If a train can be derailed by a rock on the track, why couldn't a Jeep Cherokee do it?
So9
They say a penny on the rail can do it.
The Metrolink trains run both ways, engine in front, and engine pushing in the rear. A passenger car hit the Jeep and the engine kept pushing it until it derailed.
The engine was in the rear pushing the cars so the car in the front had no real bumper or "cow catcher" to protect the undercarriage.
Also I think the car was down on the tracks and not on the crossing plate where it could have been more easily pushed aside.
Once I happened upon a train that had just driven right through the middle of a semi trailer loaded with cabbage and carrots. No one got hurt luckily, but the front of the engine was covered with cole slaw!
Every object persists in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it.
Force is equal to the change in momentum per change in time.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite re-action.
F = ma. It's not just a good idea, it's the law.
SUV's are EEEEEVIL!
According to one news account, the SUV was tightly wedged between the rails.