Run-a-way

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                                  ‘Run-a-way’

The siren wailed out across the ravine echoing against the mountain and down the river gorge.

The speakers round the camp crackled as the message blasted the stillness of the evening.

“This is an emergency! Man the rescue Wasps! Get the four-wheel drives to the rail line at the bridge on the river.

 M o o o v e! Now! We have a run-away on the northbound line upcountry from the bridge, heading for town.”

Four duty Air Force reserves rushed out of the bungalow slipping on their gear as ran to the vehicle park.

Two four ‘wheelers’ started up and roared off into the dust on their way to the bridge.

Four other crew reserves from the Force ran for the two Helicopters in the hangar. They strapped in, donned their headphones and goggles, fired their machines and in seconds were whirling in the sky above the base.

“Jake! This is the captain. Come in”

“This is Jake. What’s on your mind Capt.”

“We have an emergency on our hands. So far; there is no response from the train nor any change in the suicidal speed of the run-a-way loco on the north bound line. I am sending the Atar truck with tyre arresters to the bridge. Do not deploy them at the bridge. You must go to the first turn after the bridge. Set up the arresters 200 yards from the turn to slow the run-away kif it makes it across the bridge. You had better move as fast as possible. We are expecting the train in 6 minutes at the top of the pass.

Go! Go! Go!”

“This is Jake. Copy! Over and out.”

Jake ran from the lookout post in the gorge grabbing the key from the desk in the main reception. Raced to the mustang in the shed and vanished in a cloud of dust over the hill, heading for the bridge.

“Come in Copter 1! ……Report!

“This is Copter 1. Airbourne over the northern peak up from the valley and we can see the whole line. So far nothing yet!

“Good! Go and fill your water bombs at the dam now!”

“Roger! Copy! On our way.”

”Copter 2. Report!”

“This is copter 2. We have crested the two peaks to the north of the bridge and have a view up the mountain all the way to the gorge. There is no sign ……Wait!... As we speak, I see a loco coming round the turn now, heading for the downhill towards the bridge. Does anyone have any contact with the personnel on the train. She’s coming at an almighty clip! Over.”

“No! Not yet! Out!”

“Jake! Come in!”

“Jake here. I’m coming up to the perimeter of the ox-bow lake and will be at the turn after the bridge in about one minute. I can see the Truck, on the road from the Forest station. We’ll arrive there together. Over!”

“Great! Let me know when you are both there and have started to unload and position the breaks! Out.”

“Copter 1. Come in. What’s your action.”

“Copter 1 here! We have submersed our tanks and are about to get air bourn now from the dam! Over.”

“Great! Go to it and stay airborne. Out.”

“Capt. Come in. Jake here.”

“Go Jake!”

“Capt., we have unloaded all the arresters and crane is now positioning them on the rail lines up to the bend. Over and out.”

“Capt. This is Copter 2! We’re in trouble. She’s going too fast. There are signs of debris flying from the coach behind the diesels. She’s roaring towards the bridge now! There are two diesel units.”

“Copter 2 stay on the line and keep up the commentary!”

“Sir! She’s going too fast. Oh shit! The diesels are angled off the track into the bridge girders………... Sir…… she’s going over. Oh! God! The guard coach has derailed……… Sir this is horrible..... Both Diesel locos have gone through the girders and disappeared over the edge into the ravine. The train is de-railing behind it and telescoping into the bridge.

Call in every medic and ambulance you can get and radio the medics at Fort Brash to send their medics by next copter. This is a disaster! Over!”

“Copter 2! Can you do pass over the wreckage and tell us what you see.!”

“Going in now. So far there is no fire. Looks like the first 5 cars have rolled off the tracks. There are two precariously perched coaches on the bridge over the river. There is sign of life with people climbing out of the cars in the rear of the train further up the hill. There is no movement in the first 5 coaches yet! Over.” 

“Great! Can you see some where helicopters with medical staff could land near the first 5 cars.? Over”

“I am banking now to make a second pass and will let you know! Over”

“Capt. O’Shaunassey, this is Fox 2 from Fort Brash Lt., Burger speaking. Fox 1 is on my starboard manned by Lt. Sorrel. We will be over the bridge in 4 minutes. We have two medical teams with us and two road ambulances are on their way from Crowsnest about 5 kilometers distant. Do you read me. Over!”

“Lt. thanks for your fast response. I have one copter looking for a landing access right now. Tune in to Channel 4 and you can hear what happens. Over.”

“Copy Capt. Lt. Burger, Fox 2 Out.”

 “Copter 2. Report! Over.”

“ Capt. This is copter2. There are two places to land. One is right at the bridge or just before the bridge on the port side of the bridge inbound line. There is a flat area that was used to construct the bridge – that is where the two Fort Brash medical teams should land. There is access to the crash site from there but it will be a challenge to climb down to the wreck. Over!”

”Good work! Where is the other one? Over”

“Sir! The second one is 200 meters behind the derailed cars up the hill and is bigger. It will be a good place to ferry the other medics to, from the roadway, when they get here. Over!”

