The Unstoppable Crazy Eights Incident (20 Years Later)

may 15 2001 starts off like any other day at csx's stanley yard located just out of toledo ohio this yard crew has been on duty since 6 30 a.m shuffling freight cars going to local industries or far-flung destinations it's almost noon when the crew is briefed on their next assignment take this cut of 47 cars from the classification yard to the departure yard so space can be cleared out for more cars to be sorted out the crew goes on duty with number 88 88 a former conrail sd 40-2 the movement is routine except for a little problem a switch is lined the wrong way and it looks like this yard move won't be able to stop in time with the wet rails and cars pushing against the lone engine the engineer makes this decision first he applies the independent brake for the engine then he applies 20 pounds of air to the automatic brake which normally applies the brakes for the entire train as with most yard movements the air hoses between the locomotive and freight cars are unattached so all the additional force will do is further chasing the stop what happens next is where everything changes the engineer goes to apply the dynamic brakes which subtracts electricity from the traction motors and dissipates the kinetic energy as heat when he thinks the dynamics are engaged he hops off at eight miles per hour he lines the switch just in time but when he tries to climb back on he loses his footing on the wet handrails at 12 miles per hour the engineer is dragged along the ground before finally losing his grip the cruise conductor and brakeman are under the impression that he had a heart attack using his own car the brakeman and another employee raced to the nearest great crossing to try and hop on board by then the train is moving at 18 miles per hour way too fast for someone to jump on safely the word is spread to local authorities 8888 is running away [Music] police is already present in the area to monitor a special charter train promoting great crossing safety they block off grade crossings and keep bystanders at a safe distance the runaway is now romping down the old toledo branch at 45 miles per hour it's not exactly blistering but there's no one on board to work the headlights horn and bell of the consist 22 loaded cars only two are loaded with hazardous molten phenol the train itself is the biggest threat and all measures must be taken to neutralize it just north of galati a maintainer has placed his portable derailleur on the track its purpose is to literally push the rails out of the gauge and send the whole train onto the ground at a location far away from civilians it turns out that the railers are only effective at slow speeds just north of dunkirk a shot is fired the sheriff takes aim at the engine's emergency fuel cutoff button in an attempt to shut down the engine not only did he miss the button has to be held down in order for it to start fuel to the prime mover more derailing attempts are set at locations down the line to prevent the train from reaching columbus and risk causing a catastrophe reprieve is at hand though for traveling north on the same track is train q 636 which is probably put into the sighting at dunkirk the dispatcher orders for the crew to uncouple their lead locomotive and give [Music] chase [Music] by the time they reach kenton q636 makes contact at 51 miles per hour applying the dynamic brakes the runaway speed is reined in through the tight curves through town at the route 31 grade crossing they're brought down to 11 miles per hour a csx train master runs alongside pulls himself aboard and shuts off power 88.88 finally relents with his brake shoes grinded away the investigation revealed human error as the cause of the incident as it turned out the engineer was used to operating with a control stand with a combined throttle and dynamic brake function some control stands have the throttle and dynamic brakes as separate levers whereas this unit had them consolidated into one with a selector that changed between dynamics and throttle by operating under the assumption of the dynamic brakes being engaged the engineer was sure that the extra force would bring the train to a stop but it was by having the throttle at run eight that empowered 8888 to get away when the newly christened crazyates was released back in the service the control stand was changed to the simpler arrangement the unit would serve csx for seven more years until a prime mover failure pulled it out of service it has since been rebuilt into a next generation sd-40-3 it was an interesting incident unfortunately one without fatalities injuries or even that much collateral damage and yet something else that the story would leave behind was a legacy this event was in early 2001 with the increase in reality tv was showcasing credible footage shot by news crews or casual videographers for entertainment the story of crazy eights didn't take long to become a center of fascination for a wider demographic than just rail enthusiasts nine years later the events of what happened on may 15th would serve as the basis for director tony scott's final movie unstoppable although heavily dramatized and embellished as is the norm for the action film genre all the keynote actions taken during the event played a role in the movie from start to finish in fact the engineer on sd40-283 which tacked itself onto the back of crazy eights to slow it down got to serve as a technical advisor for the film's production as for the audience perception let's just say that opinions vary from person to person federal government's investigation ruled this type of incident as unlikely to happen again it becomes even less probable with new technologies on the rise like trip optimizer and the ever controversial positive train control yet it's easy to forget how derailments employee mismanagement and pitfalls in minimizing its operating ratio are all liable to happen on other railroads throughout the world each time railroads like csx have picked themselves up and put their best horsepower forward to keep freight moving they demonstrate their commitment to give back to communities beyond their rails and have even shown willingness to show off their corporate heritage in the limelight the path that every major railroad has followed in the u.s or elsewhere hasn't always been the smoothest but it is one that is continually being improved on [Applause] so you

Channel: High Iron

Views: 33,702

Rating: 4.9460673 out of 5

Keywords: trains, rail, railroad, CSX 8888, csx 8888 incident, runaway train, freight train, unstoppable, CSX, Ohio, incident, May 2001

Id: zd84v8T3qLs

Length: 8min 12sec (492 seconds)

Published: Fri May 14 2021