The Boston Highway Train Incident Explained

[@presmasterflash7555]

“The entire city of Boston struggled with traffic for the rest of the day” -Understatement of the Year

[@scepticalbeliever]

@presmasterflash7555 As someone who lives nearby... How's it different from any other day?

[@RobMcDougall]

@@presmasterflash7555 Opened the comments just to have a laugh at this line. I don't know which is worse, the traffic or the drivers 😂

[@roxxma]

@@scepticalbeliever Came to say the same thing! (I live just off Albany St, my place is about 2,000 feet from where this happened,

[@nufosmatic]

They struggle with traffic in Boston? Since when? Oh, look, another section of roof fell down in the Big Dig tunnel today...

[@presmasterflash7555]

@@RobMcDougall it’s the drivers. Go anywhere else in the country and you’ll see it

[@SeanLamb-I-Am]

Hey! That's my photo at 8:30! Thanks for the inline credits. I've been a fan of your videos for a while and I appreciate seeing my work used in this manner. Thank you!

[@presmasterflash7555]

@@SeanLamb-I-Am that’s cool!

[@RoseSharon7777]

Very cool indeed!

[@MoosaiLuver]

Great picture!!

[@SeanLamb-I-Am]

@N2YTA no, mine was the photo of the Conrail train. I took that at Altoona, after we had seen Horseshoe Curve.

[@sceu25]

That photo is so iconic

[@goldie44]

The lead locomotive in this mishap (Penn Central 3182) is still in service as New Jersey Transit 4210. Another thing with Penn Central 3182 is that it was 1 of 16 GP40s to have a white "P" and Orange "C".

[@johnsilva9139]

Wow! That's an old engine. Are there a lot of train engines that old I wonder?

[@skipmagil]

I don’t get it

[@skipmagil]

Ummm it says Union Pacific Duhhh

[@miniaturefarmer464]

@@johnsilva9139 Yes. Rebuilt many times.

[@paulj6756]

​@@johnsilva9139Yes, however it has been completely rebuilt.

[@YourLocalRailfan]

“Why were you late to work today?” “I got hit by a train”

[@aaroncone6778]

My dad was hauling gravel that day, headed into the city. He told me he sat for approx 7hrs, before he could back the truck up to the nearest previous ramp to detour around it.

[@AlistairKiwi]

Omg! The poor man! Seven hours? Horrible.

[@JL-sm6cg]

WOWWWW! Jeez!

[@elizabethcherry920]

I lived in and around Boston for many years, and this is the first time that I have heard of this great story . Thank you for posting this video

[@DB-thats-me]

OK, lets try a simple explanation. 1. The crew lied. 2. Three’s a chance they were changing ends so as to be in the leading cab entering the yard to couple onto the waiting train. 3. They ‘cut out’ the brakes on the currently driven loco, so they could walk back and ‘cut in’ the other end. Thus saving two trips. 4. They didn’t notice the locos rolling until it was too late! Speculation. The last ‘driven’ loco was accidentally left in ‘notch 1’ of power. There is a pneumatic lag from releasing the ‘lead loco’ brakes until the furthest loco releases. Plenty of time to detrain (after cutting the loco brakes out) and watch your locos accelerate away from you. The first person back in the cab AFTER the accident resets the brake handles and the mystery begins. BTW. Each of the above scenarios I have seen happen, just not all at once. 😎

[@chrisjeffries2322]

💋

[@em2attic]

What a time the railroad was before downloads lol

[@Sleeper____1472]

Handbrakes:

[@Run8nova-f4b]

@@DB-thats-me Nope... First of all you don't drive a locomotive. You run it. 1- centered reverser 2- aux gen switch down. 3- independent brakes 4- hand brake 5- throttle idle... Too many factors for power to roll away. In my 44yrs never happened, to me or anybody else. I've saw power that's rolled out and hit things, just not while changing ends

[@Jimmy_CV]

​@Run8nova-f4b They call engineers drivers in Europe though.

[@HardPourCorn]

Wow, a train mishap in Boston and the MBTA has nothing to do with it.

[@savvybear11781]

That's a rare occurence.

[@gfmeekins]

@@savvybear11781 Agreed!

[@rogerstlaurent8704]

Homerun on that comment and you are so correct

[@thepoliticalhitman]

Penn Central was the most hated Railroad ever, they single-handedly killed Maine's potato farming industry. even though the Pennsylvania RR and New York Central merged they still rain as separate organizations, a PRR yard would not know what a NYC yard was doing, and vice-versa, meaning freight cars would wonder the system until they ended up in the right place. Stuart T. Saunder may have run N&W well but he was part of the madness known as the Penn Central.

