I watched an "FBI" episode last night. It featured a train taken over by a group of disgruntled individuals. The leader intended to crash the train into a consist of hazardous cargo in a yard. In the process of stealing the train, they had a henchman who changed the switch settings to cause the train to divert from it's intended destination. There were shots of the train barreling through red lights. The onboard FBI agent decided to disconnect the train just behind the engine. He used a very just-out-of-reach switch set on the end of the first railcar to cause the couplers to open and the brake hoses pop loose.
I have several questions. I know that procedures/policy differs between countries, so this is the US.
1. Is there such a switch located on the outside of a railcar that allows someone to uncouple? And, if so, why make it so hard to reach (it couldn't possibly be reached from the ground)?
2. Once the brake hoses popped apart, wouldn't the whole consist come to a screeching halt? In the show, the trailing cars slowly drifted away from the engine (which was still powered) and eventually came to rest.
3. All sorts of alarms should have been yelling their electronic hearts out in the control cabin. None were.
4. The FBI agent managed to break through the "hardened steel" door to the control cabin by using a defibrillator to cause the electronics to fail and open the lock. I doubt this very much.
5. At the controls now, he is told to use the "train brake" (a yellow-handled lever, which he pushed forward - nothing happened)
6. Then, he is told to use the "emergency brake" (a red-handled lever right next to the yellow one. When pushed forward THEN the fake sparks fly from the wheels and he stops just short of a tiny little derail on one rail that wouldn't stop a handcar, much less a big piece of motive power, and the engine comes to rest.
I think that as soon as the brake hoses came apart, the whole shebang would have come to a rapid halt after decelerating hard enough to cause everyone aboard to hit the front bulkhead of the cars.
EDIT: Forgot to add that somehow the "Emergency cord/lever in each car had been disconnected. Is this possible?
Bill
I have several questions. I know that procedures/policy differs between countries, so this is the US.
1. Is there such a switch located on the outside of a railcar that allows someone to uncouple? And, if so, why make it so hard to reach (it couldn't possibly be reached from the ground)?
2. Once the brake hoses popped apart, wouldn't the whole consist come to a screeching halt? In the show, the trailing cars slowly drifted away from the engine (which was still powered) and eventually came to rest.
3. All sorts of alarms should have been yelling their electronic hearts out in the control cabin. None were.
4. The FBI agent managed to break through the "hardened steel" door to the control cabin by using a defibrillator to cause the electronics to fail and open the lock. I doubt this very much.
5. At the controls now, he is told to use the "train brake" (a yellow-handled lever, which he pushed forward - nothing happened)
6. Then, he is told to use the "emergency brake" (a red-handled lever right next to the yellow one. When pushed forward THEN the fake sparks fly from the wheels and he stops just short of a tiny little derail on one rail that wouldn't stop a handcar, much less a big piece of motive power, and the engine comes to rest.
I think that as soon as the brake hoses came apart, the whole shebang would have come to a rapid halt after decelerating hard enough to cause everyone aboard to hit the front bulkhead of the cars.
EDIT: Forgot to add that somehow the "Emergency cord/lever in each car had been disconnected. Is this possible?
Bill
