What would happen if you placed a coin on a railroad track?

Question

What would happen if you placed a coin on a railroad track?

Answer 1

it gets really hot and becomes a metal "pancake"

Answer 2

you risk paying a fine. that is against the law b/c the train could de-rail and wreck.

plus nothing would happen unless a train came by. otherwise the coin would still be regular shape.

Answer 3

If you are lucky, it would be flattened.

If your placement of the coin was incorrect, or if the coin vibrated out towards the edge of the rail, the coin could shoot out like a projectile and injure someone.

Please don't play around railroad tracks.  A long freight train moving at average speed takes about 1 mile to stop.

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An accidental death on a railroad is a horrific tragedy.  Besides the death of the person and the effect on the person's family and  friends,  there is a huge emotional toll on the train crew.  Many engineers have to undergo psychological counselling after a seeing railroad death -- something they witness but can do absolutely nothing to prevent.  Please give railroads and trains your highest respect for safety and don't play around active railroads, no matter how fun it might seem to be.

Thanks.

Answer 4

coin pancake! used to do it all the time when i was a kid.i would also throw rocks at the new automobiles on the train. in the old days autos were transported on open rail cars not like they do it today.

Answer 5

used to do that when we was kids...it flattens it out real fine...pennys work best :)

Answer 6

It gets flattened. One cool thing is to line up a bunch of coins, each one slightly overlapping the next. When the train rolls by, the coins will be fused together in a long... uhhh... bunch of fused together coins!

Sometimes, though, they can stick to the metal wheels of the train and get taken away.

Answer 7

It flattens like a pancake!!  (Just make sure the next train that is coming isn't an Amtrack)   *bad joke*  

The hardest part is finding the coin after it flattens because it tends to go flying off the track......

Answer 8

It gets flat.  My dad ran an overhead crane in a plant that made rail cars. He used to put pennies on the track of his crane, when he had the right amount of weight, he could still have all of the pictures, and words left. They were all stretched out but still there.

Answer 9

the last answer that I saw said that a quarter would derail a train.... I have not seen this happen, and have ran over things much bigger than that... it is surprising that more trains do not derail because of how much they will rock while going down the track.

Riding on a locomotive, i have ran over many things.  If a quarter would do this, then the sometimes 1-2 inch gaps in jointed rail would derail ALL the time, and this just simply does not happen.

The coin would be flattened, and you can usually still see the design that was imprinted on the coin...

Because the coins can shoot off of the track at high speeds, please do not do this in a residential area, or around livestock... Don't hurt someone or something just because you want a souvenir

Answer 10

You have a metal pancake.

Answer 11

That's a good way to make big money..lol.. Just be careful when your doing it...you can expect a train on any track at any time.. and remember railroad tracks are private property.. any time you are on a  railroad track other than a legal crossing you are trespassing and can be fined...that's a good way to lose money...

Answer 12

I had a coin ricochet and come back at me.  I never found the coin but I heard it go by me at a high rate of speed.  That is the last time I put something on a track.  I was already old enough to know better.

Answer 13

Would be flat and out of shape.

Answer 14

You would have a really hard time putting it in a vending machine

Answer 15

If a train is going less than 10 mph it will almost always pick it up on the wheel. The train need to be going somewhat fast for it to flatten the coin and stay there but like others have suggested whatch out because if it's going to fast it will come off the rail like a rocket. And as far as a quarter derailing a train come on! The other day kids had set up a line of old spikes and tie plates for us to run over and we did and i bet they never do that again after seeing it flying through the air at an alarming speed. And no I didn't derail.

Answer 16

A penny? Nothing

A quarter? Derailment and disaster.

Answer 17

Put a rock on the track and about 2 in. wide and 1 in. tall. Then sit back and wacth the train derail that's awesome.