[@rodneykantorski736]

@@thepoliticalhitman I Love 💗 The Penn Central.

[@alexhajnal107]

@@rodneykantorski736 I presume you've experienced WTYP's 9-hour epic on the PC?

[@randymagnum143]

So, they were the model for all modern railroading?

[@CheeseMiser]

​@@randymagnum143no

[@Blue_Jewel2716]

“The entire seasons worth of potatoes, the whole crop rotted in the yard because they screwed it up -history in the dark

[@Trainfacts]

I remember when I made my video on this thing, your videos blow mine outta the water in both quality and information, when I did research for this there was next to nothing so this is amazing

[@timecircuits88]

Still is next to no information in this vid, it's padded out with useless information about PRR, it's merger with NYC and the subsequent failure of the combined Penn Central, information he's already gone over in previous videos. His quality information is going downhill, this channel used to be good, but this is the third or fourth in a row that's been disappointing.

[@bobjohnson205]

@@timecircuits88 Yep! Very light on substance but heavy on filler! lol

[@richwood186]

I saw it happen and was caught in it. Fortunately, I was near an exit and police guided me off the Espressway, I worked on the waterfront.

[@miniaturefarmer464]

PC and CR also had substance abuse problems rampant until random testing took place in the 80's.

[@Jason-rn4jk]

3 foot deep grooves in the concrete? You mean 3 inches…..3 feet would’ve had the trucks of the locomotive buried.

[@JeffH-s8e]

I was about to post, distance between the traction motor and the rail head is like 6 inches lol.

[@PowerTrain611]

Came here to say this, thank you.

[@dangeary2134]

Didn’t see the damage? Back then, vehicles weren’t so heavy, so they highways weren’t built nearly so beefy. I’ve seen low speed derailments that buried a locomotive’s trucks at LEAST three feet, on a switcher. I can fully believe that the trucks went that deep.

[@Jason-rn4jk]

@@dangeary2134@5:25 there’s persons standing in the area of damage after workers notched out the concrete, it’s up to their ankles. Roads were much more sturdier back than from ww2 transport standards and Cold War era infrastructure compared to todays lowest bid contractors.

[@suppylarue220]

@@dangeary2134 vehicles were heavier then, not lighter.

[@waggtech4883]

I worked with an engineer that parked his switch engine into the middle of Grand Avenue in Ponca City, Oklahoma in the late 70’s. He’d had a medical event and blacked out pulling a cut of cars onto the lead and cleaned the stop right off! I never asked him if he remembered having it in notch 8 or not.

[@kimberlyokeeffe5360]

Wasn't living in Mass at the time but did spend quality time on both sides of the X-way starting in the 90's. If you know where to look, you can see the rail yard where those engines came from. I've also have been caught up in traffic when a lumber truck hit a bridge on the other side of the city which cause massive issues. That was not a fun couple of days. Also, is All-bany and Berk-sheers.

[@Nerddd5088]

Hi, train driver here, I work with older locomotives at the same those were built and there’s a pedal in the cab that if released will automatically turn on the brakes just in case a driver incapacitated or they’re having a medical emergency, but since it was so annoying for road crews they would usually use heavy things to hold down the pedal automatically so when they jumped out of the cab, the engine would still be able to go even though the driver is out of the cab.

[@Thatoneguynobodywatches]

@@Nerddd5088 I've heard of it, but mostly on Canadian locomotives.

[@nonelost1]

… as was demonstrated in the 1976 movie “Silver Streak”

[@CraigFThompson]

Not all locomotives have the "deadman's" pedal; plenty of them have this system known as an "alerter" where the train operator's hands must be on the controls at frequent intervals. Either too long of an absence or presence of the hands on the controls will activate the emergency brakes.

[@Nerddd5088]

@@CraigFThompson that’s what I was thinking about thanks for correcting me!

[@Cool-Tina]

Thanks for the info!

[@leestevens5675]

THE WRECK OF THE PENN CENTRAL. Good book about the debacle of the merger.

[@AlistairKiwi]

"How do you remove a train from a highway?" Not a sentence that you'll hear very often!

[@zephyrmaster9965]

When I saw that a Penn Central train was the one that had crashed into the highway, I already knew the explanation!

[@daviddauphin-f4p]

I worked for PC at the end of it. Track conditions were awful - weekly derailments.

[@Jennifer-K5LA]

Runaway trains aren't a train crews worse nightmare...........company CEOs and Executives are! 😂

[@joedumas3362]

The Penn Central was made up of three bankrupt rail roads. You left off the New York, New Haven and Hartford.

