Has anyone actually derailed a train by putting a coin/coins on the track?

Question

I know, it's an odd question..but a train just went by and I thought of it for some reason.

Please, try to limit your smart *** answers. =)

Answer 1

the only train you will derail with coins is the one that goes around your xmas tree genius

Answer 2

It smushes your coins and makes them really hot, I know people who have done it

Answer 3

Nope-

http://www.snopes.com/science/train.htm

Answer 4

a few days ago my train ran over about ten dollers of coins. It sounded like we hit rocks but we stayed on the tracks.

Answer 5

Maybe if it was an HO scale train.

Answer 6

I did that a while back but it never derailed but it was fun getting those pennies smashed one at a time.

Answer 7

Because of the weight of the train, it would be more likely that the coin will end up flattened.

Answer 8

No but you should not be playing at or on the tracks it is dangerous.

Answer 9

Coins will not derail a train.  When I first start working for Union Pacific Railroad, I tried to smash a bunch of pennies using a 486,000 pound locomotive.  After putting the pennies on the track and moving the locomotive forward about a foot, I found one of three things happened.  1, penny was smashed on the track.  2 penny was stuck to the train wheel 3 the penny shot out fast enough to dent a metal building about 10 feet away.

Answer 10

No, thats just stupid, the millions of dollars invested in the locomotive industry and all the smart fellows who work in the field, you think they'd put a train on rails if it could be derailed by something as a penny? A tree branch on the track could wipe out half the country!

Sorry couldnt resist

But seriously, when was the last time you heard of a train being derailed? Let alone from a quarter?

Answer 11

As a kid, I **often** placed coins on railroad tracks.  There's no way any coin could derail a train, but the trains sure don't do the coins a whole lot of good.

For best results, place the coin(s) on the track while the train is stopped in the station, or before you know that a train will always be going slowly (as in the cases of trains that will stop at the station) comes in.  If you just put coins on a track willy-nilly and just let fast-moving trains hit them, there are two problems.  (1)  You'll have no trouble seeing it's imprint every few feet on the track, much of the time, because the coin often will adhere to the wheel that impacts it.  Usually, you'll never be able to find the coin.  (2)  Odds are excellent that this would never happen, but wouldn't it be embarrassing to get shot through the heart or between the eyes by a coin you'd placed being speedily extruded sideways by a fast-moving train? (Shades of those "Final Destination" films!  :)  )

Answer 12

The locomotives I work with weigh a hundred and fifteen tons apiece, and they're just little switchers. We were rolling up the line a few years ago and came upon a half dozen stones placed on the rail. After cursing the vandals who put them there, the engineer took us right over them. They smashed to a powder.

Answer 13

No it cannot be done

Answer 14

I am pretty sure they tried that on Mythbusters. It doesn't work.

Answer 15

Not possible :0)

Answer 16

No is the right answer unless it was an armored car full of coins.

Answer 17

one coin is not going to derail a 1000 ton engine.

Answer 18

This is not a smart *** response.

The only way a coin has even a ghost of a chance of derailing a train, is if it's in an armored car when struck.