Public train Olympics
Vienna hosted the first ever Tram Driver World Championship on Saturday. From early Saturday, spectators had gathered in front of the Austrian capital’s neo-Gothic city hall to witness the competing teams from as far as Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong and San Diego show off their driving skills. The Tram-EM competition is a team competition where each team consists of one female tram driver, one male tram driver and one team supervisor. The competition is open to public transport agencies around the world. The championship is split into two rounds, with each driver taking the controls once. Each round consists of 6 disciplines. The disciplines could be stopping at a target, emergency braking, measuring side clearance during a curve, stopping exactly at a tram stop, speed estimation with a hidden speedometer, precision driving past a gate, “tram billiards,” or “tram bowling.” The skill at each discipline, in addition to the time to complete each discipline, influences the score. The event includes a team procession, practice rounds, social events for drivers, competition, and award ceremony.
“We are celebrating a very special anniversary today — 160 years of trams in Vienna,” said Elias Natmessnig of Vienna public transport, which organized the contest. Tram drivers faced off in eight challenges testing their ability to operate the heavy vehicles — which weigh 30 or 42 tons depending on the model — with precision, including braking and accelerating smoothly. The world’s tram-driving pros were tested on their ability to operate the vehicles in eight challenges, which included braking and accelerating smoothly. One test saw a bowl of water strapped to the front of the tram, with the driver tasked with braking smoothly in an effort to not spill any liquid. Another challenge – tram curling – saw the drivers push a bicycle trolley so it halted at a specific spot. Audience favorites included pushing a bicycle trolley is pushed with such precision that it comes to a halt at a specific spot. The Hungarian team could not defend the title, dropping to fourth place, as their Viennese competitors took home the crown. Poland came second and Norway secured third place.
Spectators from across the globe had come to Vienna to see their favorite teams and cheer them on. “I read Hungary is going to participate in this competition so I thought I should definitely come to support them,” The 33-year-old public transport enthusiast said he travelled all the way from Budapest to see the world championship after reading about it online. Hungary’s defending European champion Krisztina Schneider said that “curling was the most challenging task for me and I didn’t really succeed as I would have liked.” “I thought my speed would be enough but in the end it wasn’t.” Organizers had expected about 50,000 visitors from all over the world to attend the championship, which was being livestreamed. Next year’s European championships are due to take place in Warsaw, Poland.
Train Treasures
A Jewish man was sitting in the New York Metro reading the Al Jazerra newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to be in the same subway, noticed this strange phenomenon.
Very upset, he approached him and said:
‘Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading that terrorist newspaper?’
Moshe replied, ‘I used to read the Jewish newspapers, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Jews fleeing their country, Jews disappearing, Jews living in poverty… I got so depressed!
“So I switched to the Al Jazerra newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much more uplifting!”
A drunk man boards a subway and sits next to a priest. The priest is disgusted to see his miserable condition and says, “You are going to hell.” The drunk guy looks up frightened and says, “Damn I got on the wrong train.”
Two Irishmen are walking down the isle of a passenger train car, asking, “Is their a priest here? Has anyone seen a priest of this train? No one answers, and they go on to the next car.
A few minutes later, they come back, asking, “Is there a rabbi here? Has anyone seen a Rabbi on the train?
A man stands up and says, “Excuse me. I’m a Baptist minister. Could I help you?”
The two Irishmen look at each other for a moment, then one of them says, “We wouldn’t think so, sir. You see, we’re looking for a corkscrew.”
Death must be really boring for subway drivers.
The light at the end of the tunnel is just a regular workday.
September 16th Birthdays
1971 – Amy Poehler, 1986 – Kyla Pratt, 1981 – Alexis Biedel, 1958 – Jennifer Tilly
1956 – David Copperfield, 1958 – Orel Hershiser, 1927 – Peter Falk,1925 – B. B. King