You've heard the story, now see the video.

[ValleyX]

They got it stopped south of Ohio Route 31 south of Kenton, Ohio, which means it ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 miles, just guessing. 

I do remember reading a newspaper article about the crew that chased it down after it happened, I remember the engineer lived in Canal Winchester, Ohio, a Columbus bedroom community on the southeast side and it seems like the conductor was a relatively new employee.

Back when I was just a young brakie, getting on at up to ten MPH wasn't really any problem but I'd sure hate to try it today!!!!  Randy, I got off once about twenty MPH at a road crossing, I didn't fall but I sure was running FAST.  I really don't know how I stayed up, attribute it to youth.

[Randy Stahl]

That comment about the guy chickening out trying get on...come on.   I've mounted moving equipment, it's difficult enough under 10 mph and it's quite an experiance at road speed.  I don't blame the guy for abandoning his attempt.  You don't get your hands on right and your road pizza.

I got off one going about 30mph ... very painfull week in the hospital but at least I'm alive. I don't reccommend it !

[oskar]

Incase you are wondering where 8888 is.........

CSXT 8888 Augusta,GA 10/8.

I haven't been to the yard since Sunday might or might not be there now.

 

kevin

[videomaker]

Did the media say how far this train was chased before it was stopped.?.There are several runbys someone was getting video of it..Danny

[pmsteamman]

Coborn35 you are right! A second SD-40-2 did catch up and couple up to the runaway and put his unit in full dynamics to slow the train down.The person who climbed aboard was not a road formen but a trainmaster.

[coborn35]

Are you sure the knuckle broke? What I understand is that they coupled up and then put the units in Dynamics.

[bnsfkline]

May I add that there is an unsung hero in this story? No one ever mentions that the train was slowed down by another set of locomotives that chased the runaway, couple up to it and try to slow it down. It failed when the coupler on the rear car busted with the force from the chase units. I belive that the units were facing long hhood forward, and chased the train as a light engine move moving at over 60 MPH to catch up with the runaway. This part of the story has never mbeen mentioned because the road foremen swung aboard the slowed runaway. That part of the story makes him the hero, but you have to remember that he boarded a SLOWED runaway. notice at first, the train is moving at a pretty good clip, and watch when the guy jumps aboard, the train is moving at slower speed. At 25 cars in central Ohio, a train can't slow down THAT much!

[pmsteamman]

I was a engineer for CSX working out of the same terminal at the time that this happended. The yard that it took off from was Stanley yard (ex-NYC), and as sanvtoman said the engineer should not have been on the ground. He did get down to line a switch that was against them with the loco in the 6th notch, and as he lined the switch the last car in the cut had just cleared the pinchers in the end of the bowl yard. No air hoses were coupled as this is just a yard switch job. The man attempting to jump on the moving train is the road forman, and there was molten phenol cars (residue or mty thank god) in the train. Now all these jobs are remote control so once again there is no engineer in the cab. 

[sanvtoman]

I know the conductor of the train in Walbridge yard. And i was told the hogger should not have been on the ground anyway.. Just a case of crossing a craft line and that was what happened. I used to collect my paycheck at that yard back in the Chessie days.

[doghouse]

Chad, there are a couple of juiced up .40 and .45 cal rounds that can penetrate the fuel tank of a locomotive.  The Federal .40 cal I got can. 

 

Umm, I'm kind of worried how you know that...

LOL

 

Don't be.  Just be content in the knowledge that you can sleep safe in your bed at night.

[Kevin C. Smith]

Chad, there are a couple of juiced up .40 and .45 cal rounds that can penetrate the fuel tank of a locomotive.  The Federal .40 cal I got can. 

 

Umm, I'm kind of worried how you know that...

LOL

[Railfan1]

I agree that there are a lot of mistakes in this story, I think the media are the "Half-witted" ones.

