Can You Wee on Rails? - Mythbusters - S01 EP103 - Science Documentary 

Those old episodes were perfect. Thank you for making these available to us!

Old Aussie farm girl here........ dad used to tell us kids to put coins on the rails before heading off on our motorbike, to check if the train had been through yet.....

I used to not believe Adam and Jaime never really liked each other all too much, I remembered all the good memories of the show. But looking back at the earlier episodes and it's pretty obvious of their differences lol. Glad it never ruined the show for me, love the Mythbusters gang

Oh gosh! I cannot believe it, I honestly thought they wouldn't be able to get the license for the older seasons because on how they uploaded the last seasons first! However, I'm really glad I'm seeing this! Thank you! Edit: One of the reasons I'm excited, is simply because this series was my whole childhood. I watch this on cable TV every single time after school.

On the "Barrel Myth", for those of you who don't know, it's actually NOT a myth, it's the lyrics from a well-known Irish folk song with several titles. Some folks call it "The Bricklayer's Lament", some call it "The Sic (sick)Note", and some call it by how it starts out, which is "Dear Boss". The song relates the PURELY FICTITIOUS story of a construction worker (from around the turn of the 18th-19th centuries), who had the great-granddaddy of all bad days. The lyrics vary, from singer to singer, but my personal favorite version goes like this: 🎶Dear boss, I write this note to you, To tell you of me plight. For, at the time of writing, I am not a pretty sight. Me body is all black and blue, Me face a deathly grey, And I hope you'll understand Why Paddy's not at work today. I was working on the 14th floor, Some bricks I had to clear, And tossin' 'em down from such a height Was not a good idea. The foreman wasn't very pleased, He bein' an awkward sod, And he said I had to carry 'em Down the ladders in me hod. Now, shifting all those bricks by hand It seemed so awf'ly slow, So I hoisted up a barrel, And secured the rope below. But, in me haste to do the job, I was too blind to see, That a barrel full of building bricks T'was heavier than me. When I came down and united the not The barrel fell like led, And, clinging tightly to the rope, I started up instead. I shot up like a rocket, 'til to my dismay I found, Halfways up I met the bloody barrel comin' down. Now, the barrel broke me left shoulder, As to the ground it sped, And when I reached the top, I banged the pulley with me head. I still hung on, Tho' numbed and shocked, From this almighty blow, And the barrel spilled out half its bricks Some fourteen floors below. Now, when the bricks had fallen, From the barrel to the ground, I then outweighed the barrel, And I started off back down. I fell like Haley's comet, Falling from the sky and then, Halfways down I met the bloody barrel once again. Now, the force of this collision, Halfways down the office block, Caused multiple contusions, And a nasty state of shock. Still clinging tightly to the rope, I headed for the ground, And I landed on the broken bricks, Which were all scattered 'round. Now, as I lay there, bleeding, Sure I thought I'd seen the worst, When the barrel struck the pulley wheel, And didn't the bottom burst. Bricks showered down upon me, Sure I didn't have a hope, And as I was losing consciousness, I let go the bloody rope. Now, the barrel, being heavier, It started down once more. It landed right across me, As I lay there on the floor. It broke 3 ribs, and my right arm, And I can only say, That I hope you'll understand why I am not at work today.🎵"

the safety violations in all of these videos get me going i love it

as a UK roofer, and having never seen this episode before, I’m so happy to see a gin wheel on mythbusters, honestly you’ll be so surprised what those two little bolts can handle, the structural force of one of those little bolts is what keeps any scaffold frame together, and you’d be surprised what level of rope burn (after the rope has chewed through your gloves that is) a tradie would keep enduring before letting £8 of construction product be destroyed (although when we’re speaking about 1m rolls of type 5 lead you would be destroying £100s of what is nowadays mostly a finite resource) Most of the scaffolders I know are normally pretty numbskull people, but you bring up any instance of structural integrity, or connection strength, and they have an almost superhumanly intuitive understanding of the forces involved, it’s honestly impressive, respect your tradesman because they understand massive forces they sometimes don’t even understand they understand, and that’s what makes them work so well, my hats off to all the scaffolders out there

This is way better than season 9 and so on. Is great when they show them building, going shopping, doing everything.

