Unstoppable is a 2010 American disaster action thriller film directed and produced by Tony Scott, written by Mark Bomback, and starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. It is based on the real-life CSX 8888 incident, telling the story of a runaway freight train and the two men who attempt to stop it. It was the last film Scott directed before his death in 2012.
The film was released in the United States on November 12, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $167.8 million against a production budget between $85–100 million. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound Editing at the 83rd Academy Awards, and for Best Action Movie at the 2011 Critics' Choice Movie Awards, but lost to Inception in both cases.
Plot A botched switching operation by yard hostlers Dewey and Gilleece at an Allegheny and West Virginia Railroad (AWVR) yard in northern Pennsylvania results in a freight train pulled by locomotive 777 (Triple 7) heading south at full throttle, hauling 39 cars. Believing it is coasting, yardmaster Connie Hooper orders the two hostlers to pursue and board the train and sends lead welder Ned Oldham ahead in his truck to switch it off the main line. Ned arrives at the switch after the train has passed, and the crew realize that it is running on full power. Attempts by Dewey and Gilleece to board the train fail, prompting Connie to alert Oscar Galvin, Vice President of Operations, and coordinate with state police to block road crossings.
Federal Railroad Administration inspector Scott Werner warns that eight of the 39 cars contain phenol, a highly toxic and flammable chemical, which poses catastrophic risks if the train derails in a populated area. Despite Connie's suggestion to derail the train in unpopulated farmland, Galvin and AWVR's president reject the idea, prioritizing cost-saving measures. Instead, veteran engineer Judd Stewart is sent with another locomotive to slow Triple 7 enough to allow AWVR employee and U.S. Marine veteran Ryan Scott to board from a helicopter. The plan fails: Ryan is injured, and Stewart's locomotive derails and explodes, killing him. With Triple 7 approaching a dangerous curve above the heavily populated town of Stanton, Galvin reluctantly approves a controlled derailment near the smaller town of Arklow.
Meanwhile, veteran engineer Frank Barnes and rookie conductor Will Colson are moving freight cars with locomotive 1206 going north on the same line as Triple 7. Frank, a seasoned railroad veteran facing forced early retirement, and Will, who is preoccupied with a restraining order from his wife Darcy, are ordered to pull off onto a siding RIP track just before the runaway races by, smashing through their last boxcar. Frank notices an open coupler on Triple 7's rear car and proposes coupling 1206 to it, then using their brakes to slow it before it reaches the Stanton Curve. Frank predicts that the portable derailers set up at Arklow will fail due to Triple 7's weight and speed.
Galvin dismisses the plan, threatening to fire Frank, Will, and Connie when she supports them. Ignoring him, Frank and Will leave their freight cars on the siding and proceed with their pursuit, running 1206 in reverse. As predicted, the derailers fail when Triple 7 barrels through them unhindered. Galvin is left to appear foolish and Connie calls him out on it. Connie and Werner, realizing Frank's plan is their only option, override Galvin and coordinate support.
Frank and Will catch up to Triple 7, and Will exits 1206's cab to complete the coupling. When the locking pin will not engage, Will kicks it into place, but his foot gets crushed. Despite the injury, he hobbles back to the cab and Frank while still in control appears to slow down Triple Seven according to 1206's speedometer. However the cab brakes are wearing out and the train is gaining speed again. Will devises a plan to slow down Triple Seven by breaking the freight cars. Will goes and takes control of the dynamic brakes while Frank climbs atop the freight cars to manually engage the handbrakes, car by car. Their efforts initially slow Triple 7, but eventually, 1206's brakes burn out, and Triple 7 begins accelerating again.
Using the independent air brake, Will and Frank coordinate their brake timing via radio, reducing speed enough to avoid derailing on the elevated Stanton Curve bridge. However, Frank is blocked from reaching Triple 7's locomotive by a bulkhead flatcar with no walkway. Ned arrives in his truck, speeding alongside the tracks with the police escorting him. Will jumps onto the truck bed, and Ned races ahead of the train. Will leaps onto Triple 7's engine, gains control, and brings the runaway train to a stop. There is later a press conference where Frank, Will, and Ned are commended for their actions.
In the aftermath, Will reunites with Darcy and their son, learning that she's pregnant with their second child. Frank is promoted and later retires with full benefits. Will recovers from his injuries and continues working with AWVR. Connie is promoted to VP of Operations, formerly Galvin's job. Ryan makes a full recovery, while Dewey ends up working in the fast-food industry.
Cast
Production Development Unstoppable suffered various production challenges before filming could commence, including casting, schedule, location, and budgetary concerns.
In August 2004, Mark Bomback was hired by 20th Century Fox to write the screenplay Runaway Train. Robert Schwentke signed on to direct Runaway Train in August 2005, with plans to begin shooting in early 2006. In June 2007, Martin Campbell was in negotiations to replace Schwentke as director of the film, now titled Unstoppable. Campbell was attached until March 2009, when Tony Scott came on board as director. In April, both Denzel Washington and Chris Pine were attached to the project.
