Based on my 17 years working as a Trainman and Conductor..

For the MKT, then the UP RR, here's what I think happened:

There are TWO types of brakes on rail cars: Service and Emergency.

Service air is supplied by air from the locomotive air compressor. Each locomotive has an air compressor, but it works only as long as the diesel engine is running. Diesel engine shuts down, no service air. No service air, no service air braking system. Service works by reducing the air pressure via the main train brake handle off the lead engine. When you reduce the main train line pressure, usually by a minimum of 10 pounds of air, the system sets up a corresponding amount of braking force on the entire rail car consist starting with the car closet to the head end of the train. It also set the the locomotive air brakes. HOWEVER, the locomotive air brakes are called independent brakes because they can be set and released completely independently of the train line. When train line air is set, an engineer will often release the independent brake to control the slack in the train couplers. AKA "slack action". When the brakes are released on the service system, the system is re-supplied with air from the locomotives.

When the service air is dumped from the main train line the emergency air brakes on each rail car engage, because each car has its own emergency air reservoir. The emergency air is supplied by air from the locomotive air compressor, and is held on each car on its own reservoir. BUT, that emergency braking air can be totally dumped by manually bleeding EACH CAR via a particular method. It has to be done manually, one car at a time, and it has to be done on the ground. Not from the locomotive. If you bleed a car when it is in emergency there are NO AIR BRAKES on that car. If you bleed the entire train down, there are no air brakes on that train. None.

There is no reserve emergency braking system for locomotives like on train cars. There is air in each locomotive in the main supply reservoirs, but they run off the compressors, and those main reservoirs can bleed down. That is why when you shut down the engine on a locomotive, you set handbrakes on each locomotive, since the air can TOTALLY bleed off the locomotive independent brakes since there are always minor air leaks in the system, and no air is being resupplied by the compressor.

According to the Toronto Star article, there were 5 locomotives, and 72 cars. Four of the locomotives were shut down, and that left one running to keep air on the train.

Here's the main point:

So, that ONE running locomotive was shut down by local fireman when they put out a fire on the train. If the engineer set only the locomotive independent brakes, no service air brakes, and THEN failed to set enough manual hand brakes on the train cars, then there was insufficient braking force to hold the train WHEN the locomotive independent brakes bled down to the point where they released. Because, remember no air was being supplied to them by the compressors. Because the number of handbrakes on the train cars was insufficient to hold the train, it rolled away.

Probably the best 2nd Amendment speech ever.

An Iraq Veteran and a Cop. Not some wannabe or poser. I certainly would have liked to see the face of those politicians.

Best line of all "My right trumps your dead."

I worked as a Freight Brakeman / Conductor for 17 years.

The RRs back then did NOT want passenger trains on their tracks. AFAIK, they still don't. The only reason they tolerate Amtrak is because the US Government gives them so much money to allow trackage rights. Frankly, we freight crews hated Amtrak back then. Because oft times we had to wait for Amtrak, and that delayed us getting over the road, and either getting home, or getting to the terminal at the other end of the road, and getting our rest. The one who really hated Amtrak were Maintenance of Way people who could only come out, work for a few hours, then stop, and clear Amtrak one direction, then repeat the process for Amtrak the other direction.

In the US we have High-Speed passenger rail traffic in the only places the population density is high enough, which is the Northeast Corridor with multiple main lines, and the West Coast. If we want widespread High-Speed passenger rail in this country, then we will have to spend the money to build dedicated High-Speed passenger only rails lines and all that entails. That means no rail crossing at grade. No chances of any car / truck and train ever colliding. Ever. Bridges / overpasses everywhere train and surface roads meet. How much will that cost to build per mile? I have seen estimates from $20 million a mile to $2 billion a mile.

And think of the legal bullshit that would entail. Everyone would have both hands out thinking they won the Lottery because the government was going to buy their land for rails lines. Then there would be the NIMBYs who would try to stop they whole thing because it ruined their quality of life or their view, or some other excuse. Then the environmentalists would get into the act claiming animals would be driven to extinction or the local ecology would be irreparably damaged, or some other excuse.

We can't even build wind turbines to help us become energy self sufficient without someone whining and crying about THEIR view being spoiled, or birds being slaughtered, or the desert ecology being destroyed, or someone suffering from some nervous complaints because of noise from wind turbines, and you think we're going to get widespread High Speed Passenger rail in this country?

I think the modern Olympics are a colossal waste…

IMLHO, all the Olympics are is:

An excuse for a certain class of “boosters” in a different city, in a different country, every two years to puff out their collective chest and show off how “great” is their city and / or country.

To spend billions of dollars to bring people to that city, so they can be sold a bunch of crap, and charge wildly inflated prices for services.

To tax the hell out of, and inconvenience the life of the people who live in that city, so some in said city can make boatloads of money.

So the IOC can make boatloads of money off everyone in sight.

So some sports network can make boatloads of money off everyone in sight.

To have a bunch of transnationals spend a bunch of money hawking their crap.

To have a bunch of “amateur” athletes, using every bit of modern technology available, perform like a bunch of circus performers for the entertainment of the masses.

If it were up to me, I would pick two permanent sites, one for the Summer Games, and one for the Winter Games, maybe in the middle of nowhere. Build them especially for the needs of the Olympics, and keep them up as needed. That would save money in the long run, and sure as hell wouldn’t inconvenience the life of the people who just want to go about their daily business in their home city.

What the Space Shuttle booster saw

Ron Perlman is a Hell(boy) of a Nice Guy

From SuperHeroHype Ron Perlman Puts on the Hellboy Make-Up Again

Biker almost killed by idiot driver

Damn, I don't ride, but this video scares the crap out of me. Be sure and watch the video to the very end.

Mother and her 4 girls have 13 boob jobs...

35mm movie film print production / projection to cease worldwide by 2015

In other words theatrical movies will be all digital in the US, France, the UK, Japan, and Australia by the end of 2013. The rest of the world will follow in 2015. I've been expecting this to happen, but not so soon.

Shakespeare Insult Generator

Now here's a truly classy way to insult folks, directly from the Master.

http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html