As a teen some friends and I were walking home from a party when one of them had to go wee. We were right next to a fenced in horse pasture with electric fence that we were all aware of. One of my dumber buddies thought that there is no way he could get a shock peeing on an electric fence! So he went to prove it! Standing in "damp" grass he proceeded to wee and as soon as it hit the fence it blew him back and knocked him out to the point we had to call an ambulance!😂

I still cannot believe that they censored (had to censor?) a piece of transparent rubber hose coming out of a plastic dummy. I remember seeing that scene for the first time on TV years ago and thinking for a second that there was something wrong with my set.. :D

As someone who has pissed on an electric cow fence (thought it was OFF BTW) .. YES YES OMG it does conduct electricity very well.. LOL..

young adam savage is messing with my head

I forgot they're goofball vrs stoic act. They're both just huge dorks. I love it.

The horse neigh when he shows the bigger hose had me by surprise. 30:48

Lol seeing how ok Adam was with just dropping drawers and whipping it out with a camera around makes me remember the old footage of an adult film actor that if not Adam was his twin.. His being fine with this has me chin scratching thinking hmm maybe it WAS him after all 😅

So happy to be going back to the older ones now :)😜

The mistake they made in the third rail myth was insufficient bladder pressure. I know that when I REALLY have to go I tend to push, which can create a few seconds of laminar flow, keeping the stream intact all the way down. That is all it would take.

Man.. No matter their differences, these guys made the perfect match for experiments. Total polar opposites, which makes for a whole now realm of possible ideas, problems and solutions. One mind dissects the box while the other mind, blows the box up with tnt than looks around for missing pieces. 👌👍

The tale of Murphy and the Bricks goes back much further than 1918, it is based on an incident in a book called At Home With the Jardines, published in 1902 where it appears under the heading "A Letter From Jimmie." This is based on a story (probably fictitious) on page 4 of a newspaper called "The Vicksburg Post" from Vicksburg, Mississippi published on 8 January 1895. which starts off "the law of the attraction of gravitation was well illustrated on Cedar Street the other day. A man stood holding a rope".... this, in turn, may be loosely based on a song from 1885 by Frank Egerton called "How Paddy Stole the Rope" and it could go back even further than that.

Thank you for uploading old Mythbusters episodes. Keep uploading 😊

I haven't watched this episode since it aired back in the day, what a treat to see it in HD. I'm looking forward to be able to easily binge these again!

I am 45 years old and I clearly remember my father peeing on an electric fence and he got a real shock from it, so I find that a bit strange.

Back in the day when Buster still was intact! :D

I could spend weeks with Adam, and Jamie would be done with me over coffee. I'd love to have coffee with either of them. It was absolutely incredible to see them in Loveland Colorado during their tour. I got to see these fascinating individuals in person at one of the largest crowds they had on tour. Adam ran past me while exclaiming. "The people in the cheap seats deserve attention too." My quote might be off by a word or two.😢 I was only slightly upset while I had spent everything I had to come see this show, but I watched him carry his energy to others who needed it. Adam gave me the show that I came to see. Jamie was like my wife, bringing him back to reality. These gentlemen might remember me if they don't remember their biggest show... If they don't know the super fan in the crowd, that's okay with me. I got to see them both in my hometown.

10:52 "started to believe the myth didn't happen". The oldest version of the barrel myth dates back to an 1895 newspaper to explain effects of gravity, and used a barrel full of iron chain, which may exit the barrel more easily. Another version has it full of tools. There's are so many versions, it's called an apocryphal story for a reason 😅.

I remember watching the season 1 box set on my portable DVD player on long car rides with my mom as a kid. They were the only DVDs that I had so I watched them on repeat These episodes are burned into my brain, and the Nostalgia i get is amazing.

14:14: my favourite. The don't piss on the electrical third rail stunt. I would say it's plausible..

Peeing on the third rail always seemed like a bad idea, but it's good to know that a normal stream breaks into droplets long before it hits the rail. The stream after six pints and from a distance of three feet seems like a different story. Man that woulda been funny to see them sloshed at work (which I recall from other episodes) and trying to science their urine stream.

