[Novalug] Re: OT: Thermite anecdote

[Beartooth]

On Sun, 31 Dec 2006, J Gillman wrote:

>
>  > --- Beartooth <karhunhammas at Lserv.com> wrote:
>  >
>  > ... welded the wheel to the track ....
>
> It's too old to be documented at http://hacks.mit.edu , but 
> some other online searching turned up a 1991 letter to MIT's 
> "The Tech" claiming:
>
>    "A recent B.A.D. article on 'Nerd Humor at MIT' mentions a 'hack'
>    in which an Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority streetcar
>    was welded to the tracks by MIT hackers.
>
>    If memory serves me right, I once saw a photo of that streetcar.
>    The photo was published sometime in 1955 or 1956; the streetcar in
>    question was situated in front of Northeastern University on Huntington
>    Avenue, and the hackers used thermite to do the welding."
>
> (The author of the letter then talks about demonic rituals at 
> MIT, so set your skepticometer as approproiate.)
>
> http://www-tech.mit.edu/Issue/V111/N26


 	That's it. I was at Harvard '57 - '61; so it was not 
only true but recent at the time (though I misremembered the 
location, or my source had changed it). Many thanks!

-- 
Beartooth Implacable, Curmudgeonly Codger Learning Linux
On the Internet, you can never tell who is a dog -- 
supposing you care -- but you can tell who has a mind.