Our viewer video is someone familiar to the show, and very familiar to Chad.
The subject is: Viewer Video: Train engine turntable
Submitted by Selina Johnson, aka OMGmom!
Hi Dick, We thought of you a lot when we went to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Lots of old train engines to look at. Best of all our tour included a ride out to the engine turntable. One of the best gadgets we have ever seen.
The turntable weighs 80 tons and the engine weighs 120 tons. Originally four men would manually turn the engine around by pushing the turntable. Now it is driven by an engine. A turntable was needed when there were steam engines because they could not go backwards. With the invention of diesel engines, the turntable became obsolete but this one is kept to preserve the history.
They have one of the few workshops that can still repair steam engines. In some cases they have to build the replacement part by hand as parts can no longer be obtained. In the attached picture, you can see the pit underneath the engine that allows the repairman to examine and work on items under the engine.
Fun Facts:
* Chad’s grandfather and grandmother met while working for the railroad. Chad’s grandfather was a depot agent at several locations in Texas. Chad grandmother was a telegraph operator.
* Chad’s other grandfather worked in the train yard for a while before he graduated college.
The video of the turntable: https://youtu.be/uHsbdmyomwc?feature=shared
The museum’s website: www.tvrail.com
Your fans, Selina and Dane Johnson (OMGmom & OMGdad)
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Submit Your Gadget Warehouse Video & Win An Autographed MAD Magazine.
We’d love to include your video in an upcoming Giz Wiz Show!
1. Video can be ANYTHING about a gadget: I bought a piece of crap. I bought a gadget I love. I have an old gadget I can’t part with because it was ‘high tech’ years ago! Even a ‘What The Heck Is It? Gadget.
2. Videos should be just 2 to 3 minutes long in Horizontal Format! Low production value is fine, but we need to hear you and see your gadget clearly! You can be in the video if you like.
3. Post your Video on YouTube and click ‘unlisted’ when you upload it if you want, but not “Private” or we won’t be able to see it. Send us the URL link from YouTube.
4. If we show your video (and we show 99% of them) and live in the US or Canada you’ll also get an autographed current issue of MAD.) But no matter where you live outside of the US & Canada, I’ll autograph an Alfred E. Neuman photo to you, scan it & email you a high res image. Just print it out, frame it, or just hang it up and no one will know it’s a copy. We’ve tested it out and fans say they look terrific!
All show submissions go to mail@gizwiz.tv
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Email of the week:
Mo, our most frequent contributor and most loyal fan, who finds the most some of the most outrageous gadgets ever, emails us:
Would You Wear These? Mo was writing about the “backward sneakers” from the company Mischief or MSCHF. One of their creations the MSCHF BWD Shoe is a slip-on sneaker that can be worn forward or backward. It has openings at either end so it’s not designed for rain because your toes are exposed in either direction. Yes, very weird. You’ll see pictures of it on this week’s show. We couldn’t show the video Mo sent because it seems the company changed the because the BWD Shoe sold out already. But doing a Google search I see the backward shoe or sneaker on eBay selling for $500 to $800!!!
