TOMORROW ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL – Train suction on mythbusters. Just saw the ad right now. Tomorrow at 9:00pm. Enjoy!! .
It was originally scheduled to be shown about a month ago. I wonder why they pulled it at the last minute.
Mark
I was wondering the same thing, but I am glad they are finally going to show it.
Because the railroad is involved.
Why would the railroad pull it?? BTW, it is TODAY at 9:00!
Playing NOW on the west coast.
OMG san antonio hobby! their out of biz now!! ive seen that loco they used! i remember seeing it and going: “O thats a puller i bet!” they had a santa fe and a few others by the time they were in their last days the PAs were all gone
Did anyone catch the episode on at 2300 PST? They were at the Golden Gate Railroad Museum. I noticed some white boxcars in the background.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to the program.
Yep, the new rail runner. Looks like they filmed it before the start of service. 2 engines with 3 cars…interesting.
my guess is that that clip will wind up in a NM safety film or two - especially the stroller
dd
what did they conclude?
Are those the ones with the shackles inside? [:-,]
NOTICE - If you haven’t seen the show and don’t want to know how it comes out - don’t read this!
The pointy end did more “damage” than the blunt end of the train, but it was all the ‘bow wave.’ They didn’t find any suction… On the other hand, mom standing too close to the tracks with junior in his stroller when the train blows through at 79 mph will have her hands full, and baby may well get hurt.
I thought it was really interesting. The wind that close to the tracks is bad enough, I’m kinda glad there isn’t suction. It’d be worse IMHO.
Thanks tree,
My “gut” was that the popular perception of suction was more a side affect of people bracing against the initial shock wave, which after it had passed, they tended to over compensate.
The combination of the muscles finding equilibrium coupled with the breeze, feeling like suction.
At least that is my experience in subways
…glad to hear that trains don’t suck.[;)]
They used a dummy, albeit of an appropriate weight, so the whole bracing/overcompensating thing wasn’t really addressed. Considering the force of the bow wave (measured at over 40 mph), it is entirely possible that a person could be knocked akilter, then lose their balance and fall into the train if it was long enough (or behind it if it wasn’t). But it wouldn’t be suction that did it.
I agree completely. I just suspect that the “feeling” of imbalance that follows the bystander’s attempt to compensate, is what gets confused for suction, giving rise to the myth in the first place.
The place where really think there may be “suction” is inside the train, when the subways come up out of the ground to become surface trains.
seems like my ears always pop when they come out of the tunnel.
Ah, memories of a mis-spent youth! Standing on the track side of the gates at a crossing.We didn’t have the current Amtrak station in Depew then, so we couldn’t stand too close to a fast moving freight, like some Darwin award nominees are inclined to do. Then, I can verify that a passing train will push you away from the tracks at the head end, and toward it at the rear.