[@watajob]

Correct .I worked there during this time. Conrail was then made up of the Penn Central, Ann Arbor Railroad, Erie Lackawanna Railway, Lehigh Valley Railroad, Reading Railroad, Lehigh and Hudson River Railway and the Jersey Central.

[@CheeseMiser]

Because that wasn't part of the original merger

[@ZenkoTheGreat12]

The original merger was just the PRR and NYC systems. The ICC forced PennCentral to take on the New Haven a year later in 1969.

[@philvaclavik6890]

Wasn’t the LIRR part of this equation?

[@ZenkoTheGreat12]

@@philvaclavik6890no. The LIRR was sold by the PRR in 1965 to the State of New York, which placed it under the newly-created MCTA, which later became the MTA.

[@miniaturefarmer464]

PC had too many duplicate lines. They weren't allowed to pull them. Conrail was finally allowed to remove a majority of the track that was redundant.

[@backyardbuggies939]

I'm wasting way too much time watching your videos Great videos by the way

[@WVgrl59]

My dad worked for New York Central at the Dickinson yard in Quincy, WV, which became Penn Central, then Conrail, and now it's Norfolk Southern. In 1969, the rail yard had a tanker car leak chlorine gas, and my dad and a few other guys tried to rescue some horses in a nearby field. My dad ended up in the hospital, but we didn't know until a neighbor told us. He probably didn't want to worry us. Nineteen years later, he would be diagnosed with esophageal cancer. ❤

[@tyrikuntamed4206]

Great video. I honestly never heard of this incident before. And also on a funny note, at the beginning, it sounded like he was about to start rapping. The beat in the background went along perfectly when he said, "On a sunny August day, in 1969"

[@freetolook3727]

Pennsylvania Railroad: One of the four railroads to own in Monopoly! 😂

[@culturematters4157]

I thought of that, too!

[@bobjohnson205]

And in the game Monopoly the railroads are a real moneymaker!

[@mozeki]

When the game was patented in 1935​, the Railroads WERE the moneymakers! @@bobjohnson205

[@dianaofburlington5172]

@@bobjohnson205in 1935 (when Monopoly was new) they were 😉

[@dianaofburlington5172]

The others in Monopoly were all subsidiaries of PRR, all serving the NJ Shore at the time. Reading RR’s elevated terminal at 10th St in Philadelphia is now a multi-business arcade (featured in ‘National Treasure’, ‘Blow Out’, ‘Rocky’ and other films).

[@zuzutheinfectedelf]

I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life and have never heard of this

[@theonetruerobb4852]

Never heard of this incident. I grew up in the Boston area, in a town serviced by the NH Railroad. I remember the Buddliner derailment in '66 - that was in West Roxbury, but you could see the wreck from a bridge in my town. Seems like I should've heard of this. Thanks for the video, I found it interesting...!

[@jeeper360]

I suggest learning the difference between locomotives, freight or railroad cars and train. Train is the main definition you need to look up.

[@bobjohnson205]

Yep! He seems to be a little confused about those 3 things.

[@raylrodr]

Yes .... a constant source of irritation for me as well. Media needs to learn that the UP Bigboy is a locomotive.

[@kennethsonier1766]

Good morning from Cape Cod ⛵ the congestion on the expressway is still congested to this day 😂 very interesting story Ryan, I've been a Masshole my entire life and haven't heard of this incident. Thanks for bringing us this awesome content ✌️🇺🇲

[@jmbrendan53]

[@paulmckelvey3856]

“Tarmac” is normally used to describe the area where aircraft roam at airports.

[@johnerickson753]

Tar, tarmac, and asphalt actually refer to the material used as the road or runway surface.

[@jackiehoward7300]

Ryan, I love your channel. You have such interesting content. I’m a history buff and truly find your videos very entertaining. Thank you.

[@Tri-StateGuy]

Of course it was Penn Central.

[@rottenroads1982]

Rodney Kantorski says the Penn Central was the best Railroad Ever. But we all know, Penn Central failed catastrophically. If only there management wasn’t so divided.

[@skipmagil]

I don’t get it

[@Tri-StateGuy]

@@rottenroads1982lol

[@freetolook3727]

No follow up investigation and no accountability? WTF?!?!?

[@whiteknightcat]

The narrator is incorrect. I posted the cause above.

[@freetolook3727]

Not seeing the post anywhere.

[@tadshea3011]

Thank God that day stuck 7 hours had extra depends in my semi 🚛

[@jarrodxc70]

Tarmac doesn't seem like the right word to be using while describing a highway...

[@dk50b]

Tarmac isn't correct to describe any current form of pavement. It's was developed in 1902 when coal tar was added to pavement aggregate to create a smooth surface, named Tarmacadam for its inventor. Petroleum byproduct bitumen soon made it obsolete. Tarmac hasn't been widely used since, but remains in incorrect use.

