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Runaway Train: Difference between revisions
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See Also [[Deadfoot Leadfoot]]. If the [[Failsafe Failure]] isn't justified, then this may also be a case of [[Just Train Wrong]].
{{examples}}▼
Not to be confused with the film of the same name.
== Anime & Manga ==▼
* In the 6th [[Digimon]] movie, ''[[Digimon Tamers]]: The Runaway Digimon Express'', the Tamers are faced with stopping (Gran)Locomon when the train [[Mon|Digimon]] appears during Ruki's birthday party.▼
▲{{examples}}
▲* In the
* In [[Honoo no Alpen Rose]], a bridge in the frontier between Austria and Switzerlan is severely damaged. The train in which the main characters travelled was able to barely stop, but there was another coming towards them at full speed. {{spoiler|Jeudi and Lundi help as much as they can to get the other train to stop... but there's an explosion and Lundi disappears. Jeudi has to go to Austria on her own, thinking that Lundi is missing and possibly dead. He survived but barely, and they're not reunited until several chapters later.}}
* There's one in the fourth [[Detective Conan]] movie, ''Captured in her eyes''. {{spoiler|A [[Trauma-Induced Amnesia]]-affected Ran is thrown in its way, Conan pulls a risky [[Diving Save]] to rescue her.}}
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** There is also an incident of a runaway train caused by children interfering with the controls. As with all incidents in the series, this was based on a similar real life occurrence. The train is caught when an inspector on another engine hurls a lasso around the train and catches it, allowing the fireman to jump over to apply the brake.
== [[Live
* ''Disaster on the Coastliner'', a [[Made for TV Movie]] about a man who sets up a train that can't be stopped, to get the president of the railroad to admit he committed some criminal acts that caused the man's wife to die.
* An episode of ''[[Little House on the Prairie (TV series)|Little House On the Prairie]]'' featured a runaway train with children on board.
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* ''[[Older Than Radio|The Runaway Train Came Over The Hill, and She Blew...]]''
* "Runaway Train" by Roseanne Cash, a No. 1 country hit in 1988; used metaphorically to describe an illicit love affair that is spiraling out of control.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
* A [[wikipedia:Waterfall rail accident|real-life incident]] happened in Australia when the driver of a commuter train suffered an apparent heart attack and died. He didn't fall out of his seat, and was heavy enough that the weight of his leg kept enough pressure on the pedal which controlled the dead-man's switch to prevent it from tripping by release, but not enough pressure to trip it by too much pressure, causing the train to go out of control and crash. The accident resulted in the addition of a second switch, a button that has to be pressed every 30 seconds to prevent the emergency brake from stopping the train automatically.▼
** Crews had also been known to cheat the deadman footpedal by jamming a flag stick (of coincidentally perfect length) between the underside of the control desk and the footpedal, although there was no evidence that this was the case in the abovementioned crash. Needless to say that sort of thing is a rather career-limiting maneuver these days.▼
** Other railway systems have also had [[wikipedia:Hinton train collision|incidents]] related to disabling deadman systems. Given many hours with little to occupy the mind, people will come up with many ingenious ways to bypass things that they find inconvenient (and most deadman safety systems, whilst crucially important, are inconvenient in some way or another).▼
* The "''Big Thunder Mountain Railroad''" ride at the various [[Disney Theme Parks]]. Depending on the place, the story is usually something along the lines of some sort of possessed/ghostly runaway trains that continued to run after a disaster of some sort hit the area.▼
* Back in the early 1900s, an Electric Train collided with another near Newcastle. The body of the driver was found some distance further down the track, and examination of the wreakage showed that the dead mans handle of the train had been tied down. Speculation is that the driver was leaning out of the train to spy on a young couple in the compartment behind the cab, and was struck by a bridge and knocked from the train, which then continued driverless before coming to a halt.▼
* A significant cause of runaway trains throughout history has been the failure to apply parking brakes on stabled trains when they are on a gradient. After a time the air will leak from the brakes and they will release. Other than for moving between cabs, a train should never be left unattended without sufficient parking brakes applied, and will usually be chocked when left for longer periods. Some trains have parking brakes that automatically apply if the air pressure falls below a certain level (usually using a powerful spring to apply the parking brake which is held off by air pressure).▼
** Another similar problem occurs with modern trains. Many have none fail safe electrically operated brakes, backed up by a failsafe direct system. If these are left unattended with just the electrically operated brake in use, a failure of this can cause a runaway. Drivers must therefore always use a failsafe method of securing the train whenever they are leaving them unattended.▼
* Another cause of runaway trains can be the failure to properly connect the brake pipes when trains are being formed, leading to part of the train being unbraked (in extreme cases the entire train other than the locomotive). A simple error is to connect the pipes but to leave the isolating valves closed. To guard against this a brake continuity test should be carried out to make sure the brake is correctly operating along the whole train. This is done by opening the brake pipe at the back of the train and observing a reduction in brake pressure at the front. In many countries drivers are also required to carry out a running brake test to make sure that the brakes operate as they should, usually whenever a driver takes over a train (also allows them to get a feel for the brakes on the particular train).▼