Man I miss the old days of TV. TV nowadays just suck

Thankyou for posting the old mythbusters episodes this show was my childhood

The "Third Rail" is also an issue, as is is no "polished" i.e. heavily oxided not allowing for good Electrical Contact.

Childhood is loving Adam's ADHD energy, adulthood is appreciating the professionalism of Jamie

My father used to tell this from the time he worked in a steel rolling mill as student. Guy was reported to pee on the power rail for a stupid bet with his workmate and was vaporized.

Adam: I owe you a dollar!.. *pulls out money* oh thats a 5... Jamie: Ill take that! lol

this is one of my all time favorite shows every episode was just out right fun to watch

@46:08+/- Jamie gets the daily cast and crew "bet this will never make it into the final edit" award ... the CatAssTrophy.

I love the idea that the barrel myth came from a jokebook because it implies the possibility of a future incarnation of Mythbusters 100 years from now where all the myths come from memes and 5 minute crafts videos.

The little red handcart Tory flipped over with a bike. 😂

Hey Guys, a bit more theory, current doesn't flow through the wire, it travels along the outside of the wire, thus the larger the diameter of the wire the greater surface area and current bearing capability.

i watch cartoons and these people during my elementary days such nostalgia

Paddy's Sick Note ( Dublinners ) !

17:38 "They make this stuff out of boiled down animal products like cow hooves." Same as Haribo then.

How'd they manage to convince the train yard to let them sprey their real pee all over

'The Barrel' was a monologue by comedian Gerard Hoffnung dating from the '40s and 59s (he died in '59). It was old even when he told the story.

Who'd have thought that a cats arse would be magnetic?

I love putting coins on the train tracks, but never stand near them in case they should get pinched and shot out very fast. Have fun, but be safe!!!

To this day i still wonder why they got rid of the folklorist lady in later seasons, i thought it added an interesting dynamic to the episodes

Some people have an anxiety about peeing in public restrooms when there are other people in the restroom. Adam Savage can just pee on command, in front of people, and on camera knowing that the footage is going to be carefully analyzed.

I remember something similar in Babe The Pig. Can’t remember which one but the farmer was working on a pump down a well and the same up down thing happened when the pig played with the rope.

Adam wanted to use tape and cost them more time than if they had just used glue. Then, Jamie comes up with solutions to get the job done. Difference between an engineer and not an engineer.

I watched this as a kid 😊

I think my favorite thing about myth busters is that it is apolitical. I didn’t think about it in the day, but everything from video games to children’s movies having a soap box is overwhelming and obnoxious. Still my favorite non-fiction show to this day. Incredible concept, people and loving care.

What if you dropped the barrel sideways? First impression is that it's not as strong that way

Busters looking sharp!

Adam being spun in the barrel was weirdly cute

Horse fences are so strong as a kid we touched one at camp felt like every vein in my body and my heart exploded

The real danger in placing coins on a rail is that they can come shooting out when hit by a high speed train. Safe enough on a yard track, never place one on a mainline.

I was once warned that putting my hotel room key card in my pocket with my cell phoner would wipe out the key info. --Bob Bailey in Maine

The barrel story was actually an Irish song. Victor Borge also told the song as a story.

Mythbusters is one of those shows i can watch any episode a thousand times and not get bored. Thank you for this!

Great Show 😀😁

Lmao adam using tape to try and keep a liquid from leaking is hilarious. Dude had no common sense. Jamie was always the smart one.

No mention of "The Bricklayers' Lament" - the Irish tune that tells the same story. Not in myth TV land I guess.

For some reason this isn't available in the United States so apparently I'm in Ireland now

Man, if you think you've had a bad day, that first guy sounds like he had a smashing day 😮

Jaimie seemed to have a lot more fun in the early and late seasons when the crew wasn’t so large.

As a former car mechanic i can tell you : Leave a wallet on a MIG welding machine and your cards are gone ... 100%

15:39 I feel lucky 😂

seeing them excited about breaking buster, oh how innocent they were... 😆

I can say the brick barrel myth is something that I'm surprised hasn't happened to me !

Engineer Rob, great sense of humor.

Guess nobody here has seen CKY where Raab pees on the electric fence and shocks the pee outta himself, literally.

