Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
In article , Leo
writes: Jim, I think I have the answers to your bonus quiz: Hanging Fire (or Hang Fire) - an old military term used when a black powder artillery piece did not immediately fire when the priming charge was lit (could be a few seconds delay before the main charge was ignited). Still used in this context whenever modern ammunition misfires. Also used in connection with cord-fused explosives in blasting for mining, tunneling, etc. Hang-fires were one of the reasons for the change to blasting caps. Doubling The Hill - this one is probably an old railroad term for the practice of seperating train cars and taking them up a steep hill in two runs, back when steam locomotives were common. Insufficient power to pull the entire train up the hill in one run would have necessitated this practice. Give the man a cee-gar! Sometimes the problem was lack of motive power, but there was also the factor of coupler strength and rail adhesion. Modern RRs are well-documented enough know that horsepower and train characteristics are figured out ahead of time by computers. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
ARRL Propose New License Class & Code-Free HF Access | Antenna | |||
FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending May 1, 2004 | General | |||
First BPL License Awarded - | Boatanchors | |||
First BPL License Awarded - | Boatanchors |