Thursday, September 21, 2023

Trolley Dodgers

Puzzler today.

I was flossing the other day, so I had some time to think, and I was musing about the origin of the name, The Brooklyn Dodgers. I was watching a documentary about baseball, and it got me thinking.

So I looked it up, just for fun. It turns out that the people of Brooklyn were called 'dodgers' before the team was there. The people that lived in Brooklyn then were called 'Trolley Dodgers.'

The baseball team was originally the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, but they shortened it to just the Brooklyn Dodgers.

There were these electric trolley cars that ran through Brooklyn, and they ran right by the Ebbets Field where they used to play, and the fans had to dodge the trolley in order to get to the field. So they were called Trolley Dodgers.

And the question is very simple. Why were these people dodging trolleys? What was it about the behavior of the trolleys that made it necessary to dodge them?

And here is the hint. The hint is, Thomas Edison.

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

The Tunnel

This puzzler is mathematical in nature. It is not automotive, but it does involve a train.

Two children are walking along a railroad track. (Don't try this at home people...)

It is a single railroad track. They enter a tunnel and they begin walking along the single track inside the tunnel. A very dangerous thing to do.

When they get to the point that is 2/5ths of the way into the tunnel, they hear the train coming behind them. They hear the train whistle.

There is no escape or exit, other than the beginning or the end of the tunnel. One the children begin running toward the train, back the way they came. They were only 2/5ths of the way in, so he goes that way. The other kid runs towards the end of the tunnel, the other 3/5ths of the way, away from the train.

They are both running at 15 miles per hour. So one kid runs toward the train. The other kid runs away from the train. And they just make it.

The puzzler is, how fast was the train going?

Now, you'll notice I left out some key pieces of information. How long is the tunnel? How far away is the train? You don't have that info.

Good luck.