![]() ![]() Neway, still inside the locomotive, reported being bounced around inside the cab like a pinball. When the Conrail freight train hit the boulder, lower left, the cars behind the engine crumpled into a zig-zag formation. ![]() The impact folded the two engines and the next 13 cars like an accordion made of paper. At approximately 5:11 pm, locomotives CR 6267 and CR 6253 collided with a chunk of the mountain going 30 mph. Seeing that a collision was imminent, the four-man crew ran for the rear of the cab to jump out. Neway immediately applied the emergency brakes, but a train of this mass needs at least 100 yards to stop. When the 27-year-old engineer, finally did see the giant monolith after rounding a curve, the train was only 30 yards away. Neway would later estimate that the rock was “as long as the engine and three feet high.” What the engineer didn’t know was earlier that day, a 3-ton boulder had broken free from the sheer cliffs along the Susquehanna and landed squarely upon the tracks blocking both lanes. ![]() The 82-car laden Conrail owned train was en route to Morrisville in Bucks County, carrying a heavy load of paper, sand, and petroleum byproducts. It was December 23, 1981, and despite being only a few minutes past 5 o’clock, the sun had already been below the horizon for 15 minutes. In case you were wondering, the answer is nothing good. What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force?Ĭonrail engineer, William Neway, found out first-hand in 1981 when his freight train collided with a 3-ton boulder below Safe Habor. ![]()
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