wu :: forums - Print Page


    
      
        wu :: forums
        (http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        riddles >> what happened >> Amtrack Stoppage
        
(Message started by: denis on Jan 27^th, 2007, 10:40pm)

Title: Amtrack Stoppage
Post by denis on Jan 27^th, 2007, 10:40pm

Spoiler Alert!

This riddle gives away the answer to my "The Slick Road" riddle. So I will hide the actual riddle. Read on only if you have no longer interest in "The Slick Road"

[hide]In October (November from 2007 onwards), when DST changes to standard time, all Amtrack trains that are running on time in the US stop dead for one hour and start up again at 2am extending the trip by one hour. Overnight passengers are often surprised to find their train at a dead stop and their travel time an hour longer than expected.

Why not have the trains simply continue on to destination?

(note you can easily google to find the answer, however see if you can figure it out first)
[/hide]

Title: Re: Amtrack Stopage
Post by Three Hands on Jan 27^th, 2007, 10:56pm

A bit of a guess:

[hide]It saves confusion with timetables when trains arrive at the same time each day - although I'm not sure how they then cope when the clocks go forwards...[/hide]

Either that or they figure it's the only time they can justify getting all their trains back on time ::)

Title: Re: Amtrack Stoppage
Post by denis on Jan 27^th, 2007, 11:00pm

Pretty close but not entirely correct.

[hide]Your second answer (the unhidden one) is very close[/hide]

[hide]you can find the official answer here:[/hide]

[hide]http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/10/30/news/columnists/john_hunneman/19_30_2910_29_05.txt[/hide]

Title: Re: Amtrack Stoppage
Post by jollytall on Jan 28^th, 2007, 12:04am

Without reading, a guess.

Btw, try to avoid this rush. Not all people read the forum every five minutes. Giving away the solution after 20 minutes kills the whole game. Similarly giving the solution of another riddle is not fair either, since people might read them in the "wrong" sequence.

Imagine it has a stop somewhere around seven in the morning. There is a local train/bus collecting passengers from nearby towns leaving around 5, arriving 6:30. Since they start after the time adjustment, they arrive on time, according to the new time. But the Amtrack left by then, leaving all passengers behind.

Another point. I don't know when the time is adjusted in the US, but in Europe we change it from 3:00Am to 2:00AM, i.e. a train that wants to wait, stops at 3:00AM and after an hour waiting starts again at 3:00AM. Do you change the time from 2:00AM to 1:00AM?

And a last point. Does the train really stops at xAM and continues its journey again at xAM, an hour later. Again in Europe that would be considered dangerous, since it would mean that the train is out on the open field somewhere, where passengers cannot get down, the train can be attacked, considered scary for passengers, etc. So here the trains continue to the next station and wait one hour there from e.g. old 3:27 (new 2:27) to new 3:27.

Title: Re: Amtrack Stoppage
Post by denis on Jan 28^th, 2007, 8:38am

Jollytail,

True re: reveailing the answer to my other riddle ... I've posted a spoiler alert and hid the riddle to avoid this pitfall as per towr's suggestion.

You have the answer nailed down pretty well.

Note we change the time from 2am to 1am.

And for your last point, you also had it right. The trains actually stop at the next local station after the switch and not in the middle of nowhere.

Title: Re: Amtrack Stoppage
Post by towr on Jan 28^th, 2007, 10:29am

on 01/28/07 at 08:38:22, denis wrote:

(Icarus or other mods, If you can delete this thread, please do. I don't know how to do this. It gives away my previous riddle...wasn't thinking)

Why not put a spoiler warning at the top, and hide the riddle (or the spoiling parts)?

Title: Re: Amtrack Stoppage
Post by CowsRUs on Feb 7^th, 2007, 8:07pm

Why don't the cow-hating terrorists(think me) suicide bomb the whole station?