Click and Clack posed a railroad question on the Car Talk Puzzler on NPR this morning: http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzler/ ... index.html
RAY: This came from someone named Tim Sullivan. And I don't know if the facts are correct, but the flavor of it is so good that it makes no difference if the particulars are right.
He writes, "Years ago, when railroads used steam locomotives, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had a busy freight line running south from Rochester, New York.
"A single locomotive of the 2-8-2 type had two wheels in the front, which didn't do much of anything, eight wheels behind those, which were the drivers, four on each side, and two wheels in the back, which supported the weight.
"So this 2-8-2 locomotive could handle a train of 80 cars.
"But on this particular run south from Rochester, it HAD to have these 80 cars. It couldn't make it with say, 60. The question is, why did it need the 80 cars?
"And the hint is, there's something unusual about the run between Rochester and wherever it was going."
RAY: This came from someone named Tim Sullivan. And I don't know if the facts are correct, but the flavor of it is so good that it makes no difference if the particulars are right.
He writes, "Years ago, when railroads used steam locomotives, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had a busy freight line running south from Rochester, New York.
"A single locomotive of the 2-8-2 type had two wheels in the front, which didn't do much of anything, eight wheels behind those, which were the drivers, four on each side, and two wheels in the back, which supported the weight.
"So this 2-8-2 locomotive could handle a train of 80 cars.
"But on this particular run south from Rochester, it HAD to have these 80 cars. It couldn't make it with say, 60. The question is, why did it need the 80 cars?
"And the hint is, there's something unusual about the run between Rochester and wherever it was going."
