I caught the middle of a Mythbuster Show and One myth they were trying to prove or Debunk had to do with Urination on RR tracks? Unfortunately, I missed that segment of the show and couldn't locate it on the web.

So my questions are:
[1] What Myth is there about urinating on the RR track and
[2] IF anyone saw the episode, Was it busted or to be trusted?

[appologize in advance if I have offended anyone but it's so weird that inquiring mind may want to know]

They were trying to prove whether or not a man standing on a station platform could be electrocuted if he peed on the electrified rail of a subway track.

BUSTED!

It has been a long time since I saw this episode, but, you know how those guys are. If at first they fail, they will then go to great lengths to make things happen and prove a point. I think they actually got it to work ONLY AFTER they made the dummy pee a stream like a garden hose. The kicker was that it had to be a SOLID stream, not broken up as would be normal from any kind of height.

If I remember correctly, the myth was about getting electrocuted by urinating on the third (power) rail of a subway system.

Again, if I remember correctly, the myth was busted because the average urination stream is not continuous all the way to the ground and doesn't provide a good enough electrical path (conductivity). Still, they cautioned against trying it...

Andy

quote:

Still, they cautioned against trying it...

Andy

YA Think!

Urinating on railroad tracks is no big deal. However if witnessed by the authorities, one might be arrested for indecent exposure for doing so and become a registered sex offender for life.

The issue probably arose from 20th century boyhood dares to see how macho (or stupid) one might be by urinating on the third-rail - not the tracks themselves. One was supposed to stand on a running rail and do it to the third-rail.

The third-rail carries positive 600-660 volts DC at an extremely high amperage. The running rails are the ground for that circuit. Since urine contains salts, it can be a mildly conductive electrolyte of sorts. But if one was wearing sneakers with rubber soles they were insulated. Best not to try it barefoot, eh?

A colorful if low-brow expression "to p--s on the third-rail" has come to describe some one going out of their way to do a daring, stupid or dangerous thing with serious consequenses awaiting.

Ed Bommer

quote:

However if witnessed by the authorities, one might be arrested for indecent exposure for doing so and become a registered sex offender for life.

MAn! That's a Very high Price to Pay for "Pi---ng on the Line!"

This has occured here in Chicago a few times according to legend, with a stray dog or two relieving themselves on the third rail of the CTA ground level Ravenswood, and Skokie Swift lines on the citys' north side. Supposedly this also occured many years back in several instances on the old North Shore Milwaukee line. Being that these line just about run through peoples back yards at times, I can see some truth to these stories....

Yeah I saw that also, interesting show.....I still would not want to test the theory!

I recall peeing on an electric fence at some point in my youth...yowza, that was painful...

PD

Dogs would be most likely electrocuted by the 3rd rail since they are so much closer to the ground and never wear shoes.

It seems that in a Chicago case against the CTA, (third rail, street level running, protected by 'cattle guards') The surviving family members got a sizable award in the death of the drunken urinator.
I detected flaws in the methods used by Mythbusters in many of their busteds. In this case they used a gravity fed flow of salty water, not a pressurized stream as the body provides.
Swav