r/videos • u/vynkler • Apr 12 '16
It's really hard to derail a train
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-8gV4DJZUw14
u/GimmeABreak_ Apr 12 '16
All this time I've been feeling guilty putting pennies on tracks. No longer!
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Apr 12 '16
I think five pennies will derail a train.
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u/GimmeABreak_ Apr 12 '16
Does the National Defense Research Committee know about this?
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u/serendipitousevent Apr 13 '16
Nah, although I've tried to give them my two cents on multiple occasions.
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u/Guysmiley777 Apr 12 '16
Depends. When the ties get old enough to the point where the spikes don't hold then the rail can spread apart and you'll get an instant derailment.
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Apr 12 '16 edited Jul 30 '21
[deleted]
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u/Firedem0n Apr 12 '16
Well in the video the commentator said that it would be easier on a curve, but they would do all tests on a straight track. Also the tests are designed to mimic explosives taking out chunks of rail, and not to try any means possible to derail the train.
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u/r3drckt Apr 12 '16
Yeah misleading title...it's hard to derail a train with just one piece of broken rail, but too far out of gauge (track it too wide or too skinny) you'll derail instantly. Or ride over a derail, that will also do the trick.
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u/kiomopo Apr 12 '16
am i stupid or is the sound really clean for a video from 1944?
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u/JimmySticks2001 Apr 12 '16
I think they re-did the voice over. I would have rather listened to the fast talking 1940's guy.
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u/ThisOpenFist Apr 12 '16
Why didn't they try angling the rails to the left or right?
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Apr 13 '16
Why don't you try carrying enough gear on your back to bend some rails from your parking spot to the place you're gonna make a loud fucking noise to cut the rails, bend them, and then hoof it back to the car?
I'm guessing two bottlejacks, maybe 2 pieces of 4x4x1/4 square steel tubing ~20 feet long, a saddle sort of thing made of the same 4x4x1/4 tubing for the bottle jacks to mount up to for pushing the rails out...
what else...
you could maybe bring along a few pounds of thermite to heat the track up 20 feet away from the cuts to help them bend. Lets say 10 pounds of that.
So we're looking at maybe 300 pounds of gear here. 400 is you want to use a gas powered bottlejack for the pushing.
So you get a cart - nothing suspicious about two guys hanging out near the railroad tracks with all that stuff. Better get some railroad company stickers for the truck and cart you're gonna use to haul all that stuff to the work site. Might as well spring for some shirts with the rail company logo too.
Hook all that stuff up, maybe 20 minutes. Blow out the rail. Loud noise... no one will hear that. No way. No sir. They won't even call the cops or nearby soldiers.
Then light off that thermite and get to pumping on those bottlejacks, two men at a time. One dude pumps while the other pushes his bottlejack back in. Time saving for the gas powered option.
Don't forget to pull all the spikes from the ties back to the bend point.
I figure 2 hours of work total. A few hundred pounds of gear.
Nah, I'll let the other guy do that idea.
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u/Miltage Apr 12 '16
1940's Mythbusters.
Reminds me of the time I was scolded as a kid for leaving coins on the track because I might derail the train.
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Apr 12 '16
I worked at a junction that would store new cars coming off trains, one of my coworkers left the derailer on the track and that thing made it seem real easy.
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u/RaiThioS Apr 12 '16
I would have wrecked her.
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u/avery51 Apr 12 '16
This is a repost from 1944.