I was up north chasing the CSX Operation Lifesaver Special today, which operated on the former Conrail Toledo Branch between Columbus and Toledo. After getting my last northbound shot north of Bowling Green, I decided to grab some lunch. After lunch, I proceeded back north to Trombley to await the return southbound Operation Lifesaver train. While on I-75, I heard some VERY UNUSUAL radio chatter, culminating in,"Well where is the engineer?" "Right here in the crew room!" A train had somehow gotten out of Stanley Yard in Toledo and was running southbound with no one aboard. I saw the train at North Trombley running at about 30mph. It was a solo SD40-2 #8888, an ex-Conrail unit with about 47 cars. It tripped the detector at North Trombley with dragging equipment, but none of the others further south. I then heard the CSX "IE" Dispatcher call the maintainers along the road that the train had run through the switches at CP 14 and were likely damaged. The pursuit by CSX employees, police, and myself began at this point. Folks, the Good Lord was watching over north central Ohio today! Thankfully, due to the Operation Lifesaver Special, there was a very high police presence along the railroad. This was crucial! Almost every grade crossing was protected when the train passed. Keep in mind, nobody was aboard to sound the horn and bell. The headlights were not on either. I caught up with the train again at Mortimer (North Findlay). Here, a CSX maintainer had placed a derail on the track to derail the train. Everyone was out of the way, expecting a horrific wreck. Amazingly, the train RAN THROUGH the derail, kicking it out of the way! Now, the city of Findlay lay ahead. By this time, all police and emergency personnel along the line had been alerted. NS CSX dispatchers had been alerted to prevent any intersecting lines from passing traffic through railroad crossings at grade (Galatea, Mortimer, Findlay, etc.). They were going to attempt to put the train in the siding at Whirlpool, just north of Findlay, but the fear of the hazardous material cars on the train nixed that move. It was then decided to put the train in the siding at Blanchard, south of Dunkirk. However, another idea arose. There was a northbound Q636 waiting at Dunkirk in the siding. Dunkirk has probably never seen so much excitement since the big wreck of some years ago. There was Q636 in the siding and an eastbound local on the PRR, waiting at the diamond with a clear signal. Thankfully the word had gotten out. The train accelerated going down the hill from the US 68 crossing to the diamond at Dunkirk. When the train passed, the great locomotive chase began. The crew of Q636, in the siding at Dunkirk, had taken their lone SD40-2 off their train and through arrangement with the "IE" train dispatcher, prepared to pull out of the north end of the siding after the runaway had passed and begin a pursuit. The train got by at about 45 mph, the dispatcher immediately threw the switch and 636's power got out on the main. After a few tense seconds, the switch lined and the chase began! The crew on 636 were incredible. Gung ho, they WANTED to catch that train by the sounds of their voices on the radio. They caught up with the runaway just south of Blanchard. The city of Kenton, with its sharp curves laid ahead. The lone SD40-2, now coupled to the runaway, kicked the dynamic brakes on full and got immediate results, bringing the train down to a curve safe 20mph and less. The dispatcher then arranged for the Kenton local, with a lone GP38 and a covered hopper, to get in front of the runaway, if necessary, to pace, couple up, and buffer the train to a stop. The Q636's crew and Kenton local were placed in direct contact. Q636 gave the train speed every few seconds and the Kenton local got in a tangent where they could get a jump and engage the runaway as safely as possible under the circumstances. Finally, the runaway was slowed to 12mph. At State Route 31, a CSX trainmaster heroically, swung aboard and shut the throttle off on the errant locomotive and train. The Kenton local was just ahead and did not have to couple to the runaway. The situation in the cab reported by the trainmaster: run 8 throttle, 20lb reduction on the automatic, and full application on the independent. Amazingly, NOBODY WAS INJURED in this! The CSX folks deserve a tremendous pat on the back and congratulations for their handling of this extraordinary situation. I was there for almost the entire pursuit, never being more than 6 miles away and always in radio range. No one lost their cool and everyone was on the same page. There was some great crisis railroading being performed by the men out there today! A few THANK GOD things worth mentioning: 1. The train had its brakes applied and was dragging along, preventing higher speeds from being achieved. 2. The derail at Mortimer did not work. A hazmat disaster would have likely resulted in a semi populated area, right next to I-75. 3. No one was involved in a collision with the train. Remember, nobody was aboard to sound the horn and bell. 4. The cities of Findlay and Kenton have some significant curves. The train did not derail! 5. There were ample personnel along the line thanks to the OLS special today. As to how all of this got started, that is up for the investigators and I cannot speculate as I have no idea what happened in Toledo. What is typed above is my own account and any errors are mine alone. I have a recording of the radio traffic during the entire locomotive chase. I will make an mp3 tonight and post it someplace for all to hear. Will advise when it is complete. [ 20 May 2001: Message edited by: E-8 ]