[@pseydtonne]

It's a rare case of reverse metonomy, where a word for a larger class of objects winds up applying to one subset. Tar + MacAdam paving = tarmac. That's it, a portmanteau of paving a road using fine stone in a specific process, then applying tar to the mix so that it fills gaps and makes it water-resistant. Seeing an airfield as acres of tar plus MacAdam surfacing makes you think "oh, tarmac is what planes land on." Sure, but it's possibly also your driveway.

[@jaybarber68]

@@pseydtonne very interesting. I read in a book (set in the eastern USA) were the author wrote something like, “the large tractor-trailer pulled onto the macadam.” I was like “WTH is a macadam??”

[@ecatsa7513]

@pseydtonne thank you for the info

[@theshenpartei]

We need more history videos on Boston.

[@GamingBren]

Why does the description say a bridge collapsed when the train ran off a ground-level spur?

[@KartKing4ever]

It reads like it was written by an AI.

[@bobjohnson205]

Because the guy who made this video is very careless with the facts. Why let the facts get in the way of a good story? lol

[@GamingBren]

@@KartKing4everi wouldn’t be surprised, those guys are taking over everything these days

[@MrNorth69]

@@GamingBren Why are people calling this a train. That's not a train

[@raylrodr]

​@@MrNorth69 correct. No rear markers were displayed.

[@MightyMezzo]

My grandfather was a track supervisor for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and retired about the time the merger was finalized. He maintained that the merger would never have worked, because the PRR and NY Central signal systems were incompatible. So, yeah, the incompatible work cultures surely had a part in this runaway.

[@jovanweismiller7114]

Interesting that you used a Union Pacific engine to illustrate a video about the Penn Central.

[@bobjohnson205]

It's what he had handy! 🤨

[@solanaceae2069]

Yikes. I worked RR, the amount of mass involved with just a single diesel-electric locomotive never lost my respect.

[@TheLiamster]

This made me of the think of the movie unstoppable with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine

[@winstonstone]

Why can no one pronounce names in New England correctly. BerkSheer not Shire. ALL Bany not Al,as nickname of of the name Alan. Yes Dover street is still in service, but by the MBTA and is Red Line Subway trains.

[@bradsmckay]

Ask any Brit and they'll tell you it's Bark Sheer

[@winstonstone]

@@bradsmckay exactly my mother was from Britain that how she said it. But not Shire, no where in New England does any say shire. It's not New Hamp Shire its New Hamp Sheer. . Not Worcester shire Sauce it's Worcester Sheer Sauce. Oh don't get me started how people mispronounce towns in Massachusetts, especially the City Of Worcester. Not Con Cord, but Concard.

[@brendangalligan]

Spell the towns phonetically or pronounce them appropriately using the rules for English that we all agreed upon. You can’t get mad at someone for trying their best and following the rules that y’all choose to ignore.

[@winstonstone]

@@brendangalligan Sir I beg to differ, the people who arrived in Massachusetts in 1620 and 1630 have been breaking rules and laws since then why start now. Since many of them came from East Anglia the dropping of the R for AH was well ingrained.

[@dianaofburlington5172]

It’s probably just a degree of Californication on the part of the narrator - like when the guy in ‘Eddie and the Cruisers’ pronounces ‘Vineland’ in NJ as ‘Vine-land’. Awareness of local culture is key in global media.

[@Elliottblancher]

5:35 Its Penn Central, its obvious they tend to always have accidents

[@Decopunk1927]

Why does the video description mention a bridge collapsing when the runaway incident took place at ground level?

[@freetolook3727]

Because it is "It's History"! 😂

[@CheeseMiser]

It's ai research

[@bobjohnson205]

Just sloppiness!

[@CraigFThompson]

Maybe he sat on his DENTURES while producing this video....

[@revenniaga6249]

There is a couple of situations with the air systems that could render the brakes useless but every locomotive has a handbrake (like the emergency\parking brake onn your car) that could be applied to stop the locomotive consist. I would suggest the employees has already gotten off the equipment and it rolled away or accidentally left it in gear

[@Run8nova-f4b]

Locomotive hand brakes are useless if Locomotive is already moving. They're diesel electric, there is No drive shaft or transmission, only 8 positions on throttle.

[@rsinclair689]

How did they reach 30mph if the engine was idle?

[@JeffH-s8e]

@@rsinclair689 gravity. I have moved cars and locomotives with a pry bar if it’s on the level. If it’s downhill, the power could have easily gone from 0-60 in less than a mile.

