An Implement for Shooting Missiles at Cows

Bruce E. Babcock · **Posted:** Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:36 pm

From the U. S. Patent Office:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=pate ... S20218.pdf

Bruce E. Babcock

weekendrailroader · **Joined:** Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:02 am **Posts:** 293

A bunch of research, some basic shop skills, and one could build a nice exhibit of "railway inventions that might have been...".

Bob Hall · **Joined:** Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:37 am **Posts:** 152

Later developments of this concept were called the Claymore Mine.....

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

I guess the cowcatcher replaced it...

Hiawatha shovelnose steamers at speed would send cows flying over the telephone wires...

Alan Walker · **Posted:** Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:48 pm

Those evil, vile creatures-first they wreck our trains. Now we know that they also pollute our atmosphere. All the more reason to enjoy that steak or hamburger.

As for the steam gun, I imagine that that would have been the bane of the fireman of any locomotive so equipped.

G. W. Laepple · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:10 pm **Posts:** 1182

Boy, I'd love to have one of these on the front of my car to wake up the nitwit driver ahead of me who's busy texting when the light turns green.

patentable · **Posted:** Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:19 pm

Not something to get cows off the tracks... but.. here's an early version of a steam bullet train from 1865.

https://www.google.com/patents/US49227

The patent literature from the early/mid 19th century is replete with all kinds of devices that were never built or implemented. An exhibit on early patents related to the railroad industry might be of interest - maybe even comical - to visitors.

The inventor of this patent, Mr. Samuel Calthrop, might have been years ahead of his time in designing verhicles to avoid wind resistance.
Bob

US49227 A
Publication date
Aug 8, 1865

Inventors

Samuel B. Calthrop

Alan Walker · **Posted:** Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:41 pm

G. W. Laepple wrote:

Boy, I'd love to have one of these on the front of my car to wake up the nitwit driver ahead of me who's busy texting when the light turns green.

One could retrofit an air gun that fires ping pong balls and use it to ping them to get their attention-not that I actually suggest that someone do that. I'd rather someone develop a device to fry that guy's/or gal's circuit board.

Slightly off topic, there was discussion at one time of equipping emergency services vehicles with radio equipment to disrupt AM/FM radio transmissions and replace it with a siren tone (I think) when an emergency vehicle was running lights and siren. The intention was to increase driver awareness and counter the soundproofing of vehicles. FCC killed that idea.