WEIRD RAIL NEWS

[upchuck]

I entered "Weird Rail News" in the Yahoo search engine and came
up with this interesting site. When the going gets weird, the weird
turn pro...

[rvos1979]

Uh.... Where's the link?

Randy

[upchuck]

http://users.foxvalley.net/~osn/WeirdRailNews.htm

[adrianspeeder]

Strange stuff for sure...

Adrianspeeder

[TrainFreak409]

Heh heh, I like the UP Speed Bump.

[Anonymous]

hey awesoem stuff but also weird!!!

[DaveBr]

What's more weirder then what they are doing to Amtrak 11 and #14?????
Dave Br

[mustanggt]

Train travel was disrupted briefly in South Wales when a giant inflatable Ronald McDonald got away from a local McDonald's and blew onto the train tracks near the town of Newport. The 25-foot-high clown eventually blew off the tracks and was still on the loose at press time.

i can only imagine this one.....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mustanggt

Train travel was disrupted briefly in South Wales when a giant inflatable Ronald McDonald got away from a local McDonald's and blew onto the train tracks near the town of Newport. The 25-foot-high clown eventually blew off the tracks and was still on the loose at press time.

i can only imagine this one.....

LOL!

[Anonymous]

You have to see this:
The US FAA has a device for testing the strength of windshields on airplanes. They point this thing at the windshield of the aircraft and shoot a dead chicken at about the speed the aircraft normally flies at it. If the windshield doesn't break, it's likely to survive a real collision with a bird during flight.
The British had recently built a new locomotive that could pull a train faster than any before it. They were not sure that its windshield was strong enough so they borrowed the testing device from the FAA, reset it to approximate the maximum speed of the locomotive, loaded in the dead chicken, and fired. The bird went through the windshield, broke the engineer's chair, and made a major dent in the back wall of the engine cab.
They were quite surprised with this result, so they asked the FAA to check the test to see if very thing was done correctly. The FAA checked everything and suggested that they might want to repeat the test using a thawed chicken.

[DrummingTrainfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098

You have to see this:
The US FAA has a device for testing the strength of windshields on airplanes. They point this thing at the windshield of the aircraft and shoot a dead chicken at about the speed the aircraft normally flies at it. If the windshield doesn't break, it's likely to survive a real collision with a bird during flight.
The British had recently built a new locomotive that could pull a train faster than any before it. They were not sure that its windshield was strong enough so they borrowed the testing device from the FAA, reset it to approximate the maximum speed of the locomotive, loaded in the dead chicken, and fired. The bird went through the windshield, broke the engineer's chair, and made a major dent in the back wall of the engine cab.
They were quite surprised with this result, so they asked the FAA to check the test to see if very thing was done correctly. The FAA checked everything and suggested that they might want to repeat the test using a thawed chicken.

LOL THAT IS SOOOO FUNNY! [(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

Although that does bring an idea to mind...

[cheese3]

I liked the celebrities with trains in their closet article.

[Chris30]

QUOTE: By: Lotus098
The FAA checked everything and suggested that they might want to repeat the test using a thawed chicken.

Why stop at thawed? I'm thinking BBQ chicken... then follow that first shot with a shot of potatoes and then some cole slaw. [dinner] Amtrak's new dining policy??

CC

[Anonymous]

lotus- that actually is an urban myth. thawed or cooked doeesn't change much at that speed. Since it is at such a high speed the mass of the chicken breaks the window. In theory if you took the same mass of a softer matter would break the window as long as it didn't explode on impact. I'm a diehard Mythbusters watcher[banghead]
andrew

[greyhounds]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cheese3

I liked the celebrities with trains in their closet article.

Training!?

I don't know nothin' 'bout firefighting, but I'd suggest the following:

1) Obtain water supply, preferably through a large hose
2) FACE the fire
3) Apply the water to the fire in an attempt to extinguish same

True story. You can not "call off" or stop a fire department. (They're like a Greyhound on a lure.)

