Leo Gillick
Driving a train might seem pretty easy, but the reality is a lot tougher than it initially seems. Two teens found out the hard way and ended up derailing a train after a joyride, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
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Having worked on the railway for a few years, I know how much regulation is involved in even the simplest train movement. It’s less about the actual locomotive itself, and more about the signalling and track.
Train lines, by their very nature, are complicated and require a lot of coordination to avoid derailment and collision. Anyone without prior training will find it impossible to understand the ins and outs. Even trains with qualified drivers need to talk to signalmen and pay attention to lights constantly.
But two teens thought they would give train driving a go anyway, starting their joyride in a yard. The pair hopped into an engine at Carolina Piedmont Railroad and CSX Transportation Railroad. The locomotive they commandeered was connected to two other engines.
Somehow, they got the thing running, and off they went.
Train Trip Turns To Derailment Disaster
Before derailing the train, the two teens successfully moved it around the yard and onto the rail line heading to Greenville. “They went on YouTube to learn how to start a train, and that’s how they did it. Once they climbed onto the train, they were able to start the engine,” Chief Heath Copeland with the Laurens Police Department said.
Eventually, they decided to return the train to the yard, but the teens hadn’t accounted for switches. Instead of returning where they came from, the lines took them in a new direction. As a result, the train commandeered by the teens hit standing carriages, derailing.
Taking the train onto working lines could have resulted in significantly more damage. They were lucky it was such a minor collision. The two teens were caught after derailing the train. There was significant damage done to one of the carriages. But, thankfully, nobody was hurt.
The minors have been charged with burglary, second degree, grand larceny over $10,000, malicious damage to property over $10,000, willful destruction of railroad property, and injury to railroad, according to the police department.
