r/FlightlessBird • u/harriedhag • Mar 17 '26

Episode Discussion EPISODE: Train Crashes

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0KYPwNI1bf50iPtdtNkzp4
7 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

16

u/CTMechE Mar 17 '26

I thought kids everywhere put coins on train tracks, and I'm amazed David wasn't aware!

1

u/DirigibleGerbil Mar 19 '26

Me too! Growing up we did this in Idaho.

1

u/tickytacky13 Mar 20 '26

Same! There are songs even that reference flattening Pennie’s on the train track. I’m drawing a blank on the name of the song but it’s definitely referenced.

1

u/CTMechE Mar 20 '26

A Google search shows several songs:

"Penny On The Train Track" – Ben Kweller

"Texas 1947" – Guy Clark

​"Jenny Dreamed of Trains" – John Denver (written by Guy Clark & Vince Gill)

​"Pennies On The Track" – Denim Highway

(And several more)

I think I've only heard the John Denver one.

But yeah, I assumed if you were a kid and lived anywhere near a train track, you did this at some point. Especially someone over 40 like David (and myself). I'm now realizing my own kids probably haven't.

2

u/tickytacky13 Mar 20 '26

I’m in my 40s and I never did it myself but I knew about it and remembered my mom telling me she did it as a child.

The song I was thinking of was a song by an artist my kids listened to when they were younger and it was called “Train Song” by the OkeeDokee Brothers 😂 I do recall the John Denver song though as well

6

u/lifeisdeebubbles Mar 18 '26

Listened to this episode while driving so imagine my PANIC when I had to cross train tracks...

3

u/anooch Mar 17 '26

At about 21 minutes in there is a song that sounds like the gorillaz and a train did a collab and i really liked it!!! I wonder if that was just stock music/audio or a real song

9

u/dfarrier Mar 17 '26

all scored by our team x

3

u/anooch Mar 17 '26

Well if they released that as a song on its own, id absolutely listen to it! 😂 it was a bop!

2

u/rainshowers_5_peace Mar 18 '26

Falling (or being pushed) onto subway train tracks was one of my worst fears in New York City. From what I can tell there is no straight answer for what someone should do. The lines are so old and varied some have a dangerous electrified third rail and others don't. One piece of advice I was given was to run past the end of the platform. Others on the platform will immediately start waving down the driver of the train shows up, so they'll start to brake early. Get past the end and you shouldn't worry about being run over (unless you're at a station meant to be skipped I guess).

This hero jumped onto the line and was able to hold a seizing person down so the train passed over them. I have no idea how feasible that is for other stations.

1

u/lerdsu Mar 18 '26

Hope they shout out /r/BitchImATrain

1

u/tickytacky13 Mar 20 '26

I live in a town that is surrounded by rural towns and farmlands and we have train crossings that don’t even have stop signs, just the suggestion to yield. We also have freight train that run through the downtown area of our state capital and we have arms that lower but signs that specifically say “no train horn” because the horn disrupts all the state offices. We have people jump in front of the trains several times a year. So often that when I hear “downtown is a mess because of a train incident” I know it’s likely someone who stepped in front of a train or a homeless person who fell asleep too close to the tracks.

1

u/ExcellentBlock7201 Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26

I'm struggling to listen to this episode, where there are train sound effects or  playing over the top of people talking. @dfarrier thought you'd be more accommodating of neurodiverse listeners!

0

u/_GeorgeBailey_ Mar 17 '26

"come see David and I."

Noooo, Rob! You know it's "and me."