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OCTOBER 29, | The Jewish Home NOVEMBER 11,2015 2021 | The Jewish Home
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Centerfold
Off-the-Beaten-Track Facts
Trains in Japan are so punctual that if they are even 5 minutes late, the passengers get a formal apology, and most times they will even get a “delay certificate.” Delays that are over an hour will also appear on the news.
In 1865, after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, a funeral train carried his body through 180 cities on its way to Lincoln’s burial plot in Illinois. This funeral train made front-page news and was later used as inspiration in establishing train travel around the world.
In 1830, an industrialist designed a steam engine called the “Tom Thumb” which was capable of going 18 mph. As a publicity stunt, it had a race with a horse-drawn train. The Tom Thumb quickly strode ahead but later on broke a belt. This allowed the horse-drawn train to finish the race first.
Between 2001 and 2010, the New York City MTA, instead of disposing of old trains, saved $30 million by turning 2,580 subway cars into artificial reefs which were placed off the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina.
When Japan suffered a 8.9 magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011, a special earthquake-detecting device on the country’s eastern rail detected the earthquake 12-15 seconds before it hit and sent an automatic stop signal to the Japan’s high-speed bullet train’s electric power transmission system, triggering the emergency brake on 33 trains, saving thousands of lives.
Amtrak provides the ability for rail/ train car owners to have their privately-owned rail/train cars attached to its trains between specified locations so passengers can see North America in an extraordinary way.
Riddle Me This? 1. When is the time of a clock like the whistle of a train? 2. A train leaves from New York City heading towards Los Angeles at 100 mph. Three hours later,
a train leaves Los Angeles heading towards NYC at 200 MPH. Assume there’s exactly 2,000 miles between LA and NYC. When they meet, which train is closer to New York City?
Answers to riddles: 1. When it’s two to two. 2. They’re both the same distance from NYC when they meet.
