Yafmot
January 20th, 2008, 05:52 AM
I've looked everywhere, and I just can't seem to find anything on railroad torpedos. These were some of my favorite toys back when. My fiends and I used to snag 'em off of cabooses when they were parked on sidings, and occasionally from locomotives. A friend of mine who's an engineer for Union Pacific says they were recalled after 9-11, but he's been full of shit before. Sometime I've got to check it out firsthand.
for those of you who don't know, a raliroad torpedo is a small piece of impact sensitive explosive about 1 1/2" long X 3/4" wide X 3/8" thick which is wrapped in Kraft paper, followed by what is apparently the same kind of red, treated paper as is used for highway flares. A strip of lead or soft aluminum about 5" long & 3/8" wide ran between the layers of paper and protruded about 2" out of either side. This was to fasten it onto the "T" section of the rail securely enough that the vibrations from the approaching train wouldn't knock it off the track. This is a signal to stop the train and, yes, it could be heard over a locomotive.
We'd pull the metal strip out (to avoid shrapnel), place it on the sidewalk, and drop a nice, big river rock about the size of a bowling ball on it. The report was truly satisfying, with about 3 or 4 times the power of an M-80 and much more brisant. Or we'd open the thing up and tap the charge lightly with a hammer to break it up into smaller chunks. These could be taped to the end of a bat, and then stuffed into the pavement to set it off. This was accomplished to maximum effect at someplace like the Taco Bell down the street. Guaranteed to spew half-masticated burrito fragments all over.
There were a couple of other types of torpedo we would encounter. One was with a square charge about the same thickness but with the edges beveled on two sides in the direction the rail. I guess to get a little extra compression from the wheel. It was wrapped in the same type of paper, but with a spring steel arrangement that, when spread, described the shape of the rail; rather more of a clamping effect. The comp looked and acted about the same.
In addition to the devices listed above, we'd occasionally run across some real antiques: Metal or cardboard tubes with a mix that was a dark, rusty brown so it probably was Armstrong's or a similar mix containing Red Phosphorus. We opened one up & dumped it out and my friend picked up a small pinch and began rubbing it between his fingertips. POW! It blistered his fingers and slapped the shit out of his hand. Most of these were painted silver, a couple blue. They had lead strips for fastening onto the track. WATCH OUT IF YOU RUN ACROSS ONE OF THESE!
What I'm really looking for is the formula for the newer ones. It's much the same color as the flare comp, a light yellow. The binder could be anything from Dextrin to Elmer's glue. I'm guessing It's a Chlorate/Perchlorate & Sulfur mix, since there was a strong Sulfur smell whenever we banged it or burned it (it burned like a match head). I doubt if there was any Sb2S3 in it, otherwise my innards would have gotten sick.
I've run way long here, even for starting a thread. Anybody got any info on this comp?
Oh yeah, and I think there was some kind of grit in the mix for friction. Silica, maybe?
for those of you who don't know, a raliroad torpedo is a small piece of impact sensitive explosive about 1 1/2" long X 3/4" wide X 3/8" thick which is wrapped in Kraft paper, followed by what is apparently the same kind of red, treated paper as is used for highway flares. A strip of lead or soft aluminum about 5" long & 3/8" wide ran between the layers of paper and protruded about 2" out of either side. This was to fasten it onto the "T" section of the rail securely enough that the vibrations from the approaching train wouldn't knock it off the track. This is a signal to stop the train and, yes, it could be heard over a locomotive.
We'd pull the metal strip out (to avoid shrapnel), place it on the sidewalk, and drop a nice, big river rock about the size of a bowling ball on it. The report was truly satisfying, with about 3 or 4 times the power of an M-80 and much more brisant. Or we'd open the thing up and tap the charge lightly with a hammer to break it up into smaller chunks. These could be taped to the end of a bat, and then stuffed into the pavement to set it off. This was accomplished to maximum effect at someplace like the Taco Bell down the street. Guaranteed to spew half-masticated burrito fragments all over.
There were a couple of other types of torpedo we would encounter. One was with a square charge about the same thickness but with the edges beveled on two sides in the direction the rail. I guess to get a little extra compression from the wheel. It was wrapped in the same type of paper, but with a spring steel arrangement that, when spread, described the shape of the rail; rather more of a clamping effect. The comp looked and acted about the same.
In addition to the devices listed above, we'd occasionally run across some real antiques: Metal or cardboard tubes with a mix that was a dark, rusty brown so it probably was Armstrong's or a similar mix containing Red Phosphorus. We opened one up & dumped it out and my friend picked up a small pinch and began rubbing it between his fingertips. POW! It blistered his fingers and slapped the shit out of his hand. Most of these were painted silver, a couple blue. They had lead strips for fastening onto the track. WATCH OUT IF YOU RUN ACROSS ONE OF THESE!
What I'm really looking for is the formula for the newer ones. It's much the same color as the flare comp, a light yellow. The binder could be anything from Dextrin to Elmer's glue. I'm guessing It's a Chlorate/Perchlorate & Sulfur mix, since there was a strong Sulfur smell whenever we banged it or burned it (it burned like a match head). I doubt if there was any Sb2S3 in it, otherwise my innards would have gotten sick.
I've run way long here, even for starting a thread. Anybody got any info on this comp?
Oh yeah, and I think there was some kind of grit in the mix for friction. Silica, maybe?