Loading ...That is an unfortunate bit of news. Loco crew of 3 perished, including a training conductor. Grain trains are heavy, and trains are hardest to control on a downslope to prevent runaways. If the train gets moving too fast, the brakes will not slow it and you have an uncontrolled runaway. I have read that the speed limit for trains running out of Field is only 5mph downslope. If the train hits 5mph, either the conductor or engineer is REQUIRED by regulations to pull the emergency brakes and bring the train to a full stop. This is a real pain for the crew as then they must wait for the train to repressurize the brake system for the whole train before they can move again.
I’m guessing that maybe with the distraction of training a new conductor in the cab, they didn’t pay attention to the 5mph speed limit and lost the train. It is real insidious if you suddenly find yourself at 10mph and the full emergency brake blowout will not stop the train and you are gaining speed downhill. Smart crew will jump overboard at that point.