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[challenge entry] Trees



I bet those pesky deciduous bastards will catch everyone out again this year!

From the I didn't know it did that! challenge. See all 222 entries (closed)

(I helped save b3ta! Afinkawan Yes I can hear you Clem Fandango, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:03, archived)
# <pedant>
how did they manage to fall onto railway tracks long before trains were invented then, eh?

/pedantism
(I helped save b3ta! madrabbi, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:06, archived)
# gah!
mindpedant!
(I helped save b3ta! Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:07, archived)
# pffft!
and I would've gotten away with it too it it wasn't for you meddling b3tans!
(I helped save b3ta! madrabbi, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:08, archived)
# I was just thinking the same thing...
Noon, all.

Had to do some work this morning, would you believe it?
(I helped save b3ta! furry numnah has returned from the dead (but her profile appears to be mightily fucked), Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:27, archived)
# BUMS! BIG SMELLY BUMS!
Hahahahahahhhahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
(I helped save b3ta! TV's Nosemonkey, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:30, archived)
# Railway tracks were put there by dinosaurs*
we invented trains just to make use of them



* don't ask why, it's a big secret
(I helped save b3ta! Goatpod, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:07, archived)
# why?
(I helped save b3ta! madrabbi, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:09, archived)
# Sorry, can't say
it's a big secret
(I helped save b3ta! Goatpod, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:09, archived)
# It's a well known fact...
...that the dinosaurs had bigger leaves on their trees and died out because the trains carrying their food couldn't get anywhere so they starved.
(I helped save b3ta! Afinkawan Yes I can hear you Clem Fandango, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:11, archived)
# But.
Didnt they have little arms, How could they throw the coal in the fire with out having to do it in a comidic fasion.... or use a stick.
(Shadowman, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:14, archived)
# and how did they wipe their arses
(I helped save b3ta! Hankster, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:16, archived)
# mental imagery
of hundreds of dinosaurs dragging their arses on the ground to remove clagnuts.
(I helped save b3ta! madrabbi, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:18, archived)
# they used
smaller dinosaurs for that
(CerberusDog woof, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:23, archived)
# Shovels with very long handles
Or maybe slaves.
(I helped save b3ta! Afinkawan Yes I can hear you Clem Fandango, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:18, archived)
# Because
if we're being pedantic about this, wooden railway tracks were probably in use in central European mines by the 1400s, while trains as such didn't really come along until the late 19th century. Wagons were pulled either by horses (which would often get to ride in the dandy-cart on the downhill return journey) or by windlasses, or if the wagons were small enough, they could just be pushed by a couple of blokes. So now you know.

And there were screwdrivers before the wood-screw was invented, too.
(Wong Fei-Hung - now with added flickr.com (see profile), Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:19, archived)
# and the leaves were from
underground mine-trees?

/evenmorepedantry
(I helped save b3ta! frunt It's been a while..., Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:29, archived)
# Obviously
leaves wouldn't fall in mines, I was just giving that as an example of railways being used some four centuries before there were trains. Prior to the birth of the railway network, there were already hundreds of short-haul railways around Britain, serving the canals, carrying goods from quarries, factories, or ports to the canals for shipment around the country.

Tomorrow we'll be looking at the early years of the steel industry in the Ruhr valley.
(Wong Fei-Hung - now with added flickr.com (see profile), Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:32, archived)
# will there be homework?
please say there won't be homework. :)
(I helped save b3ta! frunt It's been a while..., Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:34, archived)
# Boo!
I want homework! Spoilsport.
(I helped save b3ta! TV's Nosemonkey, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:39, archived)
# swot
(I helped save b3ta! frunt It's been a while..., Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:46, archived)
# And the first successful run of a rail-based steam locomotive was in 1804
/more pedantry
(I helped save b3ta! TV's Nosemonkey, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:33, archived)
# Ah
Trivithick - the Syd Barrett of railway history.
(Wong Fei-Hung - now with added flickr.com (see profile), Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:37, archived)
# how could leaves fall onto railway tracks
long before trains were invented?
/pedant

*resists the urge to blather on in incredibly tedious fashion about how it's the newer lightweight stock that causes the problem rather than leaves per se*
(I helped save b3ta! Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:06, archived)
# Well...
It was more a comment on the apparent surprise that it happens every year.

And anyway, surely leaves on the track reduces friction, shouldn't that make the trains go faster?
(I helped save b3ta! Afinkawan Yes I can hear you Clem Fandango, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:09, archived)
# only if physics
is very much borked
(I helped save b3ta! Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:12, archived)
# Lightweight stock?
Pah! In my day all the trains were made of balsa wood and cotton wool and pulled by herds of well-trained moths, and we never used to have this problem. Pathetic excuse.
(I helped save b3ta! TV's Nosemonkey, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:09, archived)
#
hehe, I do like the idea of moths pulling trains :)
(I helped save b3ta! Goatpod, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:10, archived)
# oxo downsizing
(I helped save b3ta! Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:13, archived)
# Gah!
Teh Ciomc Snas!
(I helped save b3ta! Mr Gear the gay-maker, Wed 7 Jul 2004, 12:09, archived)