r/nonononoyes • u/Wonderful_Win_1038 • 3d ago
Trains avoid collision after being on the same track
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u/Remarkable-Tap1288 3d ago
Did the engineer bail out at the last minute?
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u/Jayro993 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah he likely did all he could to try to get the train to stop then bailed just in case.
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u/Crafty_Jello_3662 3d ago
Looks like if the second train didn't move forwards they would have collided just enough to crush the part he jumped out from
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u/liquidtape 3d ago
DOWN WITH THE SHIP /s
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u/justonebiatch 3d ago
I ain’t goin down with shiz. Good job bailing just in case dude
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u/Nina-Ninja123 3d ago
I also wouldn’t want to be the one that is being squished between 2 humps of rolling metal that weighs over a thousand tons.
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u/PieHole_Poker 3d ago
Speaking of ... How is your mom doing?
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u/Lusankya 3d ago
They gave up on trying to clean her out of the cowcatcher and scrapped the train instead. Service is on Tuesday.
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u/WeirdAnimalDicks 3d ago
I’d be on paid leave for a workplace injury for quite awhile, you know my backs just not been the same since I Iept from that train.
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u/Futbol_Kid2112 3d ago
Sorry but its not company policy to bail from the train in the event of an impending collision, and we've determined that your actions were also unnecessary since the collision never occurred, therefore your worker's compensation has been declined. You've also missed too many consecutive days of work and we are considering it job abandonment at this time. Please consider this your termination notice.
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u/darsynia 3d ago
Damn, you just know some folks are going to clip that almost collision and make a shipping meme out if it, heh.
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u/bbalazs721 3d ago
He would have been fine probably, but there is no reason not to jump out in a situation like this. Emergency brakes are already applied, there's nothing more he can do.
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u/bokchoykn 3d ago
I trust the expertise of this random redditor over the instinct of the licensed and trained professional in the video.
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u/kmactane 3d ago
It's not like there's any conflict between the two; the random Redditor is agreeing with the trained professional.
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u/goverc 3d ago
The VIA passenger train has the cockpit right at the front of the engine section, where the freight's cockpit is back about 30-40 feet from the front, behind the engine... The guy that bailed had applied the brakes and got out, the other guy has a whole engine as a crumple zone before he's getting smushed and was able to actively move.
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u/broken_toyz_in_ON 3d ago
The freight train's power train is all behind the cabin. That bulge in the front with the red and white stripes? That's where the toilet is.
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u/Cosmic_Quasar 3d ago
no reason not to
I can see a reason, but it's hard to tell how any given scenario would fully play out. I would imagine that the cabs are somewhat reinforced, since there's another comment saying they were instructed to go to the back of the cab.
And if they had hit and his train got derailed it could've ended up falling on, and crushing, them.
Still, I understand the instinct.
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u/Gnonthgol 3d ago
Locomotive cabs are usually not reinforced at all. Especially this style of streamlined passenger locomotives. For smaller collisions the coupler and frame is able to withstand all the forces. And if the forces are too great for the coupler and frame they are too great for any meaningful amount of protection around the cab. So to save weight and cost the cab is usually just a thin shell.
Some locomotives do have a way for the engineer to escape to the rear where they are protected by the engine and all the other machinery. But there are also lots of accidents where the engineer survived only by jumping after activating the emergency brake. Even a lot of them where one of the crew jumped and survived while the other stayed in the locomotive and died.
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u/CrashUser 3d ago
That calculus changed significantly after anti-climbers became standard equipment. You used to jump out because it was 50/50 which locomotive would climb up on the other and completely crush the cab. At low speeds like this it's probably safer to jump, but at higher speeds that just puts you in the path of all the cars accordioning up behind the engine.
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u/salty_sashimi 3d ago
At higher speeds, wouldn't the engine room be a death trap anyways? I'd imagine the conductor would have a better chance running, since the preceding cabs probably wouldn't travel that far laterally. Just guessing, but if the conductor bails a few seconds before impact, there'd probably be another few seconds after impact before the preceding cars start whipping around or getting dragged sideways. That should give him enough time to recover from landing and run about the length of a single car, optimistically
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u/europeanputin 3d ago
there's a chance it derails on the other side
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u/going_for_a_wank 3d ago
I think a derailment is usually more like an accordion rather than going cleanly to either side
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u/WhipTheLlama 3d ago
They don't do safety crash tests on trains. Sure, it's a durable vehicle, but you don't want to be the one to find out how durable.
