Runaway Train
In 2001, a CSX train, led by CSX Transportation SD40-2 #8888, left its Walbridge, Ohio, rail yard and began a 66-mile (106 km) journey through northwest Ohio with no one at the controls. Its engineer had gotten out of the originally slow-moving train to correctly line a switch, mistakenly believing he had properly set the train's dynamic braking system.
Two of the train's tank cars also contained thousands of gallons of molten phenol, an ingredient of paints and dyes, that is toxic when inhaled, ingested, or contacted with the skin. Attempts to derail CSX 8888 using a portable derailer failed, and police were unable to shoot out the Emergency Fuel Cut-Off Switch, instead hitting the fuel cap. For two hours, the train traveled along at speeds up to 47 miles per hour (76 km/h) until the crew of a second train coupled onto the runaway and slowly applied its brakes. Once the runaway was slowed down to a speed of 11 miles per hour, a CSX employee, trainmaster Jon Hosfeld, ran alongside the train and climbed aboard, shutting down the locomotive. The train was stopped just southeast of Kenton, Ohio.
The CSX 8888 incident inspired the 2010 movie Unstoppable, which borrowed some elements from the actual event for its plot.
Read more about this topic: CSX Transportation
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