* In the past many trains were not continuously power braked, being brakes on leading vehicles only, or just the locomotive. This could often lead to runaways on falling gradients if insufficient brake power was available to slow or stop the train or the train travelled at too high speed. Freight trains were often unbraked or partially braked until quite recently (as late as the 1970s in the UK). On long falling gradients is was often required for the train to stop to allow the crew to manually apply parking brakes on some wagons to prevent the train running away on the hill. Runaways could easily occur if this was forgotten.▼
** The failure of couplings on an unbraked train climbing a hill would also lead to a runaway as the coaches would roll away backwards with nothing to stop them. It was normal practice to provide catch points or derailers which were designed to derail or divert a train that was running away backwards in these circumstances before a serious accident occurred.▼
* A particularly tragic runaway train accident was the Armagh rail disaster in 1889 where a train carrying children on a Sunday school outing stalled climbing a steep hill. The desision was made to divide the train and take the front portion forward, collecting the rear portion later. Although the train was fully braked the brakes were not failsafe so once the locomotive and front portion of the train were uncoupled the rear portion would be unbraked and roll down the hill. As no handbrakes were available either, the crew secured the rear of the train by placing a number of stones behind the wheels. This was effective, but sadly as the front portion started to move it rolled back into the rear portion with enough force to crush the stones, the rear of the train then rolling free down the hill until it collided with a following train. 78 were killed, 260 injured, mostly children. This accident caused such shock and outrage that it lead to massive changed to rail safety in the UK, requiring continuous automatic brakes on all passenger trains, and also improvements to signalling. The accident is seen as the beginning of the modern era in UK rail safety.▼
* A train in Ohio [http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93304&page=1 left its station] in Toledo without a conductor in May 2001 and went on a 66-mile runaway race, until an engineer was able to jump onto the engine and stop it. This incident, known as "Crazy Eights" due to the train's number, inspired the film ''[[Unstoppable]]'', mentioned above.▼
* In the 1950s in the UK, a train of empty coaches was approaching its destination when the driver realised the hard way that the couplings were connected, but not the brake pipes. Nobody was injured, but the damage bill was probably quite expensive.▼
* The vast majority of fatal rail accidents avert this trope, as they occur because a train that ''isn't'' out of control still takes a considerable time to stop. A stalled, reckless, or suicidal driver on the tracks can thus be run down because they're not spotted until it's too late for a train's brakes to prevent the collision.▼
* In Philadelphia, two cars from a powered-down passenger train somehow became uncoupled from the others, and rolled down the tracks for several blocks with two SEPTA rail employees aboard. Unable to activate the brakes with the power off, they had no way to stop the cars; fortunately, an uphill slope brought them to a halt before they encountered any obstacles.▼
* [[wikipedia:San Bernardino train disaster|The San Bernardino train disaster]] in 1989: An overloaded train didn't have enough braking power to slow itself when descending a long grade into the town of San Bernardino, derailed, and destroyed several houses. Then two weeks later the gasoline pipeline that ran parallel to the tracks, and was damaged during the cleanup, ruptured, spraying gasoline over the surviving houses in the neighbourhood, and then caught fire.▼
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* As with the literature it's based on, the ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' show uses this a lot, having its own distinct theme music, being an [[Oh Crap]] moment for the engine in question and usually ending in a crash of some kind.
* [[Color Classics|''Play Safe! Play Safe!'']]
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* A [[wikipedia:Waterfall rail accident|real-life incident]] happened in Australia when the driver of a commuter train suffered an apparent heart attack and died. He didn't fall out of his seat, and was heavy enough that the weight of his leg kept enough pressure on the pedal which controlled the dead-man's switch to prevent it from tripping by release, but not enough pressure to trip it by too much pressure, causing the train to go out of control and crash. The accident resulted in the addition of a second switch, a button that has to be pressed every 30 seconds to prevent the emergency brake from stopping the train automatically.
▲** Crews had also been known to cheat the deadman footpedal by jamming a flag stick (of coincidentally perfect length) between the underside of the control desk and the footpedal, although there was no evidence that this was the case in the abovementioned crash. Needless to say that sort of thing is a rather career-limiting maneuver these days.
▲** Other railway systems have also had [[wikipedia:Hinton train collision|incidents]] related to disabling deadman systems. Given many hours with little to occupy the mind, people will come up with many ingenious ways to bypass things that they find inconvenient (and most deadman safety systems, whilst crucially important, are inconvenient in some way or another).
▲* The "''Big Thunder Mountain Railroad''" ride at the various [[Disney Theme Parks]]. Depending on the place, the story is usually something along the lines of some sort of possessed/ghostly runaway trains that continued to run after a disaster of some sort hit the area.
