The movie Unstoppable was on a couple of nights ago. There were a few glaring points that detracted from the movie. When they got a pair of locos in front of the runaway train and then slowed down to couple up with it, all they had to do was have someone hop across to the unmanned loco and shut it down. Instead they tried to use their brakes, which failed of course. Also, the unmanned loco was an AC44CW. Don't these have a Dead Man safety system where an alarm sounds occasionally and the train shuts down if the engineer doesn't hit a button within a certain amount of time? This movie was loosely based on a real-life incident where the runaway train was headed up by an SD40-2. What kind of safety system did this type of loco have, if anything? Steve S
Why walk across from loco to loco when you can have someone rappel in from a helicopter? Greg Amer The Industrial Lead gregamer.com
It was made in Fool-you-wood - the land of make believe. So why spoil it w/ any semblance of reality. LOL
There was a bunch of things they COULD have done but A) It's Hollywood and B) it was based on a true story and the true story had and engine catch it from behind. Here is a good link: http://kohlin.com/CSX8888/z-final-report.htm I think most locomotives have a dead man button/switch that has to be pressed every once in a while. The real runaway, CSX 8888 had one but wasn't operational, supposedly. Also, the real incident had one locomotive pulling 47 cars with no air tied in for brakes. Unlike the movie, the throttle didn't run up to notch 8 magically by itself. The Engineer thought he had engaged dynamic braking, then jammed it to notch 8 to slow it down while he stepped off..... generator made full throttle and off she went. Check out the above link I found it to very good reading.
I did a search but nothing was found. Apparently I limited my search to this forum, and the discussion took place in the N Scale forum. Steve S
Thanks, that explains a lot. So the SD40 did have a dead man's button, but it didn't activate because the brake pressure wasn't set properly. Does anyone know when the dead man system was first implemented? Steve S
I thought it was pretty silly that they'd have the guy coming down from the chopper at the same time the two locos were trying to couple onto the front of the train. Suspenders and a belt. Steve S
One thing that got me was...hostlers...really? As a train crew member you never ever leave a moving piece equipment if you are controlling it. NEVER EVER!!!! On the CNW...hostlers never moved power in the yard, hostlers were restricted to the diesel ramp. You had to be a certified FRA engineer to move locomotives in the yard. When pulling down out of the hump yard, three cars of air was required. One thing about the railroad, no matter which one it is...there is no gray area when it comes to safety. One thing they preached was..if you are not 110% sure it is safe,,THEN DON'T DO IT!!! But like previous posters stated,,it is hollyweird. Don't even get me going on military uniforms in the movies. Adios Wyatt
An inside hostler is not certified and cannot move equipment unless it is a mechanical department controlled track. An inside hostler cannot move cars, only locomotives. An outside hostler is certified and can move engines and cars within the limits of a yard but does not have the ability to leave yard limits. FYI, We had both on the Milwaukee road and the SOO and even the WC
Remind me to never hire y'all to make movies...jeez. I can see the headlines now "Nationwide Movie Audiences Die of Boredom"... :droll: :teeth:
