[Magdalen] Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

The train was running around under the tree, and tinsel was falling on the
tracks, shorting them out.  We decided it was a lot more fun not to have
the train under the tree anyway.  My, the layouts we developed!

I have no idea how we got to real trains.  Most of those will not fit in
the house, let alone under the tree.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better
for people coming behind you, and you don’t do it, you're wasting your time
on this Earth.”  -- *Roberto Clemente

On Wed, Dec 24, 2014 at 10:18 AM, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com> wrote:

> I remember the lead tinsel from the box of well-saved ornaments and
> wrapping paper -- and when it was replaced by plastic. Lead tinsel was also
> dangerous on a tree with electric lights, as it could melt into a bulb and
> cause a short, setting the tree on fire. I believe its manufacture was
> banned at some point.
>
> However, the business with a third rail is NOT urban legend. One need only
> short the third rail to the ground (easy to do in snow or other moisture.
>
> Those interurban and railroad employees who decided to urinate near a
> third rail and hit it were NOT standing on a rail when then lost their
> (ahem) private parts in a painful manner, for example.
>
> When I was a kid, I remember sledding at Westwood Station (an embankment
> leading from a third rail that kids used as a place to sit (protection
> board on top) ad even to lean their sled against. And I remember exploding
> sleds too -- again, not touching the running rail, but just grounded.
>
> And then there was the hobby of some to throw metal hangers toward the
> third rail and watch them vaporize -- most spectacularly if they did
> connect the third rail to the running rail, but on wet days, just to the
> ground.
>
> Of course, some of this stuff DID stop trains.
>
> But then squirrels, raccoons and certain other unfortunate creatures could
> stop a rush hour on the New Haven Railroad by shorting out the overhead
> wires or transformers.
>
> Cheers,
> Jim Guthrie //Listening to the Lessons and Carols from Kings as I write
> this//
>
>