Who ya gonna call? Mythbusters

[tbdanny]

Hi all,

Having watched a few episodes of Mythbusters, I'm thinking of emailing them and asking them to test some railroading and model railroading myths.  These are the ones I've got so far:

• The current across model train rails (DC and DCC) is enough to kill someone
• You can prevent a steam loco from starting by jamming quarters (I think) under the driving wheels
• A diesel-electric loco can't go through shallow water
  

They've already tested the 'pe*ing on the third rail' 'pennies on the track will derail a train' and 'train will suck baby strollers off a platform' myths.  Are there any others that should be tested?

Cheers,

tbdanny

[wabash1]

tbdanny

Hi all,

Having watched a few episodes of Mythbusters, I'm thinking of emailing them and asking them to test some railroading and model railroading myths.  These are the ones I've got so far:

• The current across model train rails (DC and DCC) is enough to kill someone
• You can prevent a steam loco from starting by jamming quarters (I think) under the driving wheels
• A diesel-electric loco can't go through shallow water
  

They've already tested the 'pe*ing on the third rail' 'pennies on the track will derail a train' and 'train will suck baby strollers off a platform' myths.  Are there any others that should be tested?

Cheers,

tbdanny

none of the trains i played with never killed me , and engines can go thru water that is over the rail with no problems

[tree68]

I was talking with someone not long ago that said they held a steamer in place with dimes.

As discussed on the forum not long ago, D/E's can go through a certain amount of water, but there is a limit.  Same with steamers.

A fraction of an amp can kill you if properly applied.  Like Wabash says, though, my models haven't killed me yet.

That said, I can't think of any myths to bust just now, either.

[tacitdreamer]

Any rumors that I am smart should be quickly put to rest when I say that I once connected a model train transformer to my tongue and then tried to see how high I could turn the throttle! 

I'm still alive!

I vagely remember it was an MRC with "pulse power", which probably dates me. 

The pulse power was an interesting sensation!

I don't remember ever repeating that experiment.  It was pretty painfull, but I don't remember any burns or tripping the breaker!

It would probably be a pretty good idea to strongly suggest that nobody try this.

[Andrew Falconer]

On a model railroad track you could try bare hand, bare feet, a bare concrete floor, water on the floor, and then when the power is applied, the charge willl zip through the body.

 

Andrew

[Great Bear 72000]

      On  the MythBuster`s web site there is a video of a couple of the show`s crew playing with a "tazer".  They were zapping their own tongues with it to see what it was like.  It was not pretty!

 

                              David          "The Central Of Texas Lines"

[blue streak 1]

This is a dangerous past time. Some model RR transformers are auto transformers especially pre WW II. Without getting into all the wiring the plugs on them are not polorized and plugging in one way may get you 120V to a ground. This is why tools today have the large barb on one prong of the plug. Auto transformers are much cheaper than isolation transformers.

[samfp1943]

   Reading this thread makes me shutter at some of the stunts I participated in and apparently escaped from while growing up (one could make a pretty good argument for ignorance being bliss in kids; especially, when compounded by a number of them playing together).

     We took for granted that the Lionel ZW was a powerful transformer; it was able to power a pretty large layout,  and with a good run of straight track you could launch a 'turbine' with enough force to knock the wind out of a friend.        It could also punch it through a plate glass window in the front of the store after having gone airborne for a pretty good distance from the shop layout that ran around the inside of the hobby shop.

    You could blow the fuses out in a whole house when you took all the accessories together on a large Lionel layout, and wired them together with a copper wire to simulate the 'normal environment', not to mention straightening out the neighborhood redhead's very curley hair.

Yep! Model Railroading was fun AND exciting,. 

[oltmannd]

How about "It take a mile to stop a freight train going 50 mph."?

[The Butler]

samfp1943

   Reading this thread makes me shutter at some of the stunts I participated in and apparently escaped from while growing up (one could make a pretty good argument for ignorance being bliss in kids; especially, when compounded by a number of them playing together).

     We took for granted that the Lionel ZW was a powerful transformer; it was able to power a pretty large layout,  and with a good run of straight track you could launch a 'turbine' with enough force to knock the wind out of a friend.        It could also punch it through a plate glass window in the front of the store after having gone airborne for a pretty good distance from the shop layout that ran around the inside of the hobby shop.

    You could blow the fuses out in a whole house when you took all the accessories together on a large Lionel layout, and wired them together with a copper wire to simulate the 'normal environment', not to mention straightening out the neighborhood redhead's very curley hair.

Yep! Model Railroading was fun AND exciting,. 

When I was a kid during Christmas, I would put one of the thin wire ornament hangers across my father's American Flyer tracks and crank up the juice.  The American Flyer transformer had that little wire glowing like a light bulb filament until it melted.  I had a Lionel transformer rated at twenty-five volts and up to ten amperes (I think).  I once put my head to the Lionel track to see a train approach from a model figure's perspective (one eye open).  My ear laid across all three rails...yowza! 

Yep!  Model Railroading was fun AND exciting.

[tree68]

oltmannd

How about "It take a mile to stop a freight train going 50 mph."?

That would be interesting.  Have to blow something up in the process, though...

[CopCarSS]

oltmannd

How about "It take a mile to stop a freight train going 50 mph."?

That's actually something I've wondered for a long time. In the event that Jamie and Adam don't take up the question, could we get some input from the railroaders here? What's the stopping distance for a loaded coal drag running at 50 mph assuming little or no grade and ideal conditions?

