11-03-2014, 12:01 AM
Just a guess, but that percussive air blast in the cab at the beginning of the video was likely the Engineer putting the train "in the Big Hole" - Emergency. Trains do take a while to stop, especially if heavily loaded - 100 cars of coal grosses-out (the weight you have to stop) at ~ 13,000 TONS (26,000,000 pounds !)...ask Sir Isaac Newton about mass & Inertia.
James Thurber - "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."