Locomotives and Women
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That's a land mine ! Not even going there !
George Harris
Engineer
Never heard this one before. However:
In the 1830's there were quite a few people that tried to argue that breathing would become impossible if you got faster than a galloping horse. Guess these people were never out in a high wind or talked to sailors who had been through a storm at sea. There have always been these sorts of people around garnering some to a lot of publicity for unfounded claims. These would be potential members of the Flat Earth Society, which by the way was not really believed by many of the people that went to sea even at the time of Columbus.
As actual speed of operation increased, statements of this nature continued to be made with the claimed speed for onset of disaster ever increasing for probably the first 60 plus years of railroad operation.
Back in the 1960's when the Japanese were first discussing and then building the 125 mph Shinkansen trains there were many that argued that this was beyond the range of practicality. There were articles written at the time about how that 100 mph was the practical upper limit of speed on rails for standard gauge or wider track and 60 mph was the practical upper limit of speed on meter gauge to 3'-6" gauge tracks. It is worth noting that these limits were treated as axioms without application of detailed study or proofs. Yet today faster speeds than these are run without fanfare. There are many miles of meter and 1067 mm (3'-6") gauge tracks operating at 120 to 130 km/h (75 to 80 mph) in several countries throughout Asia, and of course the 100 mph has been far exceeded, with 300 km/h = 186 mph being common on high speed lines. In fact, this statement was silly when first propounded. The Santa Fe had many steam engines cleared for operation at 100 mph back at least as far as the 1930's, and given the somewhat relaxed attitude toward speed limits versus the attitude toward keeping schedule for premier trains, it would not be surprising that speed above 100 mph were frequently operated even then even though not recorded as being done.
In the 1830's there were quite a few people that tried to argue that breathing would become impossible if you got faster than a galloping horse. Guess these people were never out in a high wind or talked to sailors who had been through a storm at sea. There have always been these sorts of people around garnering some to a lot of publicity for unfounded claims. These would be potential members of the Flat Earth Society, which by the way was not really believed by many of the people that went to sea even at the time of Columbus.
As actual speed of operation increased, statements of this nature continued to be made with the claimed speed for onset of disaster ever increasing for probably the first 60 plus years of railroad operation.
Back in the 1960's when the Japanese were first discussing and then building the 125 mph Shinkansen trains there were many that argued that this was beyond the range of practicality. There were articles written at the time about how that 100 mph was the practical upper limit of speed on rails for standard gauge or wider track and 60 mph was the practical upper limit of speed on meter gauge to 3'-6" gauge tracks. It is worth noting that these limits were treated as axioms without application of detailed study or proofs. Yet today faster speeds than these are run without fanfare. There are many miles of meter and 1067 mm (3'-6") gauge tracks operating at 120 to 130 km/h (75 to 80 mph) in several countries throughout Asia, and of course the 100 mph has been far exceeded, with 300 km/h = 186 mph being common on high speed lines. In fact, this statement was silly when first propounded. The Santa Fe had many steam engines cleared for operation at 100 mph back at least as far as the 1930's, and given the somewhat relaxed attitude toward speed limits versus the attitude toward keeping schedule for premier trains, it would not be surprising that speed above 100 mph were frequently operated even then even though not recorded as being done.
caravanman
Engineer
I am fairly sure that this topic is a first, in the history of AU. 
The expression "hysteria" comes from the Greek word for uterus. Not only might one fly out of the body, it was thought to "move around within the body", and this was the cause of "nervous and emotional issues" in some women!
Thankfully, in 2022, we have moved on from such medical fake news entirely...
The expression "hysteria" comes from the Greek word for uterus. Not only might one fly out of the body, it was thought to "move around within the body", and this was the cause of "nervous and emotional issues" in some women!
Thankfully, in 2022, we have moved on from such medical fake news entirely...
I chalk up that belief about locomotives to ignorance. Notice that I didn't say stupidity, although that can't necessarily be discounted.
It's just that with the advent and improvement of certain technologies, we were learning about how they work and how exactly they affect the human body.
I mean, Galileo was once shunned for saying that the earth revolved around the sun, which we now know to be true.
It's just that with the advent and improvement of certain technologies, we were learning about how they work and how exactly they affect the human body.
I mean, Galileo was once shunned for saying that the earth revolved around the sun, which we now know to be true.
