It was an easily preventable human error. The engineer/conductor (one in the same) didn’t tie down enough handbrakes for the weight of the train, and left the automatic brakes set up and the locomotives running to keep air on the train. The locomotives shut down due to a fire on one of the units (poor maintenance). If there was a two man crew, the conductor would work with the engineer to set the required amount of handbrakes on the cars.
If you tried to pull that shit on a class one railroad in the US, you would literally be fired on the spot.
wrong again factoryrat.
a town fireman shutdown the engine
and you cant possibly know if 2, or 3, or4 crewmen would have followed the existing hand brake tiedown regs.