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Author Topic: Steer clear of the cat-enary  (Read 1956 times)
JayMac
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« on: March 05, 2021, 13:36:36 »

A moggie on the roof of a Euston - Manchester Avanti West Coast service earlier this week. Not something you see everyday. Could have been a cat-astrophe had it not been spotted.

From the guardian
Quote
Cat on a fast train roof holds up London to Manchester service

Feline was a whisker away from a 125mph ride when it was spotted at Euston station on Tuesday evening


You hear about delays from leaves on the line, maybe even the occasional swan, but on Tuesday evening a cat was discovered on a train roof at London Euston station – a whisker away from hitching a 125mph ride up north.

The tabby was spotted curled up on top of an Avanti West Coast train about half an hour before it was due to depart for Manchester at 9pm and refused to move.

Passengers were transferred to a replacement train with only a slight delay and the train was taken out of service so staff could coax the cat down from its precarious perch, where it was perilously close to the 25,000 volt overhead lines.

After a two and a half hours, the standoff came to an end when a bin was pulled up beside the carriage, giving the animal a platform on which to disembark.

The feline appeared unbothered as it alighted the train, according to station staff, who described it as “swaggering off” into the night as though it had other places to be. It is still not known how the cat reached the top of the train in the first place.

“We often have to deal with birds inside the station but in all my time here this is the first train surfing cat!” said Joe Hendry, Network Rail station manager for Euston. “Thankfully curiosity didn’t kill this cat and we’re glad it avoided using up one of its nine lives.”

Further puns expected...




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patch38
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« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2021, 14:41:35 »

No puns but just eight moggy lives remaining, as they say...  Cheesy
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Clan Line
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« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2021, 18:24:18 »

They tried to "coax" the cat down, obviously not purrsuasive enough to do the trick !
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froome
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« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2021, 18:50:52 »

A moggie on the roof of a Euston - Manchester Avanti West Coast service earlier this week. Not something you see everyday. Could have been a cat-astrophe had it not been spotted.




Can't see any spots on it, it looks like a tabby to me.  Grin
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old original
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« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2021, 15:41:58 »

Euston, We have a problem.....
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8 Billion people on a wet rock - of course we're not happy
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« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2021, 18:31:38 »

May be on it was on the Catford loop ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catford_Loop_LineGrin
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Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent,”
Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #6 on: March 06, 2021, 21:54:34 »

If the power had been switched on, that would have been a cat on a hot tin roofTongue
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onthecushions
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« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2021, 22:00:01 »


..but it was only 50% at risk as cats' whiskers were said to be half wave rectifiers.

OTC
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stuving
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« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2021, 22:12:49 »


..but it was only 50% at risk as cats' whiskers were said to be half wave rectifiers.

OTC

But is has whiskers on both sides - making up a full-wave rectifier. Not that that matters at all, since in either case the result is DC (Direct Current) - which in this context stands for Dead Cat, of course.
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onthecushions
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« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2021, 18:40:52 »


The whiskers should pass full wave current to the cat as you say if both whiskers could bend up and touch the contact wire. However in the more likely case of the whiskers connecting live to ground then current would be blocked completely as the cat-hodes would be connected together. The cat's fate would then depend on the peak inverse voltage rating of its whiskers and on its paw insulation.

Perhaps the cat was cleverer than all of us.

OTC
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PrestburyRoad
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« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2021, 14:53:19 »

Quote
May be on it was on the Catford loop ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catford_Loop_Line )

If it had been the Catford Cat  that was on the roof there could have been sparks from the disturbed cat-enary.  Fortunately for the Catford Cat it's fibreglass so non-conducting
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