Train wreck
Encyclopedia
Disaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
involving one or more train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
s. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track; or an accident, such as when a train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
wheel jumps off a track
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
in a derailment
Derailment
A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....
; or when a boiler explosion
Boiler explosion
A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. As seen today, boiler explosions are of two kinds. One kind is over-pressure in the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. The second kind is explosion in the furnace. Boiler explosions of pressure parts are particularly associated...
occurs. Train wrecks have often been widely covered in popular media and in folklore.
Legal consequences
Because train wrecks usually cause widespread property damage as well as injury or death, the intentional wrecking of a train in regular service is often treated as an extremely serious crimeCrime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
. For example, in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the penalty for intentionally causing a non-fatal train wreck is life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
with the possibility of parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
. For a fatal train wreck, the possible sentences are either life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, or death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
.
See also
- Lists of rail accidents
- List of accidents and disasters by death toll
- Classification of railway accidentsClassification of railway accidentsClassification of railway accidents, both in terms of cause and effect, is a valuable aid in studying rail accidents to help to prevent similar ones occurring in future...
- Signal passed at dangerSignal passed at dangerA Signal passed at danger , in British railway terminology, occurs when a train passes a stop signal without authority to do so. It is a term primarily used within the British Railway Industry, although it can be applied worldwide.-Categories of SPAD:...
- Tram accidentTram accidentA tram accident is generally an accident in which a tram is involved . When general traffic safety is evaluated, as in traffic accident statistics, any accident involving a tram or a tram system can be considered to be a tram accident...
- DerailmentDerailmentA derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....
- Boiler explosionBoiler explosionA boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. As seen today, boiler explosions are of two kinds. One kind is over-pressure in the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. The second kind is explosion in the furnace. Boiler explosions of pressure parts are particularly associated...
- Bridge disaster
- Emergency managementEmergency managementEmergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the...
- Head-on collisionHead-on collisionA head-on collision is one where the front ends of two ships, trains, planes or vehicles hit each other, as opposed to a side collision or rear-end collision.-Rail transport:...
- The crash at Crush, TexasCrush, TexasCrush, Texas, was a temporary "city" established as a one-day publicity stunt in 1896. William George Crush, general passenger agent of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad , conceived the idea to demonstrate a train wreck as a spectacle. No admission was charged, and train fares to the crash site...
, an intentional train wreck conducted as a publicity stunt - :Category:Railroad accident victims
- The folk song "Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy TrainWreck of the Tennessee Gravy TrainThe "Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train" is a folk song about politicians and bank failures. It is based on a true incident in Tennessee in 1930. After a scandal involving awarding contracts without bids, Henry Horton was re-elected governor of Tennessee. The Caldwell Company Bank collapsed soon...
", about politicians and bank failures