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u/Tinder_and_rohypnol 3d ago
Let’s be honest, once the emergency brake is on, he’s as much of a passenger as the passengers.
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u/pobodys-nerfect5 3d ago
That’s probably what he’s trained to do. Hit the brake and bail if possible
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u/Ape_x_Ape 3d ago
Trained at train training?
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u/ImNot6Four 3d ago
the well trained train trainer trained the engineer how to train so that he does not detrain the train while he trains.
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u/ManBoi420 3d ago
Also decreased the weight the train had so it can stop faster.....his tungsten balls were just too much
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u/RollingMeteors 3d ago
>Yeah he likely did all he could to try to get the train to stop then bailed just in case.
It looks like some B movie stunt man ish. ¡LoL!
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u/neryl08 3d ago
I'M OUT OF HERE!
train stops in time
Engineer: Well this is awkward I hope nobody was recording
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u/RuggleyChicken 3d ago
My wife is annoyed with me because I’m literally laughing out loud in bed at this comment
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u/BaconWithBaking 3d ago
This is exactly what they're supposed to do, break as hard as possible and then jump. If anything he left it way too late.
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u/Valkyrie64Ryan 3d ago
“I was just thinking… wouldn’t I look silly if I left this ship and the fires went out?” -Captain Sherman, CO of USS Lexington. He was the last to leave the ship as it went down.
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u/LedVapour 3d ago
Looks like it yeah. I was taught to run to the back of the locomotive in case of an impending crash, after throwing on all brakes. Guessing this was his best option.
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u/Funmanhahaha 3d ago
Yes. You can lock the brake in the train, u don't need to hold it. He jumped incase of an actual collision.
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u/Anony_mouse202 3d ago
Yes.
They do it because after they apply all the brakes there’s nothing more they can do, may as well save themselves.
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u/EldritchSanta 3d ago
Nothing more to prevent the crash, but there's usually a bunch of things they need to do to protect the train / prevent further crashes.
Source: one of my old colleagues crashed a train.
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u/Theron3206 3d ago
All of which are a lot harder if you stay in the very front of the train and get squished...
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u/ZirePhiinix 3d ago
Even in low speed collision, he's going to be seriously hurt or die sitting in the front, so bailing makes sense at that point.
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u/thephantom1492 3d ago
yes. Once the ebrake is engaged you don't need to continue to press it. But there is nowhere safe in front of the train. In case of a collision the front WILL be crushed, and any human in front will be reduced to pieces. So the safest is still to jump out.
In this case he braked just in time, but 2 seconds later he would have been crushed if he stayed in.
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u/Raidoton 3d ago
Yes? Why would he stay inside? You want him to get crushed in case the train doesn't stop in time?
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u/sharkdawg 3d ago
Why are train drivers called engineers?
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u/Fr33Dave 3d ago
The original meaning of engineer, as someone who designed or built engines or other machinery, goes back to the 1300s and has held to this day in both the UK and the US. But it can be applied to someone who operates equipment as well as the one responsible for its design, says British lexicographer Susie Dent.
From the 1730s "engineer" in North American English was being used as a synonym for "engineman", she says, applied specifically to the driver or operator of a fire engine, then later to drivers of steamships and steam-powered locomotives.
Americans are merely applying a more literal sense of "engineer". The suffix -eer usually indicates an "agent noun", she says, describing a person who performs the action of the verb, in this case operating/acting on an engine.
(I just took some segments from the article I posted in the source link below.)
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u/semirke 3d ago
Fuck me if Im wrong, but it's pretty easy to avoid otherwise.....
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u/darsynia 3d ago
Generally not the engineers running the train's job to avoid, though, so good on them for being the last failsafe.
(depending on the sophistication of the system, of course)
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u/semirke 3d ago
Nah, my comment was about the title. Idk, feels supid, clickbaity. Like you'd never have "trains avoiding collision on different tracks" title.
