Movie = Unstoppable

I have the original real story in print. This movies hardly come close. The photo of the engineer, conductor and supervisor who jumped on the slowed runaway loco is in the article.

r

I have the original real story in print. This movies hardly come close. The photo of the engineer, conductor and supervisor who jumped on the slowed runaway loco is in the article.

r

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks. Very informative article!

I haven't seen the movie but the locomotive is a celebrity, famous for it, with a number that is easy to remember - CSX 8888.

I used to be a member of the Kingston Model Railway Club in New York, and on club nights we used to listen on a scanner and go out to watch the trains go by.

When 8888 passed by on a freight one of the guys remarked it and when I asked him, told me the story.

Hollywood always embellishes these stories to make them more exciting in the hopes of greater ticket sales.

Saw it today. Great thing is that there's train action in about 90% of the movie; not a whole lot of off-the-rails scenes. It kept the adrenaline pumping, even though some bits pushed the credulity to the edge.

Rick Jones wrote: : : Saw it today. Great thing is that there's train action in about 90% : of the movie; not a whole lot of off-the-rails scenes. It kept the : adrenaline pumping, even though some bits pushed the credulity to the edge. : I was amused that the airhose was connected between 1206 and the train at some point. Plus your typical continuity problems. Amazing the front of 777 wasn't damaged towards the end, after the havoc 777 raised. :-)

Also, what was 777? It looked like a SD79MAC? And 1206 looked to be a low hood GP30? I think I know who will win a tug of war.

Aside from that, I thought it was a remake of "Runaway Train", minus the need to capture a couple of prisoners.

Bruce

check this website:

1206 was a 6-axle unit...SD40-2.

this website says 777 was an AC4400CW

the locos that ran out ahead of 777 were SD40-2's

Anyway, as suspected, this story heavily embellished the actual event it was based on. So many people see the words "based on a true story" and take it to mean it's what happened....but it's not.

In the REAL story it was a CSX yard switcher with a single SD40-2 #

8888. After the incident nickmamed the Crazy 8's.

I believe the loco that chased it was also an SD40's. In the real event, they did PLAN to run some locos out ahead of the runaway train, but in the end didn't have to because the chase train caught it and slowed it enough that a CSX trainmaster could jump about and shut the throttle down.

Speaking of which...this movie shows the engine's throttle advancing by itself after the engineer got off to run ahead and line the switch. In the real event, the engineer thought he'd put the dynamic brake in number 8 but had instead put the throttle in number 8 before he got off. I would suspect that possibly this SD40-2 may have had a control stand which did not have a seperate dynamic brake handle, but rather a selector handle for power/dynamic braking, and a single combined throttle/braking handle. Otherwise, I don't know how he could possibly have thought it was in dynamic braking, considering the units with a seperate handle have a dynamic brake handle that moves in the complete opposite direction from throttle power. Also, all SD40-2's that I know of are conventional control stands not desktiops like the AC4400CW used in this movie.

I had to laugh when I saw "Randy" (reference: My Name Is Earl), jump off to line a switch that was already lined properly. In the real event the engineer was about to split a switch, but in this movie the switch was lined properly. I don't know why they didn't do that realistically...they could have had the track department standing by to fix it as soon as it was split, if it happened. It only takes a few minutes to replace the spindle in a split switch.

I'm kinda curious as to why they chose to paint 777 and it's companion to look almost like a Santa Fe engine. I wonder if CSX insisted it not look anything like any of their family of paint schemes?

I didn't pay a lot of attention at the end of the movie, but one of the photos above certainly shows some damage on 777.