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Brookline turkeys are on track: The Riverside line, in particular
By adamg on Thu, 06/04/2015 - 9:05am
At 8:35 a.m., Patrick Schmid reported:
Here's a first. Stuck on the MBTA Green Line because turkeys are on the track.
He continued that this was on the D Line between Brookline Hills and Brookline Village:
We were trying to play chicken. The turkeys didn't get the rules and just kept walking on the tracks in front of us.
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Comments
We were trying to play
First mistake was trying to play chicken with a turkey
Only a silly goose would do
Only a silly goose would do that.
We know no fear for we are
We know no fear for we are fear incarnate!
You will have your
gobbler caliphate by Thanksgiving.
Well, that's one reason
that's probably not on the T's standard list of justifications for delays.
This reminds me of a running
This reminds me of a running gag in the "Reginald Perrin" series of books by David Nobbs (later adapted for TV), which involves the varied and increasingly dubious excuses British Rail offers for the continual delays in train service: "A badger ate a junction box at Watford," "Escaped cheetah in Chingford" and so on.
In truth
We had an electrical engineer consultant give us the best excuses, such as "These are late because the mailbox was frozen shut!" (over winter)
Might be apocryphal
...but I remember hearing about a bus company in a UK city that received complaints because many of its drivers were said to be going past bus stops without picking up passengers. In response, the company said that if drivers were to pick up passengers at every stop, they wouldn't be able to stay on schedule.
I read on the BBC...
...that the FBI and the JTTF is investigating the TLF based on info from the NSA concerning terrorism against the MBTA.
ever heard of underground railroad?
Today Many Brave Turkeys Acted!
In daylight or twightlight, above and below ground, we will follow the railways to liberty!
A question...
Why are people so fearful to just run 'em down?
If you do that, you'd better
If you do that, you'd better make sure you're successful. Ever seen one of those birds angry?
I have done it, actually
Not intentionally, the stupid thing flew right in front of my car. Big sucker, too. Boom. Car 1, turkey 0, no scratches on the vehicle and a free dinner for some coyote. They can get as angry as they like and stomp their little turkey feet if they feel like it, but come on, it's pretty one-sided.
Speed matters
My nephew, an insurance adjuster, was frying a turkey at thanksgiving, while telling stories about what happens when a large tom hits the windshield of an expensive car at 75mph.
Settling the claim involved a referral to Aftermath (cleaning company that handles crime scenes).
Of course it matters
So tell us: when was the last time you saw a Green Line trolley, or a car for that matter, going 75 mph in the city?
Because the Type 8 leading
the train would probably derail if they attempted it.
Protected species
Run a pedestrian or cyclist down, its an accident. Run a Turkey down, its a federal case!
No they're not
When have you ever heard of a protected species that had two hunting seasons every year? If you hit a deer on the road, is it a "federal case"? Don't be silly.
Maybe not turkeys
But Canadian geese are protected, a policy that should be revisited in light of the quantity of them and the fact many no longer migrate.
Pedant
Canada Geese. Not Canadian.
You know what else are protected?
Migratory Bird Act. Turkey vultures. Stinky, disgusting, acid vomiting turkey vultures.
I've seen their handiwork close up.
Full Federal protection.
They need to learn
Yes, we should start running them down. I think the reason they remain so bold or clueless is they don’t understand the possible consequences of lingering in the street or on tracks.
Honestly, I would imagine you
Honestly, I would imagine you would be outraged if turkeys were getting run over by Green Line trains much less suggest we should follow that policy.
Going from semi-serious to fully serious is I'm pretty sure we would get a large number taking issue of dead turkeys by trains.
Not even slightly
I wouldn't have any problem with turkeys getting simply hit by trains if they won't get out of the way. It's not like the trains are chasing them down and harassing them, and at the point where they're strutting around built-up urban areas, they're hardly a threatened species. As to whether you'd get "a large number taking issue", until it happens that's pure speculation on your part.
At higher speeds they have
At higher speeds they have the potential to smash windshields. Turkeys are quite large, after all.
Case in point:
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/thesunchronicle.com/content/...
http://www.universalhub.com/files/images/2011/turkeytrain.jpg
Both of those are the results of Amtrak trains hitting turkeys. And while MBTA trolleys don't go quite as fast as Amtrak Regionals, the result of a slower speed collision could still be similar.
And geese have been known to take out airplanes
..but come on, do you seriously think a Green Line trolley could get going fast enough for a turkey to take out its windshield? If so, you've never been on the Green Line. There's absolutely no comparison, and this is a ridiculous thing to be concerned about.
Unionized?
The way these turkeys behave, I wonder if they are organized, or at least tweet.
Maybe affiliated...
Are you familiar with these guys?
https://twitter.com/probirdrights
You're Driving along having a
You're driving along having a perfectly nice day and then out of nowhere BOOM turkey's !
Don't they know you're already shaken up?
We apologize for any inconvenience
this may have caused. Gobble, gobble.