[ericsp]

I watch the video with the sound off, much more enjoyable. I seem to recall there were a couple of cars of haz mat on there, I am thinking phenol. Ironic since it had "hosted by nothingtoxic.com" on the video.

[nbrodar]

Jeeze.  How dumb are these people?

The engineer got off to line a switch, and mistakenly went out on the throttle, instead of the brake, and the train took off.   

The police actually hit the fuel cut-off switch, but weren't able to make hard enough contact to engage it.

That comment about the guy chickening out trying get on...come on.   I've mounted moving equipment, it's difficult enough under 10 mph and it's quite an experiance at road speed.  I don't blame the guy for abandoning his attempt.  You don't get your hands on right and your road pizza.

Another engine came up behind the runaway, and slowed it enough for someone else to make another, sucessful, attempt to mount the lead engine.

HAZMAT, the video is so grainy, you can't tell.   I saw what might have been white acid placards, but couldn't see any bright red flammable placards.

And contrary to the report, the engineer is currently still an active employee.

Nick

[doghouse]

I've heard about this one but never seen it till now. Thanks for the link Railfan1.

I just want to know what the heck that cop was thinking. I heard he used his handgun, which was dumb because no handgun is going to even dent that fuel tank. But a shotgun???? Come on. I thought a cop should know better. Besides even if he did penetrate the tank how long would it take to drain the tank? Oh yea, it couldn't drain the tank, just drain it till it got to the level of the hole. All I can say is what a dunce. He's lucky he didn't get hit with ricocheting  shot.

Chad, there are a couple of juiced up .40 and .45 cal rounds that can penetrate the fuel tank of a locomotive.  The Federal .40 cal I got can. 

[Gambi80]

Hmmm....  I didn't realize Ohio was below the Mason-Dixon line.  Yeeee Hawwww!  Gonna shoot that danged 'ol train wit mah buckshot. 

[Anonymous]

LOL. That's funny. Just glad no one got hurt.

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

I watched this film clip and I really don't have any comment on it, except to say that we have plenty of idiots in the news media who don't seem to know anything. They don't know the difference between a conductor and an engineer, and I've never heard of the guy who is supposed to be in the cab and behind the throttle referred to as a "controller". And any police officer who thinks he can stop a train with a couple blasts from a shotgun is certainly a bonehead in my book.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

 

[espeefoamer]

That story had more errors in it than the Dodgers commited last night.The engine "controller" fell asleep at the switch.Hasn't this announcer ever heard of an engineer?Shooting at a red button on the side of the fuel tank sounds like the dumb idea of the year.All the sherrif had to do was shoot a hole in the air hose to apply the brakes assuming they were pumped up when the train ran away.

[zapp]

There's a red button on the fuel tank, kinda like the ones at a gas station, that'll shut off the fuel pump, killing the engine.

The part that wasn't mentioned was:

(1.) The engineer didn't "fall asleep" he was lining a switch and accidently released the brakes as he got out of the seat. (Yeah let's go to a one man crew!)

(2.) They had a MOW try to derail it, b the train simple knocked the derail flying off the track. (really made those MOW nervous after that demonstration)

[JSGreen]

Listening to the video, it says he was trying to hit some sort of fuel safety cutoff switch...but that doiesnt make it less of a bone-headed idea!  And was shooting buckshot...He, and everyone else, were indeed lucky!

[chad thomas]

I've heard about this one but never seen it till now. Thanks for the link Railfan1.

I just want to know what the heck that cop was thinking. I heard he used his handgun, which was dumb because no handgun is going to even dent that fuel tank. But a shotgun???? Come on. I thought a cop should know better. Besides even if he did penetrate the tank how long would it take to drain the tank? Oh yea, it couldn't drain the tank, just drain it till it got to the level of the hole. All I can say is what a dunce. He's lucky he didn't get hit with ricocheting  shot.

[Railfan1]

Here is the video of the runaway train near Toledo, OH. I personally did not know it existed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngseX3GPQcY