Wouldn’t the locomotive had some sort of “deadman’s switch” device, especially since it seems there was no fireman in the cab with the engineer?
A few years ago for business I used to have to fly fairly regularly on a two-engine turboprop commuter airplane. The passengers sat right behind the pilot and copilot and could see them flying the plane. One thing I noticed was that on takeoff, as the pilot was advancing the throttles (which were above and in front of the pilot/copilot—you had to reach up to move them), the co-pilot always placed his hand on top of the pilot’s and kept it there until the plane took off and leveled off. I always have assumed that was a safety precaution for the one-in-a-million chance that the pilot would have a heart attack during take off.
“I always have assumed that was a safety precaution for the one-in-a-million chance that the pilot would have a heart attack during take off.”
Also for slips of the hand and brain.
Past a certain calculated speed (known as “V1”), your only safe option is to keep accelerating and take off.