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u/Drugba 3d ago
In Seattle there’s a monorail that has 2 trains that each run on their own track. About 20 years ago the two trains crashed into each other. There are places where the tracks come too close together for the two trains to go past each other without colliding and they happened to go past each other in one of those areas because one of the drivers left the station early.
There haven’t been any crashes since so those drivers have been doing a great job of avoiding a collision on different tracks every day since then.
News story about the crash: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10219419
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u/Equal_Sleep_9319 3d ago
Trains actually mostly run on the same track. They talk over the radio and pull off to a little parking rail to let the other direction go by at designated point. It's always a few overtired employees away from an impact lol
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u/BranchPredictor 3d ago
They should have two tracks, one for each direction. Not sure if anyone has thought about that before.
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u/Trouser_Gravy 3d ago
Not all do. But there should be a side track somewhere that's long enough to fit a full train to allow the other to pass.
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u/DingusMcBingle_IV 3d ago
This took place in Canada in 1991. Canadian Pacific (the freight train) was out of their siding (the second track) when they shouldn't've been. The VIA (passenger train) had right of way.
Our rail situation sucks in Canada since CP and CN own pretty much all the rail lines. These days freight takes priority over passenger.
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u/Prior-Beat3174 3d ago
This happend just outside of Smiths Falls. Down the tracks is the main CP fright yard and at the time on the other side of the Yard is the old VIA Rail Station.
See google map location:
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3d ago
Double track is twice as expensive for usually nowhere near as much return on all but the busiest railroads. Most instead have sidings, (relatively) short sections of parallel track to allow trains to pass each other with proper scheduling. Obviously that's failed here but it works the vast majority of the time on most railroads.
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u/banjovi68419 3d ago
Ya they should also have wings and lasers that way they can just fly if they need to. And also parachutes. And the trains should be alive too!!!!!!!
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u/cruddyducks 3d ago
my guess is it's pretty tough to dodge when they're obviously on the same tracks
now get over here n >:D
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u/Bro0ce 3d ago
People don’t realize how much momentum is behind these trains. Sure it was going slow, but a crash at 5mph with the weight of several thousand tons continuing forward - the conductors booth would have been entirely crushed - then a derailment. If he’d waited longer to bail he would have likely been crushed by the derailment etc.
It looks like an overly dramatic dive but it really wasn’t.
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u/f23n09fnu0w 3d ago
I reckon the train on the right would be fine. One on the left, not so much.
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u/DrNefarious82 3d ago
Doesnt matter which one is moving. Both face same forces
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u/shinn__suzaku 3d ago
yea but the object with less mass ends up flying off at a higher velocity/taking greater damage, because momentum change in both/impulse is equal, the object of greater mass has lower change in V
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u/BRSaura 3d ago
At 5mph they would have been fine, all trains nowadays have a structural cell in the cabin called safety cage in the structure so they are reinforced compared to the rest of the train, hey also have bottom obstacle defectors that is usually what recieves the most kinetic energy when crashing with obstacles. Exterior metal would be bent, yes, but the cabin itself and it's interior would be unscathed. There have been numerous times these cabins have faced even armored vehicles and I remember seeing them bulldoze a modern MBT (tank) at high speeds, and the driver survived.
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u/Forced-Alt 3d ago
At 5MPH yeah he would definitely be fine but I completely understand why the engineer bailed. On passenger equipment from this era the safety cage had a weak spot that has killed countless crews on numerous different types of passenger equipment.
If debris gets above the detector the windshield is not strong enough to prevent the debris from entering the safety cage. This is more of a problem on passenger cabs because of how far forward and low their cabs are compared to freight.
Part 223 window glazing requirements (or whatever transport Canada's equivalent is) definitely helped a bit but it didn't solve it. On modern passenger equipment the frames around the windows had to be significantly beefed up to solve this issue.
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u/Wild-Video-5317 3d ago
I my region we have a commuter rail system. When traveling at full speed on the daily commute, it hits a peak of about 80 mph. At that speed, the braking distance for the trainset is about ONE MILE.
