From: gl4317@yahoo.com

In article
<112139247422239739.708898dpeltier-my-deja.com@news.aioe.org>,
  wrote:

> I didn't say it's fatal, I said it's not safe. The risk of injury is
> unacceptable by today's standards. Whether it was safer then (shorter train
> lengths, lower speeds, people who were experienced at dealing with the
> situation, etc.), or whether our tolerance for the risk has just decreased,
> I cdon't know. Probably a combination of both.


The situation is most unsafe when the train goes into emergency.  From
the descriptions I have read, the crew used to be able to figure out
that was going to happen by the noise the train was making.  They hear
the air get dumped, and they have maybe 2 seconds to brace themselves
thoroughly against the wall or lie down on one of the beds with their
legs braced against the wall.  The actual slack impact then hits the
caboose just slightly after the noise is heard, but it is usually just
enough time to prevent serious injury.

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