Runaway trains

[MarcVD]

The latest issue of the US magazine ”trains” features an interesting story about a runaway train, in fact a set of two locos, that traveled without driver (or engineer, as they call them over there) for some 100 miles at more than 80 mph. They were finally stopped by derailing them voluntarily. This happened in 1968.

How could this happen ? I understand that in Europe this would be nearly impossible thanks to various security devices, like dead man's pedal, vacma in France, veille automatique in Belgium, that were implemented directly with the advent of diesel and electric traction, where the driver is alone in the cab.

Is such a security device not implemented on US railroads ? Is it because they have always a crew of at least two people in the cab over there ? The accident I mentioned above was caused by a hostler mistakenly starting a loco and then jumping off when he realized that it could not stop it...

 

[hexagon789]

The latest issue of the US magazine ”trains” features an interesting story about a runaway train, in fact a set of two locos, that traveled without driver (or engineer, as they call them over there) for some 100 miles at more than 80 mph. They were finally stopped by derailing them voluntarily. This happened in 1968.

How could this happen ? I understand that in Europe this would be nearly impossible thanks to various security devices, like dead man's pedal, vacma in France, veille automatique in Belgium, that were implemented directly with the advent of diesel and electric traction, where the driver is alone in the cab.

Is such a security device not implemented on US railroads ? Is it because they have always a crew of at least two people in the cab over there ? The accident I mentioned above was caused by a hostler mistakenly starting a loco and then jumping off when he realized that it could not stop it...

The US has vigilance devices.

One of the more recent memorable runaways was made into the film "Unstoppable", IIRC the train in that incident was shunting and thus the air brakes were not connected up.

The driver noticed a switch wasn't lined correctly, so disembarked to set it leaving the train moving slowly.

He didn't stop as couldn't before the switch with only the locomotive brakes, so he set the locomotive independent and dynamic brakes before getting iff to change the switch. Or he thought he did. The vigilance device (alerter), was deactivated by him applying the brakes.

Unfortunately, due to the way the dynamic brakes were set-up the throttle control was used for both powering and dynamic braking with a selector chosing which setting the traction motors adopted, and instead of the train continuing to very gently lose speed, the locomotives went into full motoring power and ran out unattended onto the mainline. Running at up to 51mph and for some 65 mile burning through the loco's brake shoes in the process.

Wikipedia has some details:

The CSX 8888 incident, also known as the Crazy Eights incident, was a runaway train event involving a CSX Transportation freight train in the U.S. state of Ohio on May 15, 2001. Locomotive #8888, an EMD SD40-2, was pulling a train of 47 cars, including possibly two cars loaded with hazardous chemicals, specifically molten phenol, a substance used in dyes and glues, and ran uncontrolled for just under two hours at up to 51 miles per hour (82 km/h).[2] It was finally halted by a railroad crew in a catch locomotive, which caught up with the runaway train and coupled their locomotive to the rear car.[3]

CSX 8888 incident - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[StephenHunter]

We still get runaway cases in the UK:

Report 04/2024: Runaway wagon at Kineton

RAIB has today released its report into a runaway wagon at Kineton, Warwickshire, 25 May 2023.

www.gov.uk

At around 21:08 hrs on 25 May 2023, an empty wagon ran away from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) sidings located within Kineton munitions depot, Warwickshire. It travelled for about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) on a predominantly descending gradient before it came to rest as the track gradient reversed.

During the runaway, the wagon pushed through two sets of trailing hand points which were set in an opposing direction, broke through the gates at the exit to the sidings, passed over two farm crossings, and traversed a level crossing on a public road. The wagon came to rest a short distance beyond the public road level crossing. Nobody was injured during the incident.

 

[Steve4031]

Denzel Washington is awesome as the veteran railroader.

 

[MarcVD]

We still get runaway cases in the UK:

Report 04/2024: Runaway wagon at Kineton

RAIB has today released its report into a runaway wagon at Kineton, Warwickshire, 25 May 2023.

www.gov.uk

We still have some in Belgium too. Last one was just two weeks ago, two EMUs were being uncoupled and one of them ran away because it was not properly immobilized. With passengers on board. Fortunately one of them noticed the abnormal move and pulled the emergency. Near miss...

But those are all runaways caused by gravity. My original post was more about trains moving under their own power with no conscious driver in charge...

 

[Taunton]

Ireland had a serious runaway in 1974 with a loco hauled Dublin commuter train at full power. Train ahead was advised and also accelerated to full power but was unable to keep ahead, and the two collided at high speed, just unfortunately as they were alongside a further train in the opposite direction. It was not an amusing event as there were passenger fatalities in the collision.

Combination of the deadman being isolated previously to facilitate shunting, and the train later coming to a stand when the vacuum hoses parted, Driver got down to deal with this, leaving the controller in the running position and the brake in release. When the vacuum hose was reconnected the train restarted without anyone on the loco.

Accident report here: https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/DTP_Gormanston1974.pdf

 

[k-c-p]

In 2020 an overhead wire maintenance train (aka TVT or DB class 711.1) caught fire. This resulted in its breaks failing and it rolled along the Schwarzwaldbahn for 20 kilometers. Two attempts to stop it using brake shoes did not work. It was stopped in the end by directing (and derailing it) in a siding at Gengenbach.

Local paper "Schwarzwälder Bote" has a video on its Youtube channel. Comment is in German, but the images speak for themselves .

"Fun" fact: A total of 22 class 711.1 maintenance tranis were built for DB. So far 5 have gone up in flames (the last one less than two weeks days ago). In two cases, these fires resulted in runaway trains.

Edit: corrected last fire, because it was two days, not two weeks ago (I was too stupid to read the date correctly ).

 

[DanielB]

Fun" fact: A total of 22 class 711.1 maintenance tranis were built for DB. So far 5 have gone up in flames (the last one less than two weeks ago). In two cases, these fires resulted in runaway trains.

Actually one caught fire again yesterday evening: https://m.bild.de/regional/nordrhei...120014d64c8aa?t_ref=https://ovinnederland.nl/

 

[jfowkes]

The Lac-Mégantic disaster (2013) comes to mind. 47 deaths and a lot of civil/environmental damage all because of running the rail system and its staff into the ground.

These incidents are certainly not things of the past, and with North American rail infrastructure and trains still being in generally terrible states, I wouldn't be at all surprised something like this happened again.

 

[barringtoncem]

There is the clip on You Tube with the Rail Grinder Runaway For Thirteen Minutes In 2011

 

[Ailsa_Craig]

There is the clip on You Tube with the Rail Grinder Runaway For Thirteen Minutes In 2011

There was a runaway in Muscatine, IA about a week ago. Dynamic brakes failed, and two locomotives from CPKC ran down a steep incline with their train. Also, last year there was a runaway on the UP in Nevada, involving an empty unit coal train

 

[dubscottie]

There was an extremely close call here in Dublin recently with a Dart.
While technically not a runaway, a driver lost control and the Dart skidded for a considerable distance coming within meters of a collision.

Dangerous occurrence involving a Double SPAD at Clontarf Road Station, 7th December 2021 | Railway Accident Investigation Unit

Current Investigations IÉ collision between a car and a train at Level Crossing XM190, near Claremorris, on the 9th September 2023 IÉ collision between two road rail vehicles, on the Athenry to …

www.raiu.ie

 

[etr221]

I've come across a couple of YouTube videos on runaways in Victoria: Melbourne's Runaway Train // The 2003 Broadmeadows Runaway! and The 1960 Broadmeadows Runaway Train!