Today in Technology History
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May 15
Today marks the one-year anniversary of an odd runaway train incident.
At about noon on May 15, 2001, a train owned by CSX Transportation, a major railroad company, pulled into a switching yard in Toledo, Ohio. The train -- 47 cars led by locomotive number 8888 -- had a two-man crew.
The engineer saw that his train was slowly heading toward a switch that was aligned incorrectly. Fearing that the switch would be damaged, and knowing that the train's conductor was busy elsewhere, he decided to fix the problem himself by slowing the train, jumping off, pulling the switch, then jumping back onto the moving locomotive.
Despite his 35-year record of flawless railroad work, the engineer messed up. He successfully applied two of the brakes before jumping from the train -- but instead of applying the third brake, he accidentally set the locomotive's throttle at full power. The locomotive's 3,000-horsepower engine overpowered the two brakes, and the train pulled away. The engineer ran after the accelerating locomotive, but couldn't pull himself aboard since the railing was wet from rain. The train drove off.
Half the cars on the runaway train were empty; the freight on the other cars consisted mostly of paper and lumber. But two of the cars held molten phenol, a caustic and combustible chemical. Authorities were worried that if the train derailed in a town, it could endanger the population.
Soon after the runaway train started its journey, it passed through the town of Bowling Green -- where there was a sharp bend in the tracks. A state trooper's radar gun clocked the train at 46 miles per hour. CSX officials worried that the train might derail at the bend, but it barreled on.
Next, the train company intentionally tried to derail the runaway in an unpopulated area. The company put derailing sleeves on the track, but the speeding train just knocked them away and kept going.
Then a state trooper fired at the locomotive with a shotgun, hoping somehow to cut off the fuel supply. That didn't work, either.
By now, the runaway was being chased by emergency vehicles and TV helicopters. Other trains had to pull over to let the runaway pass -- including a passenger train that carried 75 state officials on a tour to promote train safety.
After the runaway drove by, one of the trains that had pulled over got back on the rails and gave chase at 65 miles per hour, hoping to lock onto the runaway and slow it down. The pursuing train's two engineers knew this was a dangerous mission; one even called his wife to say goodbye in case he was killed. But they safely coupled with the runaway train and slammed on their brakes.
But even with the brakes and the added weight of the new train, the runaway locomotive kept moving at 10 or 15 miles per hour.
Finally, another engineer -- Jon Hosfeld, a railroad employee for 31 years -- waited alongside the tracks until the train drove by. He grabbed onto a ladder and swung aboard, a practice that was once common for railroad employees (at lower speeds) but is now forbidden. Hosfeld shut down the throttle and the train stopped, 66 miles after it started. During the two hour adventure, no one was hurt and the only damage was to the brakes on the runaway, worn away from the trip.
Related links:
These news stories about the runaway train have pictures, video and a map of the train's route:
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