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I know of a derail that got cracked in half like an egg when a derrick rolled over the derail. The operator didn't set the handbrake. When a coal train rumbled through and down the hill the derrick followed and coupled onto the coal train. They now have a split rail derail and I have never seen anything re-rail or get by one of those. Topography has to be a factor when considering protection. A runaway track is great if they have the space and are willing to spend the money. But no protection is obscene. I can just visualize a cornfield meet with 30 cars of lumber going 70 MPH. The yard I work in is the converging point of five mainlines, two are double track. There are between 1800 and 2400 cars humped a day and 50,000 cars a month run through the yard. Before they built the new yard we had a derail at the South end of the yard, the only direction we have to worry about runaways. The derail was never an obstacle to getting the work done. I have seen cars derailed there a number of times. I also saw a track leave town when the operator forgot to put the tower operator forgot to put the derail back on. There is a little rise in the track leaving the yard and while the cars did split the mainline switch, they didn't make it out of the switching limits. If they had they would have gone about 10 miles. I believe that if the conditions were right they would have been gone. When they built the new yard I think the designers thought the rise was enough to keep them in, I don't agree. They have installed a derail on the hump lead because it also meets the main on the South end of the yard. That was because of the RCOs
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