[@erie910]

An engine handbrake works on one wheel. There are 7 or 11 others. A handbrake doesn't apply any brakes on the trailing engines.

[@evanstauffer4470]

@@erie910 Technically, the hand brake applies the brake shoes to the wheels on just one axle - 2 wheels total. Otherwise the above response is absolutely correct. The hand brake is designed to function as a parking brake only.

[@cedarhamilton]

A few points to mention that could lead to such a situation: Heavy vehicles like trains can often easily overload and burn out their brakes. Crews in a company after a merger could have very different training from very different companies. They might not be on the same page with what they are doing. You put such differences together in a system like a multi locomotive train and you could have one engine running hot while another is trying to brake. In a yard there is often a lot of coupling and uncoupling of units (locomotives, tenders, cars, cabooses, etc.). During this process, if someone is not paying attention, being careless or reckless, or otherwise cutting corners, errors can happen. This could result in someone disconnecting a set of units and failing to close the air valve at the rear of the train. This would result in a loss of air pressure to ALL of the trains main brakes. If someone failed to open that value after coupling new units, the working brakes might not have been strong enough to stop the whole train. You do not need ALL of the brakes on a train to fail for it to have stopping issues; you only need ENOUGH of the brakes to not work.

[@vaxghost]

Please learn the difference between a "train" and a "locomotive"; they're not the same.

[@rikkibby]

@@vaxghost Seriously? I didn't know they were different wtf

[@vaxghost]

@@rikkibby Code of Federal Regulations: § 58.650 Requirements for frozen custard. The same requirements apply as for ice cream except plain frozen custard shall have a minimum egg yolk solids content of 1.4 percent, and 1.12 percent when fruits, nuts and other such ingredients are used for flavoring. I did err in thinking it was butterfat content, but, yes, seriously, in the US, it has to meet the above standard to be called "frozen custard".

[@Interceptor00X]

Please learn the difference between a train and a locomotive

[@leenettywilson528]

A train is Wen all the cars or carriages R connected up to the locomotive that's what I have always thought , a locomotive on its own is a single unit locomotive,🙏🙏🙏🙏😉

[@AnthonyMiller-p4h]

Please do a video on Stateville Correctional Center. Good story for sure!

[@dirtyharry5320]

Go home train, you're drunk.

[@jmbrendan53]

[@vadimfischer4129]

Sounds like Silver Streak (1976) to me. 😺

[@joedumas3362]

No that was the Wreck of the Federal, A Pennsylvania Rail Road passenger train, lost breaking, and crashed into Washington DC Union Station. The Station master called for an evacuation of the train hall right before the train went through his office. The wooden floor in the train hall was not built to hold a 475,000 pound locomotive. The floor collapsed sending the locomotive into the baggage sorting area. Where all the baggage sorters had just left on break. There were no fatalities.

[@vadimfischer4129]

@@joedumas3362 I meant the movie with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder where they crash into what is supposed to be Chicago's Central Station. I looked up what you were talking about and yes that crash could have inspired the story for the movie. Thanks for the info.

[@RoseSharon7777]

​@@vadimfischer4129 correct. Good movie for 70s generation.

[@CraigFThompson]

@@vadimfischer4129 That blooperful movie with the backwards locomotive cab....

[@garydahill4240]

Penn central line in Massachusetts the Boston and Albany railroad that was taken over by the New York Central railroad. Then NYC RR murged with the PRR to turn into Penn Central. This line still runs acrosst central Massachsetts east to west. Today it is run by CSX railroad corp.

[@Decopunk1927]

The MBTA bought the part east of Worcester in 2012

[@garydahill4240]

Your right!!! I also forgot to mention that conrail ran the line before CSX and MBTA.

[@Slim_Slid]

Everything that originally belonged to NYC was handed to CSX after the shut down of Conrail. Everything that once was PRR went to Norfolk Southern. 46% for Norfolk Southern and 44% for CSX.

[@JohnPatterson-kz8jr]

Where were Denzel Washington and Chris Pine when they needed them??😢😅😊😮

[@Voucher765]

Yeah right the Equalizer himself

[@dcmoisan]

The current-day train yard shown in the video is two facilities: MBTA Red Line, Cabot Yard, and the MBTA/Amtrak commuter rail yard. The Southampton St. rail overpass is a familiar landmark on the Southeast Expressway.

[@alexander1485]

you can have DP trains now, 2 or 3 engines on the head end and one in the middle (as a power adder and air compressor) PS- the train is the whole vehicle, cars + engines, the engines are locomotives and provide power and air to the train. At around 4:30 he keeps say "the first train, second train..." when he is meaning LOCOMOTIVES.

[@Random_Train_Idiot_Dude]

“PENN CENTRAL BABY!”

