No it is not. But not for the reason you all think.
Many people think that placing a coin on the track will cause a massive derailment killing everybody. While I’m not going to say it’s impossible (because sometimes weird things happen), I’m going to say it’s highly unlikely that a coin is going to derail anything. It’s just not thick enough or sturdy enough to do the job.
However it is still dangerous to put anything on the rails. This is because there is the potential that the object in question will become a very fast moving projectile. Remember that toy disc shooter that you all had as a kid, this one?
Well imagine that, but able to put 400,000 lbs of shooting power into a metal disc. In our diesel shop, we’ve had guys accidentally leave small nuts and bolts on the rails, and I have personally dug a 3/8″ bolt out of a concrete wall where it fully embedded itself after it came shooting out at high speed from under a moving locomotive wheel.
So yeah, that’s dangerous. Don’t do it. Stay off the rails.
Source: Randy Topechka, Locomotive Mechanic at Canadian National Railway Company
Many people think that placing a coin on the track will cause a massive derailment killing everybody. While I’m not going to say it’s impossible (because sometimes weird things happen), I’m going to say it’s highly unlikely that a coin is going to derail anything. It’s just not thick enough or sturdy enough to do the job.
However it is still dangerous to put anything on the rails. This is because there is the potential that the object in question will become a very fast moving projectile. Remember that toy disc shooter that you all had as a kid, this one?
Well imagine that, but able to put 400,000 lbs of shooting power into a metal disc. In our diesel shop, we’ve had guys accidentally leave small nuts and bolts on the rails, and I have personally dug a 3/8″ bolt out of a concrete wall where it fully embedded itself after it came shooting out at high speed from under a moving locomotive wheel.
So yeah, that’s dangerous. Don’t do it. Stay off the rails.
Source: Randy Topechka, Locomotive Mechanic at Canadian National Railway Company
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