I've recently heard a lot in books and songs and the like about people putting pennies on the railroad track to flatten them. I was wondering is that legal in the United States, and if so would that derail the train? It sounds like a cool idea but I don't want to be the cause of some horrible accident. A few cool pennies aren't worth lives.
Enzeru
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Pennies won't derail trains, but they can cause other things to happen.
Depending on the speed of the train and it's weight, the penny can be launched right into the cab of the locomotive, which could potentially kill the engineer. OR the penny could be launched at you or some other innocent bystander and hurt or kill them.
Anonymous
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RE:
Do pennies derail trains?
I've recently heard a lot in books and songs and the like about people putting pennies on the railroad track to flatten them. I was wondering is that legal in the United States, and if so would that derail the train? It sounds like a cool idea but I don't want to be the cause of some...
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No, there are no known cases where a coin has derailed a train. That would be something if a couple of grams of metal could upset 430,000lbs of locomotive.
Yes it is illegal to destroy US funds, or any other countries coins. But highly unlikely they will spend thousands to prosecute you over 1 cent. Ofcourse they would get you for tresspassing.
Your right, a few pennies arent worth a life. It is very true a coin can be shot out from under the train. If striking you or someone else, it will cause injury and maybe even death.
Anonymous
This question seems no be asked a lot. No, it won't. A 1/50 pound thing cannot derail a 36000 ton freight train. It will either get flattened or shoot out at you. Totally illegal but one of the most commonly done things when people where young.
Anonymous
Coins could not derail a train. Crashing into cars and things like that often doesn't derail them. Thousands of tons always wins over a few grams of metal. It is illegal of course. 1. Trespassing on railroad property. 2. Defacing currency.