In 1834 a (pseudo) scientist by the name of Dr Dionysius Lardner informed Isambard Kingdom Brunel that if the famous Box Tunnel on the Great Western main line was built on a gradient of 1 in 100 a brake failure on a descending train entering the tunnel would mean it would emerge at the other end at 120mph - a speed at which no human could breathe.
Plus ca change...
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