Apparently they are heading for a yard with an abandoned turntable pit, in the hope it can be used to drop the drivers.

Mike

Why don't they have crews on all the units of any locomotive consist? The MU is supposed to work.

Looking at the train consist in the videos, it strikes me that the locomotive consist is more than half the weight of the train. I can't think of any way the engineer could bail the brakes off the 844 without also releasing the brakes on the diesel, and given that consist, he NEEDED that braking power until things were under control. So, I don't think we can fault the engineer.

I don't think the water bottles count.

Steve

Remember the good ole 1990s when an 8 car train pulled by a 4-8-4 did not need a 2nd loco (i.e. protection diesel)?

A Centipede tender without handrails, TWO water cars, and then down a ladder to the side of the front door of the MP Heritage unit, across the footboards that no longer exist... What, are we filming Unstoppable II: The Steamy Sequel here?

In all fairness, looking at the water car Joe Jordan more closely, there is enough of an end platform that one could crawl down and get to the diesel, and I'm sure it's been done at least once in service, and if there were really no other way to shut down the diesel (the boxcar separates the passenger cars from the diesel, though I gotta wonder if that box car has end doors now...)..........

If you look at the slow motion video I linked above you can clearly see the boxcar is equipped with end doors. It appears that it would still be a pretty dangerous thing to attempt at the speed they were traveling considering the height of the bottom of the door.

Wouldn't dumping the brakes send the diesel to idle? I thought I had read somewhere that newer diesels throttle down when they sense an emergency brake application.

The brakes were applied in that video. As for the PCS switch being opened upon emergency, some railroads have them modified for in the event of an emergency to maintain power in throttle for a certain time after a trainline emergency occurs, (csx is 20 seconds I believe). They are also modified to leave dynamic brake on continuously in emergency. Another option available would have been to place the throttle in the the EFCO position if it was there on their control stand on 844. That would have killed the diesel.

Joe

According to reports on email lists, today UP's stairs car rolled into a passing train:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2990059

This box car apparently carried the stairs/platforms that are used at public displays, so that the public can look into the cab.

Judging by the trucks on the ground, it looks like the gon derailed and hit the 9336

Different angle, looks like the box car hit the gon.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2990061

(>_<)

The last time I saw anything that looked like this......

..... they shut down the NS steam program months later.............

Jes' sayin'..........

Well the U.P. must realize that these kinds of things can happen any time. I guess it is just a matter of whether or not this incident has driven the point any deeper.

It's very fortunate there were no paying passengers aboard-- or it very well could have turned into another 'Great Dismal Swamp' or Lynchburg incident. I think UP wisely limits the number of public excursions done with its steamers for a reason. Of course, with the public expecting and waiting for a display stop at Mt. Pleasant, 'blowing the stop' could have had disastrous consequences. Fortunately that didn't happen.

Remember ten years ago when H.M. the Queen spoke of her annus horribilis. I guess it's like that.