Unstoppable (2010)

Veteran Allegheny and West Virginia Railroad (AWVR) engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) oversees his co-worker, freshly hired conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) as they use AWVR locomotive #1206 to pick up several train cars outside Stanton, Pennsylvania. Will picks up five cars too many, which they realize only after they have left the train yard. Although Will demands that they roll back and uncouple the extra cars, Frank continues north on the main line with the extras in tow. Meanwhile, in a rail yard within the northern town of Fuller, two AWVR hostlers, Dewey (Ethan Suplee) and Gilleece (T.J. Miller), are ordered by Fuller operations dispatcher Bunny (Kevin Chapman) to move a freight train led by locomotive #777 (nicknamed "Triple Seven") off its current track to clear the track for an excursion train carrying schoolchildren. Dewey attempts to take shortcuts, instructing Gilleece to leave the hoses for the air brakes disconnected for the short trip. Dewey later leaves the moving cab to throw a misaligned rail switch along the train's path, but is unable to climb back on, as the train's throttle jumps from idle, to full power. He is forced to report the train as a "coaster" to Fuller yardmaster Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson). Connie orders Dewey, Gilleece, and lead welder Ned Oldham (Lew Temple), to intercept the train at a siding. With no sign of the train at the siding, they come to realize that the train's controls have defaulted to full throttle, and it is speeding out of control on the main line. Connie is able to successfully divert the excursion train to a side track in the nick of time, and then reports the runaway to Oscar Galvin (Kevin Dunn), vice-president of train operations for AWVR. Connie works with local police and sheriff forces to ensure that each grade crossing along the main line is secured. As they evaluate their options, visiting Federal Railroad Administration safety inspector Scott Werner (Kevin Corrigan) alerts them to the hazard that the molten phenol carried by eight of the train's cars poses should it derail. Galvin rejects Connie's suggestion to derail the train in an area of unpopulated farmland before it enters the towns ahead, believing they can stop the train safely before then. 777 enters the farmland, in which it collides with a horse trailer. As the train's odyssey becomes a media event, a lashup of two engines driven ahead of the runaway manned by veteran engineer Judd Stewart (David Warshofsky) is used to try to slow down the train being directed by Groundman (Victor Gojcaj) while AWVR employee Ryan Scott (Ryan Ahern) is lowered to 777's cab from a helicopter. The plan goes awry, injuring Ryan, and the lashup locomotives are subsequently derailed and explode, killing Judd. The train continues racing towards Stanton....