[@Voucher765]

Hey fellow railfan

[@cuddlepaws4423]

Taking out loans to pay Shareholders to create the illusion of a profitable company rather than using it to pay the workers and carry out maintenance is the height of stupidity, but how many times have we seen this kind of scenario where the Shareholders come first. However, it does seem very suspicious that 3 locomotives ran away at the same time. It could be viewed as deliberate sabotage. The only saving grace was that there were no casualties.

[@nufosmatic]

Historically, debtors get paid ahead of equity holders in a bankruptcy. And the process of connecting three locomotives together and controlling them, each one designed to operate independently, was probably a problem. The first Space Shuttle launch failed because they couldn't get the FIVE computers to agree (actually, four IBM computers and one RCA computer)...

[@danielmkubacki]

Wow that is horrible.

[@Stussmeister]

A very interesting video. I'm aware people make jokes about Boston's traffic (someone once said the last person to get across that city in under three hours was shouting, "The British are coming! The British are coming!"), but as someone who resides near another metropolitan area (Hint: We have a famous bell), I'd say our traffic situation is quite comparable. Additionally, there's a portion of our rail system that crosses over a major highway, so an incident like this wouldn't be too far outside the realm of possibility.

[@Estolcles]

The most interesting part about the end of the Penn Central? What was widely believed to be the final nail in the coffin? A lost train of Potato boxcars from Maine. (It was a string of cars left to rot in the middle of a yard in the middle of Winter.) There was the slightest potato shortage, nearly killed the Maine Potato industry, and pretty much got most Maine potato farms to stop shipping by rail. But it did SIGNIFICANT damage to Maine's potato industry for like a year, with reverberating effects for years afterwards.

[@bmrp4749]

Tell me you know nothing about railroad operations without telling me you know nothing about railroad operations

[@MilesModelWorks]

Just an average day on the Penn Central.

[@bobjohnson205]

Yep! lol

[@reseng4626]

My dad took me there to watch the fiasco. We walked from Cambridge. Traffic wasn't an issue for us.

[@MrBillyofd1978]

Doesn't really take much to screw up traffic in Boston.....

[@railfanadam1944]

When someone mentions Penn Central, this incident always comes to mind. It's Unfortunate that Penn Central collapsed in a span of 8 years. In 1974, Penn Central released quite a sad film about thier struggles.

[@Slim_Slid]

It wasn't unfortunate...It was inevitable. Both railroads absolutely had extreme disdain towards each other and couldn't work together at all. It also didn't help that both ironically were suffering deeply in almost every department and profit that went under their names. The best thing that came from Penn Central was Conrail. The rivalry between the two railroads was similar to that of Missouri Pacific and Southern Pacific. The only difference is that Missouri Pacific unfortunately survived within Union Pacific after the merge by taking over their management when senior executives and managers intially from Union Pacific were retiring. Southern Pacific was suffering deeply espiecally after the failed SPSF merge when ATSF realised how much debt and possible bankruptcy they'd sink in. The only reason why Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt managed to stay afloat was because of DRGW's CEO personally acquiring them who was a millionaire miner. Still, the takeover from Union Pacific was also inevitable and more so since Missouri Pacific technically was now running management and making decisions but just keeping the Union Pacific name. Same exact scenario between DRGW & Southern Pacific. They wanted their chance and revenge to buy out whoever they wanted to eliminate as competition. The other horrible railroad with serious mismanagement and corruption within, probably more than PRR/NYC, was Milwaukee Road.

[@bridamy]

the transition at 2:40 makes me think he took out a whole bunch for the patron contributers. Definitely not the best cut.

[@bikertime1]

If the people were on bicycles it would have not been a problem.

[@Blue_Jewel2716]

History in the dark did a great video on penn central. Worth watching for more info

[@verstehenrefulgente4993]

They really took road train way to far

[@ffjsb]

It's impossible for those locomotive to put 3' deep gouges in the road. There's not nearly that much clearance underneath for that to happen.

[@danbuckley6584]

the whole locomotive, not the wheels

[@ffjsb]

@@danbuckley6584 AGAIN, it's IMPOSSIBLE for a locomotive to put a 3' deep gouge in a highway. You clearly don't know how highways are constructed or how a locomotive is built. A 3' gouge is not gonna happen.

[@danbuckley6584]

@ffjsb yeah I've done concrete and I'm into steam trains. sounds like you don't understand the amount of momentum a billion pounds might have at50mph...

[@danbuckley6584]

"JET FUEL CAN'T MELT STEEL" looking boy.