In the Irish song called "The Sick Note", the barrel fell from 14 stories.

One thing I'm looking forward to, is that, this is the season with the escape from Alcatraz, and I can barely wait

I peed on an electric fence when I was a kid once. It didn't kill me, but it sure hurt like hell!

I love this show, but the narrator was wrong. The eel din't leave they're hands empty. They looked full of slime to me. Lol

Mmmmmm…. I love eels,especially on rainbow sushi rolls!

Its so funny that they went to new york to show off the subway instead of just, driving an hour or two to look at bart

Originally recorded by Gerard Hoffnung in around 1950. His rendition is hilarious. I remember it well as a young lad in 1950s England. But I didn`t know it was as old as 1919!

regarding the first "myth" we have no idea what condition the barrel was in whenever this incident is purported to have ahppened.

equestrian stream 🤣 anatomically dubious stream This is why I loved mythbusters ! So much fun.

The barrel of bricks I’ve seen it on a Bugs Bunny cartoon lol

I've erased, repeatedly, debit/credit cards using an old manual CRT degausser when degaussing television set CRT's. As memory serves, the old degausser was something like 500 turns of #18 enameled wire, with line voltage applied to the coil. That type, also strongly recommended against for Sony trinatron CRT's, as it was known to dislodge the shadow mask. Typical application was around waist level, circular motion to ensure uniform disruption of any magnetic field that had been induced in the television's shadow mask (frequently by strong speaker magnets from a stereo or child playing with a strong magnet against the screen). WIth my cards in my front pants pocket, yeah, erased the card every time.

I miss this show great fun

Amazing to be able to watch old episodes! Thanks BTW Resist”a”nce is spelled with an “a” Adam!😊

Actually, the placement of the pennies on the rails is key. On certain stretches of rail, pennies can cause problems when the train needs to engage breaks. On a controlled straight stretch, is not much of a problem.

The rail is covered in oxidation, a real one would be polished by the trains.

Buster first job!

So as to the wee on the third rail. Ask any county raised kid or adult if peeing on the electric fence will cause you a shock. It will indeed IF the streak is solid and doesn’t break into globules. However, whether an electric fence or the third rail, it is unlikely to kill you (unless you fall down and crack your skull) because the current flows up the stream and then, looking for the patch of least resistance to ground can only pick one of your legs to travel down. This the current never crosses the heart. IF you were holding onto something that created an easier path to ground then it MIGHT be possible to put current across the heart but it wouldn’t be likely unless the current came in via one hand/arm, across the chest, and to ground via the other hand/arm. It’s all very basic electrical theory.

That $1 Adam lost was 1/10th of the entire season's budget.

I never had a chance to see these early episodes. The show seems simpler and guys more energetic haha.

There's more protection from a bicycle helmet than from a standard hard hat --Bob Bailey in Maine

I mean with the rail being so thick at a distances there is to much resistance and I know when I been drinking I pee a very steady stream. The video they posted showed the train running off a separate track that powers it above the I beam rail that they travel on. I feel like a thinner rail that was powered would have lest resistance and could possible be able to transfer up the droplets if the wattage was high enough. I love Science. :)

Barrel bricks hahaha it’s from an Irish song hahaha

In the UK the voltage is 660/750 volts DC on the third rail systems. Or overhead systems are 25,000 volts AC, but its the AMPS that kill you. Plus the juice rail is clean, not rusty. But you have not mentioned whether AC or DC yet, so pointless. As a train driver, if you touched the juice rail Direct Current would pull you onto it and i would have two minutes to get the short circuiting bar down to cut the current and prevent oxygen starvation to your brain. As kids we often put pennies on the tracks the result was stretched coins up to three inches long.

I'm a beer drinker and I know you have continuous stream.

Im watching this while peeing! 😁😇

I can't speak for peeing on the "third tail" nut I assure that I know from personal experience that peeing on an electric fence hurts like hell.

Magnetic field... Heat. Huh. Run the myth charge card through the electric clothes dryer. Run the eelskin wallet and myth charge card through the clothes dryer. Magnetic field AND heat. My $1? Eureka!

As a Bricklayer I can now show the proof that the first Myth is truly a myth