Hang tight or JUMP?

[FJ and G]

Once in a while, the newspapers will describe a runaway train or a cornfield meet in great detail.

Oftentimes, the crew hangs tight and other times they jump. Just as often, one will decide to jump and the other will hang tight.

Sometimes, the jumper is fine and the guy who hangs tight is killed or injured and other times, the opposite happens.

Perhaps the most famous case of a jumper and a hang tighter was that of Casey Jones.

But there have been some dramatic hang tighters who have survived such as the crew of a runaway on Cajon pass.

I sometimes wonder what the rules are for hanging tight or jumping or is it just every man for himself?

Dave Vergun

[BentnoseWillie]

Pretty much a judgement call - except for a head-on, I'd think one would be better off staying put and hitting the floor, especially in a more modern, armoured cab.

[tree68]

Damage from hitting lineside objects (poles, ballast, etc) with your body notwithstanding, I suspect that a phenomenon common in automobile accidents where passengers are ejected applies here: A large number of people ejected from their car are subsequently run over by said car. As discussed elsewhere earlier, there is usually a large train following the loco, and they'll keep going until something stops them.

[dharmon]

Well depending on the speed, probably safer to ride it out. The human body does not react well to deceleration trauma very well. So jumping is likely to be as much or more dangerous than riding it out. Since there are no seat belts, as hard as it is to do, the best position would be facing aft with the back against a bulkhead. On many military aircraft, crew members without four point harnesses have seats facing the rear for takeoff/landing/ditch positions.

[Mookie]

Why don't trains have seat belts?

[BentnoseWillie]

I think it's because it's felt that crewmen are less likely to be injured by the impact than in a road vehicle or aircraft, sue to the masses involved. Trains are so heavy that the deceleration is not as likely to cause injuries.

Besides, most crew will head for the floor if they detect an imminent collision in order to get away from possible debris ingressing through the windshield. As noted above, the safest place to be in that situation is probably on the floor, against the forward bulkhead of the cab, facing rearward.

[Mookie]

OK - I can understand that!

[edblysard]

Add to Willys comment, the percent of collisions with two locomotives is very, very small, and if you do hit something else, other than another locomotive, you usually win.

The weight and mass of even our small MK1500Ds is pretty staggering, 254000 lbs, thats 127 tons.
A GE Dash9, 440000 lbs, 220 tons.
Run into anything with them, you pretty much come out the winner.

Ed

[heavyd]

Well this is an interesting question. If you had the time to think about it, (without being scared s&*t-less) if the train is moving too fast you can't jump anyways because that will likely kill you. If the train is moving slow enough, and the other is coming at you really fast then maybe jump. But if it were possible and you have enough time the safest spot would be the last engine. Hopefully if anyone encountered this senerio and their train had 3 or 4 engines they could get back there if they had time... good question!

[BaltACD]

It is a situation by situation call.

In a runaway situation where the worst outcome is roll-over derailment of engines and train....common sense would say ride it out and try to make sure you are not ejected from the locomotive....in a high percentage of runaways....the locomotives make it through the curves with thier superior truck suspension and end up not derailing.

In the head on situation the overriding element is how much time/distance do you have in warning before impact and what is your trains speed within that distance. The critical element if one dismounts the train is to do it early enough that you are not in the area of the resulting general pile up....if you are going too fast to have a reasonable chance of survival upon dismounting the best thing to do would be to ride it out and pray. The structure of the engine would provide all possible protection (and that protection won't be enough to ensure a good outcome).

On CSX crews are required to announce signal indications and locations as well as the entrance to DTC blocks on the radio on the road channel for the sub-division the train is operating on.....This is the single most important rule change that has been implemented in the prevention of head on collisions....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE:
On CSX crews are required to announce signal indications and locations as well as the entrance to DTC blocks on the radio on the road channel for the sub-division the train is operating on.....This is the single most important rule change that has been implemented in the prevention of head on collisions....

That's done up here in Canada too, BC Rail and CP rail for sure -- not to sure about CN.

You'll hear on the scanner sometimes, "BCR 4660 South Passing Mile Post 26"

Or something to that effect.

Keep in mind they also have speeders going 2-3 miles ahead of most trains on BC Rail, so calling out their location doesn't always seem to be all that necessary... I suppose they have to according to the rules.