Pennies on the line (railway myth)

[deltic1989]

I was on my way home from work this afternoon and part of my route takes me over a foot crossing on the Lincoln to Nottingham line. Now my finishing time coinsides with the kicking out time of a local secondry school. As i was walking across the foot crossing I happened across a few lads laying 1p and 2p coins on the rails. A jogger going the other way to me and he told these lads that if they left the coins there they would de-rail a train. So what my question really is is can a coin of any type in use in the UK today de-rail a train if laid on the rails?

 

[scotsman]

In theory, yes.

 

[Stigy]

In theory, yes.

What's the theory behind that? Small coin Vs. several hundred tonnes of train....I'm genuinely interested, lol.

 

[ainsworth74]

No a penny won't derail a train, it's an urban legend.

 

[Nonsense]

What's the theory behind that? Small coin Vs. several hundred tonnes of train....I'm genuinely interested, lol.

Me too. Even a pacer will flatten a pound coin like it were plasticine.

 

[4SRKT]

The numerous 2p pieces that I've had flattened by NIR DEMUs in my time would suggest that there's no chance at all that a coin could derail a train. The coins come out somewhat larger in diameter than they went in though....

From close observation the first thing that happens is that the train wheel hits the coin and knocks it off the railhead. The flattening is therefore very uneven.

Even a carefully constructed pile of ballast several inches high was simply reduced to powder by the train.

 

[142094]

Once threw a tic tac under a road roller to see what would happen to it. Much to my surprise nothing did.

 

[AlexS]

In theory, yes.

Good luck with that idea, I've had far more substantial objects smashed to bits by a train! They're not tall enough to lift the flange of the wheel over the railhead.

 

[scotsman]

Good luck with that idea, I've had far more substantial objects smashed to bits by a train! They're not tall enough to lift the flange of the wheel over the railhead.

At the correct angle, with the correct adhesion of the coin to the railhead.

 

[CosherB]

Of course there's no chance a coin will de-rail a train (nothing to do with flanges alex unless on a tight curve; they will normally be well clear of the railhead laterally). But kids who flatten pennies might move on to more substantial stuff - larger bits of metal which could cause a problem (damage to the rail and/or wheel if not actual derailment). So it's not something to encourage.

 

[90019]

At the correct angle, with the correct adhesion of the coin to the railhead.

Anything is possible in theory, but the chances are miniscule.
You'll be much more likely to win the lottery than derail a train with a coin.

 

[moonrakerz]

The old pennies (1d) certainly didn't derail the GWR 2800s in my day........... didn't do the pennies a lot of good though !!

 

[The Barlow Boy]

In theory, yes.

No wucking fay.

 

[deltic1989]

I didd'nt think so myself i thought that with the flange on the wheel it would simply ride over it, but i thought i would wut it tou you guys to see what you thought of the idea.

 

[truckman060473]

I doubt you'd feel anything as a train passenger going over a coin, and since you can feel the bangs/clunks when going over jointed track, you'd summise that the wheel suffers more stress when traversing jointed track, hence the penny on the line should, in theory, be relatively harmless to the train.

 

[YorkshireRider]

Of course there's no chance a coin will de-rail a train (nothing to do with flanges alex unless on a tight curve; they will normally be well clear of the railhead laterally). But kids who flatten pennies might move on to more substantial stuff - larger bits of metal which could cause a problem (damage to the rail and/or wheel if not actual derailment). So it's not something to encourage.

The main worry is the kids getting flattened themselves

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Definitely not possible at all. I believe Mythbusters did a bit about it, and found out it wouldn't.

 

[Striker]

I want to know who's got the money to waste doing this, especially with the recession we're just coming out of. :roll: More money than sense if you ask me.

 

[LexyBoy]

I want to know who's got the money to waste doing this, especially with the recession we're just coming out of. :roll: More money than sense if you ask me.

lol, 1p for 15 mins entertainment sounds like good value to me!

 

[Hydro]

At the correct angle, with the correct adhesion of the coin to the railhead.

Never in a million years. It surprisingly takes quite a lot to derail a modern train on plain line track.

 

[Flamingo]

Well, if a detonator won't derail a train (and don't forget, three in a row are laid, with the potential for a HST to hit them at 125mph), then I seriously doubt if a penny would.

Maybe this should be moved to the "Railway Myths" thread.

 

[kentuckytony]

Back in my yout' we used to put pesetas (copper) and 10 centimo pieces (aluminum) - both about 2.5 cm in diameter - on the tracks of the Madrid trams. [My bad!]

They would either be flattened to some degree or flung out.

The tram car would bump at bit when they hit them.
At times the driver would stop the tram abruptly and chase us using words that I was glad were in Spanish.

No derailments. It got old fast and our consciences made us quit.

 

[RPM]

No way a coin could derail a train. You wouldn't even notice it. I've driven over lumps of ballast, a bike and even a brick and not even come near to derailing.

 

[Legzr1]

It is possible.

























Place the coin in a truck.

Place the truck on the track.

Stand well back.

 

[12CSVT]

Perhaps we should all remember that far bigger things have been smashed to smithereens when hit by a train (human beings for example). I would have thought a more appropriate response to this type of activity would be to apprehend the culprits and/or phone BTP.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Perhaps we should all remember that far bigger things have been smashed to smithereens when hit by a train (human beings for example). I would have thought a more appropriate response to this type of activity would be to apprehend the culprits and/or phone BTP.

The BTP have got far more important things to do that to respond to calls of 'pennies on line'.

 

[Hydro]

The BTP have got far more important things to do that to respond to calls of 'pennies on line'.

In this era of budget cuts, they'd probably send a PCSO out with orders to collect the pennies.

 

[12CSVT]

The BTP have got far more important things to do that to respond to calls of 'pennies on line'.

The point I was making is that the person(s) doing this (usually school age children) run the risk of being hit by a train if they are not apprehended.
I don't see anything unimportant about preventing a possible fatality.

 

[nedchester]

Used to do it a bit when I was a kid. No derailed train and nobody run over.

Harmless......

 

[The Barlow Boy]

I want to know who's got the money to waste doing this, especially with the recession we're just coming out of. :roll: More money than sense if you ask me.

Recession, what recession? Everyone's got the latest mobile telephones, all the kids are wearing the latest trainers, plenty of 10 registered vehicles on the road.