[@ffjsb]

@@danbuckley6584 Son, I don't care what you're into, you CLEARLY don't understand physics. Nor do you have ANY clue as to how much a locomotive weighs. You might "do" concrete, but it's clear you've never worked on installing a highway... SMH. Even a UP Big Boy steam locomotive only weighs 1.2 million pounds, not "Billions". And there were only 3 diesel locomotives here, not an entire train. Between the 3 locomotives there might be a million pounds. The entire trains weight is NOT on the highway here, and the cars in a long train will go sideways as the train runs off the tracks and slows, so that momentum is not going to cause a locomotive to dig into pavement. The photos CLEARLY show that the train didn't put a 3' gouge in the pavement. That's just a FACT.

[@kevinjhonson5925]

Good old Boston.

[@paulsmith5398]

Wouldnt you know it! I have the 3182 in HO scale!

[@bobjohnson205]

Has it ever derailed or run across a freeway? lol

[@joermnyc]

Actually I believe crew training includes bailing out of a runaway before a crash. Wrecked trains can be replaced, lost lives cannot.

[@JeffH-s8e]

Nope, we are told to get it back under control. I’m not positive but I believe it’s a violation to bail on moving power.

[@RoseSharon7777]

Those days are over. Everyone knows that corporations never cared about human life.

[@bobjohnson205]

Train crews are instructed to ride it out and hope for the best! lol

[@jossdeiboss]

@@JeffH-s8e If you have put emergency brakes, and the train does not slow down, there is nothing you can do to get it back under control.

[@JeffH-s8e]

@@jossdeiboss I’m an FRA certified air brake technician. And yes, on newer power with comp shoes, you are 100% right. The older stuff that was out in the wild in the 60’s would have been more cast than comp.

[@Zebrails]

DId you see the gondola? NYNHH... the other road in the merger...

[@Nderak]

David C Bevan has left the chat

[@chadportenga7858]

Modern air brakes (since the early 1900s) have been a fail-safe design, meaning in the event of an air leak, the brakes activate and begin braking. (Earlier designs had flaws that either failed in a non-braking situation, or could be bled down enough that the system could not differentiate between ambient air pressure and system air pressure, preventing braking.) It is not entirely impossible for a modern air brake system to fail in a non-braking capacity, but it is rather unlikely. It is more likely that the system was disabled, either inadvertently or intentionally, causing the air brakes not to function. As others have pointed out, it is also possible that the throttle was left in a position above a full stop, allowing the locomotive to move and build up momentum. It seems that whatever the ultimate cause, it was a perfect storm that lead to this accident.

[@cartman4885]

So it's not as simple as turning off the switch or throwing the main breaker...........

[@bobjohnson205]

Nope! Way more involved! Although, that's also part of it.

[@Cool-Tina]

By chance, I'm in the Boston area this week! What good fortune that the latest release is a local tale. 😁 Even if an unfortunate one.

[@halpadgett3166]

There’s a lot of speculation here. Maybe true, maybe not.

[@FictionalADDON-24]

This is Toby takes the Road but is written as a series 5 episode. I can see Toby being a runaway and derails in the street and blocks traffic.

[@CalebMoon-st7jl]

It happened because it was penn Central

[@glennmandigo6069]

Good way of putting it

[@ArtieArchives]

Myself when I build highways in Cities Skylines

[@Bob-hm7cf]

I know when they tore down Penn Station and built Madison Square Garden on top of it. I heard a few years back that they build a new Penn Station across the street finally. Has anyone gone there? It's on my bucket list to visit it the next time I am back up in the area. Thanks

[@cehayes74]

I go to the East Coast every year & the new station across from the garden is beautiful 🤩 !!! The only killer is if you’re riding NJ Transit you still have to go across the street to the old station however I do remember catching a NJ Transit train off Track 11 in the new terminal 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 !!!

[@icemaster-]

1969 was an INSANE year.

[@EdwardM-t8p]

The Penn Central could have refused to pay dividends and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and dissolved the corporation, forcing the federal government's hand in taking over maintenance responsibility for the track and other infrastructure and handing out concessions to other rail companies for operations, or operate it all in-house.

[@knightwolf3511]

which ones there way about 10 other railroad companies that also went bankrupt at that time, they could have refused but instead made it look like the company was doing well instead while lossing 100 million pre year, with infostructure falling apart forcing the federal government's hand in taking over maintenance responsibility < thats why amtrack was created to a point

[@EdwardM-t8p]

@@knightwolf3511 Perhaps but paying 100 million a year in dividends while losing money hand over fist only delayed the inevitable.

[@CraigFThompson]

The federal government could've avoided all this mess if they'd have just STOPPED OVERSUBSIDIZING STUPERHIGHWAYS AND AIR TRAVEL.