[BNSFwatcher]

I had a little (my first) "Scintilla" 12v DC power pack.  I converted it to optional "pulse power" by cutting one of the rectifier buss bars and wiring in a SPST switch.  I was soldering a lead to a rail and ran out of hands.  I put both alligator clips from the power pack in my mouth.  Mistake!  Don't remember if it was set for "pulse power", but I was....

Hays

[tbdanny]

 

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies.  So the complete list I now have, from here and the Model Railroader General Discussion forum, is as follows:

• The current across model train rails (DC, DCC and O/G scales) is enough to kill someone
  
• You can prevent a steam loco from starting by jamming quarters (I think) under the driving wheels
  
• A diesel-electric loco can't go through shallow water
  
• Metal model train wheelsets keep the tracks cleaner than plastic ones
  
• It takes 1 mile to stop a modern-day freight train going 50mph
  
• Improperly vented tank cars can implode (see here)

 I'll send the email and post here the reply (if any).

Thanks,

tbdanny

[carnej1]

tbdanny

 

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies.  So the complete list I now have, from here and the Model Railroader General Discussion forum, is as follows:

• The current across model train rails (DC, DCC and O/G scales) is enough to kill someone
  
• You can prevent a steam loco from starting by jamming quarters (I think) under the driving wheels
  
• A diesel-electric loco can't go through shallow water
  
• Metal model train wheelsets keep the tracks cleaner than plastic ones
  
• It takes 1 mile to stop a modern-day freight train going 50mph
  
• Improperly vented tank cars can implode (see here)

 I'll send the email and post here the reply (if any).

Thanks,

tbdanny

 Several of your bullet points don't even remotely qualify as urban legends. The restrictions on diesel electric traction motors in standing water have been extensively discussed on this forum including commentary by professional railroaders so no myth there. The stopping time for a freight train for a given tonnage on a given stretch of track is another thing you can determine by existing data (it's done everyday). I also seem to recall a recent discussion on the forum about the causes of tank car collapses, again with commentary by people who work in the industry. The question on model railroad wheelsets could be answered by writing to MODEL RAILROADER (again, where is the Myth?)

However, the first two items do seem like the type of thing MYTHBUSTERS would investigate......

 

[Bob-Fryml]

Many decades ago as a teenager my camera and I were poking around the C.& N.W. tracks in downtown Elgin, Ill.  As I wandered from place to place this old head railroader dressed in bib overalls approached and we struck up a conversation.

"Never did like them d--n diesels," he said.  "The smoke stinks, it'll burn your eyes, and it'll give you cancer."

"Now steam engines," he continued, "are much better.  Smoke from a steam engine is good for you.  It has vitamins!"

Look, I'm no nutritional expert and I cannot confess with authority to the differences between diesel fumes and coal smoke, but I've wondered, from time-to-time, if there's even a smidgen of truth to the old man's statements.    

[BNSFwatcher]

Much less, depending on the size of the avalanche, the weight of the opposing train on the same track, or whether the drawbridge is open.  Too many variables for a difinative answer, methinks.

Hays

[tbdanny]

Updated list:

• The current across model train rails (DC, DCC and O/G scales) is enough to kill someone
  
• You can prevent a steam loco from starting by jamming quarters (I think) under the driving wheels
  
• Improperly vented tank cars can implode (see here)
  
• A train can derail on ice, carve 'tracks' through it with its wheels, and back up along those 'tracks' to re-rail itself.

The tank car implosion one is still there as it's the type of thing they'd be more likely to test - I can only think of one episode I've seen that didn't have some sort of explosion/destruction in it.

[Geared Steam]

tbdanny

Improperly vented tank cars can implode (see here)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz95_VvTxZM

[ungern]

Here's one:

Is it better to blow through a stuck propane truck on the tracks or big hole it and jump and run.

Ungern 

[zugmann]

ungern

Here's one:

Is it better to blow through a stuck propane truck on the tracks or big hole it and jump and run.

Ungern 

 

 

If you jump from a train going at any decent speed, you are NOT going to be doing any running for a long while...

[oltmannd]

carnej1

tbdanny

 

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies.  So the complete list I now have, from here and the Model Railroader General Discussion forum, is as follows:

• The current across model train rails (DC, DCC and O/G scales) is enough to kill someone
  
• You can prevent a steam loco from starting by jamming quarters (I think) under the driving wheels
  
• A diesel-electric loco can't go through shallow water
  
• Metal model train wheelsets keep the tracks cleaner than plastic ones
  
• It takes 1 mile to stop a modern-day freight train going 50mph
  
• Improperly vented tank cars can implode (see here)

 I'll send the email and post here the reply (if any).

Thanks,

tbdanny

 Several of your bullet points don't even remotely qualify as urban legends. The restrictions on diesel electric traction motors in standing water have been extensively discussed on this forum including commentary by professional railroaders so no myth there. The stopping time for a freight train for a given tonnage on a given stretch of track is another thing you can determine by existing data (it's done everyday). I also seem to recall a recent discussion on the forum about the causes of tank car collapses, again with commentary by people who work in the industry. The question on model railroad wheelsets could be answered by writing to MODEL RAILROADER (again, where is the Myth?)

However, the first two items do seem like the type of thing MYTHBUSTERS would investigate......

OK.. Lets revise the train stopping one to "It takes a mile to stop a modern freight train going 50 mph because it's heavy" That IS an urban myth. ("heavy" has nothing to do with it) They wouldn't get to blow anything up, but they might get to run over Buster....