wow that person must have had a good time chasing that train!! lol. That trick never worked on "Atomic Train".I'll say that the crew on Q636 got a few days of for their nerves to stop rattling, and a bonus on their pay check (heck they saved CSX millions of dollars)
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by A&A 6183: and a bonus on their pay check (heck they saved CSX millions of dollars)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Not just that - look at all the free publicity! The bean counters could write the bonuses off as an advertising expense. Heck 8888's engineer and the guy who set the oringinal points wrong should probibly get a bonus too
Charlie, Thanks for sharing that with us. That is definately a great account of what transpired! Harold What'dya mean its on auto-pilot?
Chessie- Your signature fits very well with this topic My father told me to turn on the T.V as he heard of this run away, I caught the last 15 minutes of it on CNN. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, everybody there was very lucky. BTW: CNN Never mentioned OLS being through there. They just said CSX warned all towns on the line and the state patrol. Interesting. Thanks for the report.
Charlie, Please give a big thank-you to your correspondent for his excellent report. At least we have a better idea what actually happened during the critical part of this event. Now, if we could get an equally clear report of the happenings that led up to the train getting loose...
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CPRailfan: I can't wait for the mp3!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Chris Dante forwarded that to me. I don't know where we could find that mp3 but I will upload it to the site if it is made available to me. Charlie
Charlie ... talk about being at the right place, at the right time! My Father always said "No amount of planning beats 'Dumb Luck' " You have given us an excellent write up, you have a gift! Have you considered writing as a second (first?) career? Hank [ 21 May 2001: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
WOW Should have been made into a movie of the week. Did the NTSB ever release a report as to how this happened(got started)? May I say I REALLY APPRECIATE that Tboard suggests possible similar topics on the bottom of certain pages. I really get to read about stuff I never knew about but would have been interested in originally had I seen it.
The crew was making switching moves in the yard. They thought that the cut they had would fit between an improperly lined switch and the switch they were throwing. As the conductor counted the engineer down it was realized that they were going to have to line the switch ahead. The engineer applied full independent and tried to go into dynamic braking. Instead of dynamic he moved the throttle to #8. Seeing that he was not slowing down he then made a reduction in the brake pipe which will give some extra locomotive brake cylinder pressure, EXCEPT on Conrail locos. They have a brake cylinder knockdown feature so now the engineer was actually getting less stopping power. He then jumped off the slow moving cut and ran to throw the switch ahead. By the time the engine reached him it was moving at approximately 12mph making it too fast to try to jump back on. Keep in mind that the air was not cut into the cars so there was no effect when the 20lb brake pie reduction was made.
Reader's Digest had an article a few years back on the engineer and conductor of the Q636 used to chase down the runaway.......very good and insightful.
Why did they attempt a derail when it possibly had hazmats onboard? I don't understand that. Didn't they check the manifest first? Still, good work all around. Sounds like one of those things that sometimes happens. Any pictures or vids anywhere?
I disagree and I can say with confidence that it is not flawed. That's why the dates are on all the posts. Sometimes older posts are brought back to life with new and fresh information. It's also very helpful when someone is researching a particular topic. In many cases information is timeless. The accolades for this feature outnumber the criticisms 50 to 1 and if a person doesn't care for it, then it is quite easy to ignore. Charlie
For me it was the first I've heard of the incident and am happy someone brought it back. What an exciting story!!!! E-8 was the mp3 ever posted??
Charlie, Just trying to present an opposing view. No need to get defensive about it. I have edited my response since it was apparently taken the wrong way.