▲* Back in the early 1900s, an Electric Train collided with another near Newcastle. The body of the driver was found some distance further down the track, and examination of the wreakage showed that the dead mans handle of the train had been tied down. Speculation is that the driver was leaning out of the train to spy on a young couple in the compartment behind the cab, and was struck by a bridge and knocked from the train, which then continued driverless before coming to a halt.
▲* A significant cause of runaway trains throughout history has been the failure to apply parking brakes on stabled trains when they are on a gradient. After a time the air will leak from the brakes and they will release. Other than for moving between cabs, a train should never be left unattended without sufficient parking brakes applied, and will usually be chocked when left for longer periods. Some trains have parking brakes that automatically apply if the air pressure falls below a certain level (usually using a powerful spring to apply the parking brake which is held off by air pressure).
▲** Another similar problem occurs with modern trains. Many have none fail safe electrically operated brakes, backed up by a failsafe direct system. If these are left unattended with just the electrically operated brake in use, a failure of this can cause a runaway. Drivers must therefore always use a failsafe method of securing the train whenever they are leaving them unattended.
▲* Another cause of runaway trains can be the failure to properly connect the brake pipes when trains are being formed, leading to part of the train being unbraked (in extreme cases the entire train other than the locomotive). A simple error is to connect the pipes but to leave the isolating valves closed. To guard against this a brake continuity test should be carried out to make sure the brake is correctly operating along the whole train. This is done by opening the brake pipe at the back of the train and observing a reduction in brake pressure at the front. In many countries drivers are also required to carry out a running brake test to make sure that the brakes operate as they should, usually whenever a driver takes over a train (also allows them to get a feel for the brakes on the particular train).
▲* In the past many trains were not continuously power braked, being brakes on leading vehicles only, or just the locomotive. This could often lead to runaways on falling gradients if insufficient brake power was available to slow or stop the train or the train travelled at too high speed. Freight trains were often unbraked or partially braked until quite recently (as late as the 1970s in the UK). On long falling gradients is was often required for the train to stop to allow the crew to manually apply parking brakes on some wagons to prevent the train running away on the hill. Runaways could easily occur if this was forgotten.
▲** The failure of couplings on an unbraked train climbing a hill would also lead to a runaway as the coaches would roll away backwards with nothing to stop them. It was normal practice to provide catch points or derailers which were designed to derail or divert a train that was running away backwards in these circumstances before a serious accident occurred.
▲* A particularly tragic runaway train accident was the Armagh rail disaster in 1889 where a train carrying children on a Sunday school outing stalled climbing a steep hill. The desision was made to divide the train and take the front portion forward, collecting the rear portion later. Although the train was fully braked the brakes were not failsafe so once the locomotive and front portion of the train were uncoupled the rear portion would be unbraked and roll down the hill. As no handbrakes were available either, the crew secured the rear of the train by placing a number of stones behind the wheels. This was effective, but sadly as the front portion started to move it rolled back into the rear portion with enough force to crush the stones, the rear of the train then rolling free down the hill until it collided with a following train. 78 were killed, 260 injured, mostly children. This accident caused such shock and outrage that it lead to massive changed to rail safety in the UK, requiring continuous automatic brakes on all passenger trains, and also improvements to signalling. The accident is seen as the beginning of the modern era in UK rail safety.
▲* A train in Ohio [http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93304&page=1 left its station] in Toledo without a conductor in May 2001 and went on a 66-mile runaway race, until an engineer was able to jump onto the engine and stop it. This incident, known as "Crazy Eights" due to the train's number, inspired the film ''[[Unstoppable]]'', mentioned above.
▲* In the 1950s in the UK, a train of empty coaches was approaching its destination when the driver realised the hard way that the couplings were connected, but not the brake pipes. Nobody was injured, but the damage bill was probably quite expensive.
▲* The vast majority of fatal rail accidents avert this trope, as they occur because a train that ''isn't'' out of control still takes a considerable time to stop. A stalled, reckless, or suicidal driver on the tracks can thus be run down because they're not spotted until it's too late for a train's brakes to prevent the collision.
▲* In Philadelphia, two cars from a powered-down passenger train somehow became uncoupled from the others, and rolled down the tracks for several blocks with two SEPTA rail employees aboard. Unable to activate the brakes with the power off, they had no way to stop the cars; fortunately, an uphill slope brought them to a halt before they encountered any obstacles.
▲* [[wikipedia:San Bernardino train disaster|The San Bernardino train disaster]] in 1989: An overloaded train didn't have enough braking power to slow itself when descending a long grade into the town of San Bernardino, derailed, and destroyed several houses. Then two weeks later the gasoline pipeline that ran parallel to the tracks, and was damaged during the cleanup, ruptured, spraying gasoline over the surviving houses in the neighbourhood, and then caught fire.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Drama Tropes]]
[[Category:Vehicle Tropes]]▼
[[Category:Film Tropes]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Vehicle Tropes]]
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