Why is there Sand under the seats of the San Diego Trolleys?

Probably because some people take it back and forth to locations near the beach.

Hahaha Nah that’s not what I meant. I guess I didn’t explain. There are big boxes of sand under all the seats of the trolley.

They don’t even go to the beaches. :)

Says here that they’re on the older U2-series trains, and can be used to make the train stop faster in an emergency. The driver can “pour sand in front of the wheels”, which I guess means that there’s a way for the driver to make all those boxes empty out onto the tracks in front of the wheels.

talk about low-tech!

@Harp…that link is about wrist stretching exercises. Kinky.

sorry, my son’s a juggler

Here’s the right link

It’s my understanding (and I might be wrong about this) that Amtrak still has that same kind of sand-braking system in place, because nothing has been developed that is better, for an emergency-stopping situation.

I have not verified that with anyone; it is just what I was told by someone whom I know and trust.

Wow, interesting. I’d never seen that.