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[quote user="schlimm"] If a heavy train (1000 tons) moving at only 15 mph rear ends another train, it is hard to imagine how the structural integrity of the cab could be maintained.  <div style="clear:both;"></div> [/quote] It would indeed be possible to prevent structural damage to the cab regardless of how much momentum from the trailing train weight is involved.  The cab just has to be strong enough so that everything squeezing it compresses and deflects outward from the line of impact.   <o:p></o:p> Consider a cab made as a steel sphere with six-inch thick walls.  All of the locomotive and railcar structure would crush and deflect every which way, but it could not concentrate enough force on the sphere to dent it.  Now a massive steel sphere may not be the answer for a practical crushproof cab, but there is nothing to prevent the development of a crushproof cab.   <o:p></o:p> It would add weight to the locomotive, but locomotives of all vehicles are the most able to carry extra weight.  It would add cost, but it would save lives.  So it is only a cost/benefit issue.  There is no insurmountable practical problem that prevents the development of a true safety cab.    <o:p></o:p>
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