Too good to last for long... (and Lupo's back to having shopping shenanigans...)

[Jetfire]

Train always wins against any land based vehicle. Won't put money on em if they go against a 747...but yep, money on train EVERYTIME. (Disclaimer* Tanks may or may not have a handicap that would cause me to bet on them..but it depends )

Tanks might tie against a train, depending on the train involved. (Passenger vs Freight vs Mining), ditto cement trucks. 747 or any other air craft however would lose. Planes are designed to be as light as possible while being as structurally strong as possible for the weight; and trains simply hit way outside the airplane weight class.

Ships on the other hand, those would give Trains a proper run for their money. They're one of the few things out there that do swing above the train weight class, and while trains usually have velocity, ships tend to have enough mass to outclass. Of course to test this we would need a draw bridge with a lifting section, a proper train, and a good sized ship (any decent sized cargo vessel will do). Think the Mythbusters would go for it?

[RootedPhoenix]

I just got back from buying stew fixings (I have a container of real roasted chile in the fridge). Twice I put carrots, potatoes and garlic in my basket only to look down and they'd be gone...is produce in a shopping basket somehow fresher than on the displays eight inches away?

O.o People.

[LadyAndreca]

I just got back from buying stew fixings (I have a container of real roasted chile in the fridge). Twice I put carrots, potatoes and garlic in my basket only to look down and they'd be gone...is produce in a shopping basket somehow fresher than on the displays eight inches away?

I think that it's that if you've alredy got produce, you've already picked the best and freshest out of the display. THEY want the best and freshest, so they take yours. Alternately, they may have no clue how to tell if produce is fresh and steal it from people who apparently do.

[Pagan]

I think that it's that if you've alredy got produce, you've already picked the best and freshest out of the display. THEY want the best and freshest, so they take yours. Alternately, they may have no clue how to tell if produce is fresh and steal it from people who apparently do.

That, or they're just assholes that can't keep their hands off other people's stuff. I thought we all learned that in kindergarten?

[Chromatix]

I'd bet on the ship in that case. It might have a dent in the side of it, but modern ships are built to survive a calamity of that magnitude and still be able to sail home. Or, to put it another way, it takes several trainloads of containers to fill the deck of a large cargo ship.

I might also remind you that an old destroyer (*much* smaller than a cargo ship) was once rammed into the gates of a drydock - deliberately - hard enough to leave the ship stuck on top of the gates. A few hours later, the explosive charges went off, destroying the gates and denying the Germans the use of the only Atlantic-facing drydock big enough to take their battleships. And nobody was injured by the actual collision - plenty from the copious gunfire going on around them, and plenty in the subsequent escape attempts, but none from being thrown around inside the ship.

[mikoyan29]

Train Vs. Car - No contest. Train doesn't even blink, car completely destroyed
Train Vs. Semi - Again No contest. Trains are still way more massive than the semi
Train Vs. Tank - Probably no contest although this may be the one where the occupants of the non-train vehicle get out alive
Train Vs. Plane - Depends on the plane, I think and where the train hit the plane.
Train Vs. Ship - Probably the ship.

[Geek King]

If the tank is allowed to fire on the train, then tank. Otherwise, Mass * Momentum gives it to the train, assuming we're talking a standard size train, even including passenger rail. Even money on the train derailing shortly after though, as a heavy tank could damage the rails if the treads catch on a rail edge or tie. At an actual paved crossing, the train has a better chance of not derailing, as the tank has less to hang up on before it gets shoved to the side.

Kind of wierd how much thought we're putting into this, hey?

[MrPibbsRevenge]

Gyaah! I hope you recover with your accident and the soul sucking demons that seem to follow you while shopping.

The Mrs. wishes you well too.

*Internet Carob Cookies*

[Ironclad Alibi]

(Disclaimer* Tanks may or may not have a handicap that would cause me to bet on them..but it depends )

Tank vs. train is a favorite movie scene from The Bridge At Remagen.

