Movie - Unstoppable

[Dr EMD]

There's a new action movie coming out in November. It is loosely based on the "Crazy Eights" unmanned train incident in 2001. The train rumbled on a 66-mile journey through northwest Ohio with no one at the controls. For two hours, the train it pulled sailed along at speeds up to 47 mph until a CSX employee, in a daring maneuver, jumped aboard the moving train at a crossing and shut down the power. This time, the Allegheny & West Virginia Railroad frantically works to prevent an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying combustible liquids and poisonous gas from wiping out a city.

The GE are the bad guys, and the EMD are the good guys.

At one point the movie trailer (look it up on You Tube), the police are shown firing their weapons at the fuel tank, assuming to starve the runaway train of fuel oil (and maybe getting the EPA knocking at their door about a fuel spill 50 miles long). If I was one of the adviser, I would script it to shoot at the radiator area, causing the diesel engine to overheat and shut down, or at the generator to make it fly apart, or trying to crack the engine block with armored piercing rounds. Anyway it is ONLY A MOVIE.

Also my thinking if the chase train tries to couple up from the rear and applies full dynamic brakes, wouldn't straightlining cause the train to derail (with its load of HAZMAT). But is ONLY A MOVIE.

What do you think?

[jettrainfan]

The plot makes me think of atomic train, except they didn't tell the crew a lie about the load.

[Guilford Guy]

I was told they were shooting to hit the emergency fuel cut off switch on the side of the tank? The trailer looks cheesy, but I might have to see it for the trains.

[jward]

my thoughts.......

emd,
we all know this movie is fictitious. after all, in real life, the ge's would have broken down and the train drifted to a stop

jet,
this movie is no atomic train. that was probably the worst train movie ever made. i mean get real. the prime mover blows up on a locomotive, and it takes off as a runaway? what is powering it?

overall, though, if they did half as good a job in the script as they did painting the equipment it should be a good movie.

[richg]

This movie is the typical garbage put out by Hollywood now a days. Very far from the original situation.
I started a thread on this subject back in August 9, 2010.

I like trains but this requires you to suspend disbelief a lot.

Rich

[J3a-614]

Well, if it's worth anything, there is footage on YouTube of the actual incident, and a deputy did try to shoot at the fuel shut-off and missed; as noted, he should have shot at the radiators, leading to overheating and the engine shutting down automatically.

Just have someone get on the locomotive and and close the throttle after the speed is dragged down with another locomotive?  Too boring, at least for most of the intended audience.  So we we get some "Perils of Pauline" or "Hazards of Helen" (now that silent era series had railroad flavor!), including all those cars loaded with chemicals, a passenger train, Denziel Washington or a stunt double on top of the train, and a derailment with a big explosion. . .yeah, that one's particularly ridiculous. 

Did you ever try to start a brush or trash fire with kerosene, which is basically what diesel fuel is?  Darned tough to light off, burns amazingly slowly, it's no wonder a cold diesel engine without glow plugs is so hard to start.  No explosion hazard, that's for sure, but that's Hollywood for you.

Go enjoy the movie, laugh at any inaccuracies you see ( I will), and go easy on the popcorn.  Otherwise, you might look like me; I have the body of a god--Budda!