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I won't speculate as the cause of the specific recent accident, but I do want to share a few general ideas. I have seen video of several real and staged train/car and train/truck collisions. In all these cases, the train was headed by a freight locomotive, and no real damage came to the train, in spite of the crushing and crinching of the cars and trucks. Obviously the weight of the locomotive helps to keep it in place on the rails. compared to a lightweight railcar. Something I just learned last week watching a video on the construction of a modern locomotive.... Passenger locos are made much lighter than freight locos. The main steel plate on which the loco is built, may be only a bit more than an inch thick and use thinner side frames if it is to be a passenger loco. A similar length loco for freaight will be built on a plate almost 4 inches thick, and have much more massive side frames. Total weight can double on the freight loco! One can easily conclude that running all passenger trains loco first would be a good idea, and that heavier 'freight weight' locos would more likely stay on the tracks in a collision <br /> <br />Jennifer
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