[Amanita]

Hmm...train vs container ship- I would bet on the ship. After all, anyone here from the Bay Area might remember what happened when a container ship went up against the mighty San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2007. Of course, the bridge won- she's massive and those tower piers are built with incredible strength. Old school engineering where a lot of things were heavier than they needed to be. But the ship survived. Mind you, she had a nasty gash in her side, but after some repairs and a name change, she went back into service.
A few details on the ship:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosco_Busan
Here's the bridge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fra...and_Bay_Bridge
And here's their unfortunate encounter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COSCO_Busan_oil_spill

[Eisa]

My dad actually was hit by a train.

He only got a few scratches.

The way it happened was that it was nearing nighttime [or actually nighttime, I can't remember], I think a bit drizzly, and it turned out that the warning signs for the railroad crossing had broken. So no light, no barrier, no nothing. He'd just picked up dinner at White Castle. Started crossing, the train hit the car and dragged it down the tracks like 100 feet or so. He kept eating his dinner. Only got a few scratches...AND found out that if he'd been wearing his seat belt, he would have been cut in half. DAMN he got lucky!

Edit: Which was why it was so weird when he had another accident a while later where he got sleepy and hit a telephone pole. Crushed his foot, just about. It still looks a little funny now, all his toes are crooked off to one side.

But yeah. Hit by a train, nothing. Hit a telephone pole, OW.

[Reyneth]

The way it happened was that it was nearing nighttime [or actually nighttime, I can't remember], I think a bit drizzly, and it turned out that the warning signs for the railroad crossing had broken.

Wow, around here trains need to signal a certain distance away from a crossing. I hear them all the time because there are 3 crossings w/in 5 minutes, two with multiple tracks.

Lupo, hope you're continuing to recover! (accident or shopping, take your pick LOL)

[Chromatix]

There are some places where trains are required *not* to sound their horns, especially during darkness. Blame the NIMBYs if you like...

In the UK, most level crossings have whistle boards associated with them, but at these the driver must sound the horn *once*, and level crossings aren't nearly as frequent as on many US railways. Modern UK trains have a two-tone air horn though, so it's actually more distinctive than the "blare" from a US-style horn.

[Pagan]

There are some places where trains are required *not* to sound their horns, especially during darkness. Blame the NIMBYs if you like...

In the UK, most level crossings have whistle boards associated with them, but at these the driver must sound the horn *once*, and level crossings aren't nearly as frequent as on many US railways. Modern UK trains have a two-tone air horn though, so it's actually more distinctive than the "blare" from a US-style horn.

We've got some train crossings like that....now. These are the same crossings that have been there for decades, with trains blowing their whistles day and night. Nobody complained....until the RailRunner started. Then all of a sudden, it's a problem.

I said to someone that I didn't get the problem. They said I wouldn't since I don't live near the tracks here. That's when I pointed out that the house I grew up in, that we moved into in 1971, is 1/4 mile from the railroad tracks and about the same distance from I-10. Seriously, get over it. You'll tune it out after a while.

Of course, it had more to do with the politics around the RailRunner than the train itself.

[Dreamstalker]

I remember that...you'd think passengers are throwing trash out the train windows

There's a crossing in Santa Fe where the tracks are on a diagonal across the--very busy--intersection. I can't recall if there are gates or not*; nobody pays attention to the pretty flashy lights. I never witnessed anything but heard about a few very spectacular errors in judgment (luckily the culprit somehow managed to not take anyone else with them). Here in town, at least once a year some moron will try to beat a streetcar over a crossing and will lose (those I have witnessed and had to give a statement at one).

One of the houses I grew up in had a freight track about 50 yards from the back porch (we lived on the top floor and the bedrooms were in the front, so it didn't bother us).

* I think due to the layout of the tracks people think they have more time/room to squeeze past than they actually do

I have some visual processing problem where I can't accurately judge the speed of something approaching me straight on, so if I am crossing a track I wait until the view is clear or the train on the track is obviously stopped/the driver sees me and waves me across.