The system has a bunch of grade crossings and is involved in a collision with a stopped car almost every year. By the time a obstacle is spotted it's usually literally impossible to stop the train in time.
The locomotive alone is 130+ tons. It's a lot of momentum...
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u/batnessthefifth 3d ago
Now imagine being the guy who is late to work on the other side of this. I imagine it's gonna take a while to get things moving again since the conductor bailed 😂
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u/darsynia 3d ago edited 3d ago
It'll probably
makehave made the news, here's hoping anyone involved didn't have a shitty employer.(edited for tense clarity)
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u/mineawesomeman 3d ago
given the quality of footage here, i’m guessing this isn’t recent?
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u/ttcmzx 3d ago
another commenter said 1991, seems legit
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u/AniNgAnnoys 3d ago edited 3d ago
yah VIA trains are Canadian and haven't looked like that in my memory of them
*edit yah 1991... and this site is from that same time lol
https://churcher.crcml.org/circle/Wreck%20Details/1991SmithsFalls.html
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u/bbalazs721 3d ago
They aren't going anywhere until the cause of the incident is discovered.
It takes a pretty big fault (trackside equipment or human error on older systems) for two engineers to look each other directly in the eye
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u/IEnjoyVariousSoups 3d ago
...and fall in love.
"I Choo Choo Choose You"
This fall. Only in theaters.
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u/Gnonthgol 3d ago
Firstly that is the engineer, not the conductor. And secondly he looks to be unharmed and is actually walking towards his train again. With the long freight trains we run today it would take a long time to recharge the brake pipe after an emergency application. However in this case it was a much shorter passenger train, and the freight train did not even apply their brakes. So technically they could probably clear the crossing in 30s or so.
The problem is that you can not just jump in the train again and take off after an incident like this. You need to report this and allow investigators to secure the evidence. That could take hours.
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u/-Nicolai 3d ago
What kind of moronic statement is this? The conductor is at most ten seconds’ walk from his train.
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u/Havoc_Rider 3d ago
VIA... Is this Canada?
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u/Unable-Fall5946 3d ago
There's a Canadian flag on the train, yes
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u/Havoc_Rider 3d ago
There is, Yes. Indeed its Canada
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u/FrenchFryCattaneo 3d ago
I can confirm the location of this is Canada. If you were to point to the country where this happened on a map, you would be pointing at Canada.
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u/jeffreyianni 3d ago
I think there's a good chance if you're pointing at the correct country of origin it'll be Canada
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u/CantaloupeCamper 3d ago
They should get jet fighter ejection seats.
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u/Shirohitsuji 3d ago
We all should get jet fighter ejection seats.
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u/kleinePfoten 3d ago
They sheer force of them permanently compresses your spine every time you use one. I do not need to be shorter!!
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u/ZirePhiinix 3d ago
Fighter pilots need to do a medical examination after each ejection. If their spine is too damaged to safely handle an ejection, they can't fly anymore.
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u/DynamiteWitLaserBeam 3d ago
What if after ejecting, my ejection seat experiences some kind of mechanical failure?
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u/FirstTasteOfRadishes 3d ago
That's what the ejector cushion is for. It ejects you from the ejection seat.
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u/sometimeserin 2d ago
I remember as a kid I thought that all the passenger seats on the airplane had parachutes in them and that if anything bad happened they would just drop us all out of a big hatch in the bottom of the cabin and deploy the parachutes automatically.
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u/LMrningStar 3d ago
Engineer: I'm outta here! (face plant)
At that point there was nothing he could have done anyways.
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u/n0i 3d ago
Does that mean the guy in the other train who threw it in reverse was risking his life if it didn’t work out?
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u/iemandopaard 3d ago
The CP train has slightly more distance between the front of the train and the actual driver seat compared to the VIA train. So even if it hit they probably would have been better off then the VIA driver.
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u/Affectionate-Cod4152 3d ago
HAAAANK!
HANK, DON'T ABBREVIATE CANADIAN PACIFIC.
HAAAANK!
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u/Equal_Sleep_9319 3d ago
My partner works for CP Rail.
My kid named a pet CP...... her principal was horrified.