I like to cook and I favor recipes from Dining cars. On page 320 of "Dining By Rail" by James D. Porterfield is a recipe for "Honeyed Sweet Potatoes, Central of Georgia Style". The GF loved it. She was on her way over from work and I was cooking it for her. So I get a boil over, which sets off the ADT alarm.

Now I don't have a fire, I have a mess to clean up BEFORE she arrives, but I don't have no fire. That don't matter none to the fire department. You can say all you want to over the phone that there ain't no fire, but it don't matter, they've sighted the lure and they're on the way.

So while I'm trying to clean up BEFORE she arrives, firefighters appear at my front door. One of 'em has an ax and they want in. So, OK, it's three against one and I don't have no ax. I give a tour of the kitchen, point out the mess, have to tell them what I was cooking, and reset the ADT before they leave.

I did get it cleaned up BEFORE she arrived, and she enjoyed the sweet potatoes. Fortunately, she didn't see that big red truck out front with those flashing lights.

I know they were just doing their job in a professional manner. And I know that they'd put their own lives at risk to pull me out of whatever I needed to be pulled out of. I have nothing but admiration for firefighters.

But as for this training picture - just a guess - have some water, FACE the fire, etc.

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by greyhounds

Now I don't have a fire, I have a mess to clean up BEFORE she arrives, but I don't have no fire. That don't matter none to the fire department. You can say all you want to over the phone that there ain't no fire, but it don't matter, they've sighted the lure and they're on the way.

Probably since almost all of their calls are medical aides, they do not want to miss any chance of going to a fire (just kidding).[:D]

Occasionally, I will go on a ride along. At the station I go to there are two engines and a ladder truck. I usually go on one of the engines. However, one time I went on the truck since it was a tiller and would soon be replaced by a regular truck. I asked them when was the last time they had a fire, and one of the guys replied, "What is a fire?"

[upchuck]

KEEP AN EYE ON THIS SITE. THEY ADD NEW WEIRD STUFF ON A REGULAR BASIS

[Sterling1]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp

QUOTE: Originally posted by greyhounds

Now I don't have a fire, I have a mess to clean up BEFORE she arrives, but I don't have no fire. That don't matter none to the fire department. You can say all you want to over the phone that there ain't no fire, but it don't matter, they've sighted the lure and they're on the way.

Probably since almost all of their calls are medical aides, they do not want to miss any chance of going to a fire (just kidding).[:D]

Occasionally, I will go on a ride along. At the station I go to there are two engines and a ladder truck. I usually go on one of the engines. However, one time I went on the truck since it was a tiller and would soon be replaced by a regular truck. I asked them when was the last time they had a fire, and one of the guys replied, "What is a fire?"

Maybe that guy has been used to electric heating . . .

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mustanggt

Train travel was disrupted briefly in South Wales when a giant inflatable Ronald McDonald got away from a local McDonald's and blew onto the train tracks near the town of Newport. The 25-foot-high clown eventually blew off the tracks and was still on the loose at press time.

i can only imagine this one.....

I can just about remember the news reports, though sadly there were no pictures... Other recent inflatable escapees have included a replica tank that departed (with wind assistance) from its planned position in the middle of an army exercise and set off on an adventure lasting around a week, before someone found it and turned it in!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by george745

lotus- that actually is an urban myth. thawed or cooked doeesn't change much at that speed. Since it is at such a high speed the mass of the chicken breaks the window. In theory if you took the same mass of a softer matter would break the window as long as it didn't explode on impact. I'm a diehard Mythbusters watcher[banghead]
andrew

I hate to start an argument, but wouldn't thawed chicken be like throwing a snowball, and frozen chicken like ice. Mass has a lot to do with it but the solidity would matter too.

[markn]

this of course brings up the question of "what's a henweigh?" -much like NASA-did they use feet or meters or Euros?

[markn]

Read the freight train section all the way thru-I especially like the Microsoft janitor story/joke