The True Story Behind "Unstoppable"

"Unstoppable" was a movie released in 2010 starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, and Rosario Dawson. The story is about an unmanned freight train barreling full speed ahead towards a small town. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine's characters must stop the train, which happens to be carrying dangerous chemicals, before disaster strikes. While based on an actual incident involving an unmanned train carrying dangerous chemicals, the real life version of the story contained no explosions or any loss of life. Here's what really happened:

According to news reports from the day of the incident, May 15, 2001, a freight train of 47-cars departed a CSX Railroad yard in Toledo, Ohio with no engineer at the controls.

Following a two hour chase that covered 66 miles of track to slow down and bring the unmanned train to a halt, CSX employees were eventually able to bring the runaway train to a safe stop free of injuries or property damage.

What made this incident so scary, and the perfect plot for a Hollywood movie, is that the real runaway train, identified as train CSX 8888, was actually carrying dangerous chemicals. More specifically, two of the 47 cars being towed contained several thousand gallons of molten phenol acid, a toxic ingredient used in paint that can be harmful if ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. In addition to the hazardous materials, the freight train was also towing 20 cars of paper and lumber and 25 additional empty cars.

With the initial cause of the incident a mystery, many speculated that the engineer had suffered a heart attack while at the controls and that he was actually aboard during the entire ordeal. The average speed of the unmanned train during the chase was 30 to 35 miles per hour, at one point reaching a top speed of 47 miles per hour.

To stop the train, CSX employees were able attach a second engine to the rear of the runaway, apply its breaks, and slow down the lead train long enough for a second CSX employee to jump onboard the train and apply the lead breaks manually. The second engine was able to slow down the runaway freight train to 10 miles per hour, which was just slow enough for the other employee to make the jump from the ground onto the moving train without injury. CSX 8888 was brought to a halt near Kenton, Ohio and no injuries or property damage were reported.

The following day, on May 16, the CSX employees who orchestrated the daring maneuver were seen on television describing the incident to curious reporters. When asked if they were aware of the true cause of the incident, the employees denied any knowledge and responded that they were just following orders.

Two days following the incident, it was revealed that the engineer in charge of CSX 8888 detrained in order to manually operate a rail switch. When he left the controls, he only applied two of the three breaks, inadvertently operating the throttle lever instead of the third and final break necessary to keep the train from rolling off the yard. When he realized his error, the engineer attempted to run alongside of and re-board the train but was ultimately unsuccessful after the locomotive began generating more and more speed.

Sources:

Unstoppable. The Internet Movie Database.

Joe Kamalick. Runaway Train Hauling Phenol Stopped in Ohio. ICIS News.

Runaway Train Stopped After Uncontrolled 2 Hours. CNN.

CSX Train-Stoppers Tell Their Tale. CNN.

Chip Jones. Human Mistake Blamed for Train CSX Cites Failure to Set All Breaks. Richmond Times-Dispatch.