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.