[@downix]

Not to underscore the concern, but today almost every railroad company has been deferring maintenance, some for over a decade. Something to think about.

[@jamessimms415]

PRR & NYC had locomotives outfitted different, yes, their spikes were different, different computer systems, not to mention different management styles, outlooks on innovation, on & on. No one bothered to attempt to try to merge the computer systems until it was too late.

[@deepspire]

Penn Central also owned Six Flags.

[@brendakrieger7000]

Whoa thats insane! 🙀🚂

[@markrix]

Isn't it great how America has learned from it's lack of regulation for industries like railroads and aerospace, we definitely nipped the CEO greed over safety issues!

[@GarfieldRules]

Just imagine seeing this in 2024 where there's no train tracks once so ever

[@canucksfan2024]

Omg!! Thats insane!!

[@jack002tuber]

So train workers needed training? 😎

[@history_leisure]

Penn Central even owned Six Flags for a time, who now are going through an equally significant merger for their industry in their own right with Cedar Fair. In that case, the Six Flags name is really all that's staying, although roller coaster enthusiasts have joked about "Cedar Flags" (or "Six Fairs" per one person's handle) for years. Makes me wonder if mid-century foamers ever thought about a "Penn Central" merger during the Great Depression and World War II without modern forms of communication

[@Driver6M]

It is hard to think of a reason why the three locomotives would not be able to stop. Unlike a car, locomotives use a failsafe design for their breaking systems whereby pressure must be maintained in the brake lines to keep the brakes open. If pressure is lost due to a leak or loss of engine power, brakes will apply automatically and remain locked on. My guess would be that the front locomotive's braking system was not connected to the second and third locomotive's systems. Once the 3 locomotives started rolling, the first locomotive's brakes were not strong enough to hold back the weight of all three locomotives.

[@bw4t]

I'm not certain when Dead Man pedals became standard, but I believe it was well after this. That might have prevented the accident, depending on the throttle and reverser positions. When locomotives are MU'd together, pneumatic control lines connect all the HE units. These are signal & communication lines. If the independent brake is set on the lead unit, it will automatically apply the independent brakes on all the other units as well. In MU operations, the lead unit is always the controlling unit. And locomotives did not yet have data recorders like they have now (just like airplanes do).

[@JeffH-s8e]

@@Driver6M considering they are GP-40’s, they probably had 26L with the units in trail from being spotted on the ready track, back in the 60’s the crew were paid by the locomotive so yard moves were done with smaller power like a GP-9. If they had run the three GP-40’s they would have made bank so that was done with a single switcher. Union rules in those days were all over the place depending on what road you came from vs what agreement they were on. One of my buddies was working the Norfolk Southern in NY after the Conrail split and in his crew of three, one was a former Lehigh Valley guy, one was former Erie Lackawanna and he was on a post Halloween agreement. It was not nearly as standard as it is now.

[@Driver6M]

@@JeffH-s8e Thanks for sharing, thats interesting to know.

[@Driver6M]

@@bw4t Yeah perhaps. Do you know is it possible that the crew may have forgot to connect the communication lines thereby the second and third units my have not followed a command to brake?

[@evanstauffer4470]

If the locomotives were stopped and there was nobody in the cab, if they started to roll on their own by gravity, there would have been no way to stop them except derail them. When making switching moves at low speeds in yards, the automatic air brakes are usually not connected between cars. This is normally done only after a train has been made up [all switching has been completed.] Having to charge every car, then bleed it off, then recharge it, then repeat, etc. while cars are being shunted between various tracks would be absolutely unmanageable. Also, the locomotive braking systems are what are called "independent brakes" - they are straight air brakes which will bleed off over time if there is a big enough leak, or the locomotive engine is not running [to power the air compressor], or the brake stand is not cut in. I believe this is what caused the Lac Megantic disaster in Canada.

[@robertgrindrod3778]

The cause was the failure of the yard crew to properly align and test the air brake system of the three locomotives. That alone could cause inoperative brakes. In the alternative, the locomotives were all equipped with an "Emergency Shut Down" buttons in several places on each locomotive which, if pushed, would shut down the diesel engine and generator which would have stopped the movement (Like turning off the key in your car). The locomotives were sent down a side track in a deliberate attempt to derail them and stop their movement rather than have them out on the mauin line or go into the Boston passenger station where the risks would be much higher. No one ever expected the engines would make it all the way to the expressway.

[@spikedraconian2164]

Well maybe someone got fed up with the gap between North and South station and wanted to do something about it! 😂

[@Tigerpanzer6666]

if its just the locomotives its not a train

[@raylrodr]

A locomotive can be a train if its cleared as a train and its carrying rear markers.