Ever play "safe" chicken as a kid?
 

I remember my father telling me that, where
he grew up, there was a railway track near
his home that had a space beneath it, just
big enough to squeeze into. Him and his friends
used to dare each other to lie under it (face up)
when there was a train coming.

Although there's no apparent danger involved, the
thought of doing that scares the shit out of me!

Got any more?

That doesn't sound too "safe"

It would be completely safe as long as they were completely shielded by the train and didn't have to worry about debris. Otherwise, yeah that isn't too safe.

Apart from the risk of heart attack, I would have
thought it's fairly safe isn't it? You're beneath
the track so the train can't hit you.

Unless one button, one string, one un-noticed flap of clothing were not all the way under, yeah, it should be safe.

Otherwise, scrambled kid.

sounds like it was your father who was daring you to do it.

He did indeed! But when we drove
back up to his hometown for me to
take up the challenge, we found that
the piece of railway track mentioned
had been securely fenced off. :(
...something to do with loads of kids
being hit by trains years ago or something...

The most dangerous game I played as a
youngster was having unprotected sex in
my teens. ...phew!

I could've been in a stickier situation than
when Sticky the stick-insect got stuck to
a sticky bun. :D

This sounds like one of those games that's just waiting for the second person to say, "You know what? That IS a good idea." Otherwise it just never happens. I think that we've got proof that your dad hung out with kids at least smart enough to never take it to the triple dog dare level.