the Hiawatha trains had to stop at Waterford Avenue on Milwaukee's south side because the bridge near the downtown depot was stuck open and nobody could find a maintainer to fix it. After a while with the train just sitting there, the doors started to open and passengers started to climb down from the train (no platform so that last step was a doozy). I am sure the conductors had not authorized this, and the bridge would not have affected freight traffic on the other track, so it was also dangerous.
So all these business types in their suits are wandering around Waterford Avenue asking us railfans "where are we?" so they could call someone on their cell phones to come get them.
That used to happen quite a bit on the (CNW) Metra commuter trains when they get stopped between CY tower and CPT during bad weather.
It was especially "interesting" when this would happen when the train was already inside the interlocking limits of Clinton and Lake streets. And with all of the interlocking switches on fire to melt the snow, plus all of the snow that has fallen, a bunch of empty suits hop off the train to try to walk the last quarter mile. Of course, when these spuds start hitting the ground, the towers have to stop all trains so the dolts do not get hit. And with 16 depot tracks being fed from 6 main lines, there can be numerous train movement at any one time. So when the towers stop the other trains, many of those passengers will bail off their train, meaning more trains have to be stopped, which means more people bail, ad infinitum.
Soon the entire depot area is swarming with lost yuppies, frustrated train crews and officials.
Somehow the mental picture of passengers on Amtrak's Hiawatha Service between Milwaukee and Chicago getting out to push the train does not seem to be coming into sharp focus.
But I do remember the night one late-afternoon Hiawatha train had to stop at Waterford Avenue on Milwaukee's south side because the bridge near the downtown depot was stuck open and nobody could find a maintainer to fix it. After a while with the train just sitting there, the doors started to open and passengers started to climb down from the train (no platform so that last step was a doozy). I am sure the conductors had not authorized this, and the bridge would not have affected freight traffic on the other track, so it was also dangerous.
So all these business types in their suits are wandering around Waterford Avenue asking us railfans "where are we?" so they could call someone on their cell phones to come get them. It was funny because some of these guys had clearly never been on the south side of Milwaukee before and had no idea where "13th and Howard" was, much less Waterford Avenue, much less Wilson Park. They had these stunned expressions on their faces as we tried to give them coordinates. But over time cars would show up and drive them off. I doubt if many walked down to 13th St to catch a bus. And just try getting a taxi to come to a place with no street number! The pizza places won't even deliver there either
Dave Nelson
PATNA, India (AP) - A stalled train in India got a helpful nudge from hundreds of railway passengers in eastern India, a railway official said Wednesday. The train stalled in the Buxar district of the state of Bihar on Tuesday when an electrical connection snapped, railway spokesman A.K. Chandra said.
The driver then asked the passengers to push the train to the next electricity pole about 60 yards away, where the train was able to restart and resume its journey, he added.
The electric passenger train was traveling between Banahi and Raghunathpur.
India has one the world's largest railway network that carries more than 14 million passengers daily, but railway stations and tracks are often poorly maintained resulting in accidents and a poor safety record.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070516/D8P5LV280.html
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