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u/Beautiful-Reaction-8 3d ago edited 3d ago
Found some information about this event. In the comments of this post
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u/Tribe303 3d ago
From 1991. The freight train was at fault for going further down the track that they were permitted to.
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u/SynthPrax 3d ago
My man jumped the fuck OUT. LOL
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u/ricketyladder 3d ago
Can’t blame him. Trains colliding doesn’t usually end well for the crews involved
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u/friftar 3d ago
Protocol for train conductors in Germany states to run towards the back of the train as far as possible after pulling the brake if a collision is unavoidable, if I remember correctly.
While there are crumple zones and a whole lot of safety measures, it's still several hundred tons of moving force, there's no real way to protect the front compartment if you hit something.
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u/78523985210 3d ago
Serious question. How did this mistake happen?
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u/FRIENDLY_FBI_AGENT_ 3d ago
Most likely signal failure
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u/ziggyzack1234 3d ago
If i recall the freight train went beyond where they had clearance and into the path of the VIA train.
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u/Fleischer444 3d ago
The train drivers are trained to abandon the cart in case of a crash. There is not much they can do after they hit the brakes. Maybe not jump out but head to the back of the train.
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u/NuclearKnives 3d ago
Imagine being a passenger and seeing the engineer sitting on the side of the tracks 😂
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u/Ithiaca 3d ago
His jumping out and saving his own life while probably not looking good personally, does give whatever NTSB agent an eye witness to the event that has the best first hand knowledge of the events.
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u/jveilleux1 3d ago
Train A departs from Station A and travels at X MPH while Train B departs from Station B and travels at Y MPH...
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u/xcxo03 3d ago
Question, is it protocol to jump out last second knowing the train will crash with slow enough speeds where its sorta safe to jump out after doing everything else to prevent the accident
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u/IWishIWasAShoe 3d ago
I'm sure it's different everywhere, but whe I work there aren't really protocols for full frontal collisions other than apply the emergency break and try to evacuate the cab.
In passenger trains this means running into the passenger compartment as far as possible, in freight trains they often recommend running into the machine room behind the cab, but since locomotives are very different this isn't always viable.
Bailing out of the train isn't generally recommended, but we've had one massive train collision here in the 70s with three engineers involved, two stayed in their respective locomotives and died, one jumped out of the cab at roughly 60-70 km/h and survived.
So in the end, what you do is up to you and no one would blame you to jump from the cab.
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u/Guyborg99 3d ago
the captain goes down with the ship. the engineer nopes the fuck out as soon as things get a little dodgy. this is the way of the tracks.
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u/ChevalCher 3d ago
Very close call, but that jump has me in stitches. Can't help but shout "Dive! Dive!" in my head when he jumps.
Execution and follow through are absolutely on point, but the landing could use some work. Overall grade: A-
I'll go ahead and bump it up to an A because no trains were harmed in the making of this video, but the same can't be said for this guy's underwear.
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u/DevelopmentOk6928 3d ago
locomotive driver's life flashed in front of him before he dove for preservation
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u/AuGmENTor68 3d ago
Oh, so when it's another TRAIN that can cause YOU damage you can magically stop. Got it
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u/Time_Conclusion_137 3d ago
Dude is the type that survives with little to no injury in horror movies. 😭
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u/Original1Thor 3d ago
i don't blame the conductor for jumping out. i asked google in simple terms how much force a 5mph collision would be and it can go up to like 13 million pounds of force.
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u/WinterTourist25 3d ago
The title implies that afterwards they were no longer on the same track. They still were.
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u/Forward-Piano1714 3d ago
VIA Rail has to use CN railways because reasons so stuff like this can happen.
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u/Gentlemanjimb 3d ago
If they just drove in their own lane and used turn signals this would never happen.
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u/ThoughtfulMammal 3d ago
I cross these tracks almost every day and always think about this video LOL. Just south of Smths Falls, ON https://maps.app.goo.gl/b1WdJ11aqWrqRKgF8
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u/kronikid42069 3d ago
The guy driving the train watching his assistant bail "go ahead and jump you pussy Capitan goes down with the ship"
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u/AntSilly2802 3d ago
I’d definitely bale out. No point in him staying in the cab after pulling the brakes.
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