The original budget had been trimmed from $107 million to $100 million, but Fox wanted to reduce it to the low $90 million range, asking Scott to cut his salary from $9 million to $6 million and wanting Washington to shave $4 million off his $20 million fee. Washington declined and, although attached since April, formally withdrew from the project in July, citing lost patience with the film's lack of a start date. Fox made a modified offer as enticement, and he returned to the project two weeks later.
Filming Production was headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the fictional "Allegheny and West Virginia Railroad" depicted in the movie is headquartered. Filming took place in a broad area around there including the Ohio cities of Martins Ferry, Bellaire, Mingo Junction, Steubenville, and Brewster, and in the Pennsylvania communities of Pittsburgh, Emporium, Milesburg, Tyrone, Julian, Unionville, Port Matilda, Bradford, Monaca, Eldred, Mill Hall, Turtlepoint, Pleasant Gap, Port Allegany, and Carnegie, and also in Portville, New York and Olean, New York. The film was the most expensive ever shot in Western Pennsylvania until The Dark Knight Rises.
The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad's Buffalo Line was used for two months during daylight, while the railroad ran its regular freight service at night.Iverson, Lucas: "Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad Corporation profile," January 30, 2023, Trains, retrieved May 6, 2024 The real-life bridge and elevated curve in the climactic scene is the B & O Railroad Viaduct between Bellaire, Ohio and Benwood, West Virginia.
A two-day filming session took place at the Hooters restaurant in Wilkins Township, a Pittsburgh suburb, featuring 10 Hooters Girls from across the United States. Other interior scenes were shot at 31st Street Studios (then the Mogul Media Studios) on 31st Street in Pittsburgh. Principal photography began on August 31, 2009, for a release on November 12, 2010.
Filming was delayed for one day when part of the train accidentally derailed on November 21, 2009.
Locomotives The locomotives used in the movie were borrowed from three railroads: the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (W&LE), and the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad (SWP).
Four GE AC4400CWs leased from CP were used to depict the locomotives used on the runaway train, 777 and trailing unit 767. CP 9777 and 9758 played 777 and 767 in early scenes, and CP 9782 and 9751 were given a damaged look for later scenes (777's crushed front railings, and 767's shattered engineer windshield). These four locomotives were repainted to standard colors in early 2010 by Canadian Pacific following the filming, but the black and yellow warning stripes from the AWVR livery painted on the plows of each locomotive were left untouched (except for 9777's plow) and remained visible on the locomotives.
Most of the other AWVR locomotives seen in the film, including chase locomotive 1206, and the locomotive consist used in an attempt to stop the train, 7375 and 7346, were played by EMD SD40-2s leased from W&LE. 1206 was depicted by three different SD40-2s: W&LE 6353 and 6354, and a third unit that was bought from scrap and modified for cab shots. 6353 and 6354 were returned to the W&LE and painted black to resume service, but 6354's windshield remains jutted forward from the AWVR livery. Judd Stewart's locomotive consist 7375 and 7346 were played by W&LE 6352 and 6351, which also played two locomotive "extras" (5624 and 5580), wearing the same grey livery with different running numbers. The Railroad Safety Campaign excursion train locomotive (RSC 2002) was played by a SWP EMD GP11 rebuilt from an EMD GP9. The two passenger coaches carrying schoolchildren were provided by the Orrville Railroad Heritage Society in Orrville, Ohio.
Locomotive typeReal life ownerReal life numberboardsFeaturedGE AC4400CWCPCP 9777 & 9782AWVR 777CP 9758 & 9751AWVR 767EMD SD40-2W&LEW&LE 6353 & 6354AWVR 9705 & 1206W&LE 6352AWVR 7375, 5624, & 6032W&LE 6351AWVR 7346, 5607, & 5580EMD GP11SWPSWP 2002RSC 2002
Inspiration
Unstoppable was inspired by the 2001 CSX 8888 incident, in which a runaway train ultimately traveled through northwest Ohio. Led by CSX Transportation SD40-2 #8888, the train left Stanley Yard in Walbridge, Ohio with no one at the controls, after the driver got out of the slow-moving train to correct a misaligned switch, mistakenly believing he had properly set the train's dynamic braking system, much as his counterpart (Dewey) in the film mistakenly believed he had properly set the locomotive's throttle (in the CSX incident, the locomotive had an older-style throttle stand where the same lever controlled both the throttle and the dynamic brakes; in fact, putting on "full throttle" and "full brakes" both involved advancing the same lever to the highest position after switching to a different operating mode. Thus if the engineer failed to properly switch modes, it was easy to accidentally apply full throttle instead of full brake, or vice-versa).