“Capt. O’Shaunessey! Come in. This is Fox 2 Burger here!”

“Go ahead Lt.!”

“There is fire in the hole. At least on Loco is on fire in the gorge. We’ve just passed over the broken girders where the first two carriages are lying. We need to get rescuers there fast. They are dangerously close to going over into the gorge. Over and out!”

“Copter 1. Come in”

“Copter 1 here. I got the problem Capt. I’m going to see if I can get down that far. Over.”

“Good copter 1. Report as soon as you can. Capt. Out.”

The rescue operation went on arduously into the night and the next morning.

Fresh teams were sent to the site at midnight to relieve some of the rescue workers. New flight crews were added and the others replaced at 6.am in the morning.

The ambulances had been ferrying injured passengers to the hospitals. The medical helicopters were rushing urgent cases by air to facilities all around Crowsnest and to the nearest emergency theatres and hospitals.

By 7.00am the death toll had climbed to 18 with 50 people hospitalized with serious injuries. There were another 25 casualties that were ferried by ambulances from the crash site.

The diesel Locomotives were hauling a long-distance holiday passenger service with 25 cars and the first 5 were 1^st Class luxury coaches.

By 9.00am detectives and the Police from Crowsnest had arrived. There was a report from the driver of the Diesel Locomotive at Glaston, where the train started its journey. The driver went to the station from which the train was to leave. When he arrived on the morning to take charge of the train; he was told it had left 5 minutes earlier. No one knew the name of the driver!

The detectives were given the names of the hospitals where victims of the crash had been sent. The reserves who had made it to the ravine to find the drivers were questioned. Then public from the rear coaches were interviewed regarding the trip for their observations.

The train was also supposed to pick up passengers from Fo’c’sle and Dumbarton but it had raced through both stations without stopping.

By noon the death toll had risen to 23 and the mystery of the scheduled luxury holiday train deepened.

When the Air Force reserves had arrived in the ravine to check on the drivers there were no bodies. Two passengers from the train reported two men leaving from the tracks after the train had slowed outside Carnavon which is the station before Fo’c’sle.

The Midday news stated that Police from Coalbrook were following up a lead given by a farmer from Carnavon. The farmer witnessed two men from the train steal a red Hyundai motor vehicle near Carnavon and were heading south on the highway.

By 4.00pm on the second day the crash site was turned over to security. All other personnel were leaving and the wrecking crews were arriving to start restoring the confusion on the rail and repair the upended rail lines and disrupted bridge access.

Captain O’Shaunessey received a call from the duty Police Officer that had visited the site earlier. He wanted to find out if any of the helicopters were still on duty or available in Crowsnest now.

Lt Burger and Sorrel were still at the base after delivering all their medical cases and returning the medical teams to the hospitals. They were with the Capt. in his office when the call came through.

After concluding the call: the Captain briefed both the Fort Brash helicopter pilots and his four officers, who had assisted with the disaster. There was a breakout from Glaston high security prison and two inmates are missing. They are suspected to have hijacked the train in their escape. The intelligence investigation so far concluded that both men are armed and have a large quantity of cash with them. They are heading for the border. Last seen travelling in the red Hyundai near Fort Brash on the highway to Oaklee. The Police are asking for assistance to patrol the roads in the area until their crews arrived with helicopters. It is vital that both men are detained as soon as possible as they are also in possession of explosives.

Four helicopters left the base after refueling, heading for the highway to the border. Instructions from the police HQ in Glaston was to take any action necessary to prevent them crossing the border.

A garage owner on a side road near Pilditch, 30 kilometers from the border, reported that three men in a red Hyundai had stopped there and stolen a large black convertible a Pontiac. The Hyundai had been a trap set by them and had caught fire and blown up when an attendant had tried to approach it.

The garage had the plate registration of the car, as it was a vehicle, they were servicing, at the time of the theft. The third man had his feet and hands manacled and was dressed in a suite.

The garage owner had forwarded video footage to the police from their camera in the parking lot.

 Lt. Sorrel reported that they had the Pontiac in sight on the highway headed for the border. They were just ahead of him approximately 9 kilometers from the border.

A police helicopter was airborne from the border post.

The police helicopter over-flew the car as a distraction while Lt. Berger went in below them low and fired at the speeding car. Lt Sorrel did the same from the side going across their direction of travel. Smoke or steam was rising from the car as it lurched to a stop on an incline.

The Police helicopter took a hit and whirled out of control, landing on the other side of the incline.

The police were out of the copter and racing on foot to the hill.

The police helicopters had arrived from Oaklee and the report was that the prison break and both identities of the fugitives were confirmed. The third man was Mayor of Carnavon who was also a Presidential candidate. The escapees demanded a ransom of millions for his return.

Two Air Force helicopters remained airborne and the other four landed around the stranded convertible at a safe distance. The personnel all armed with small arms converged on the scene.  

 The Police from the border were the first to arrive at the scene when the two desperate men opened fire on them.

There was an almighty explosion as the Pontiac went up in flames.

One of the police from the downed helicopter went down with a bullet from the fugitives.

The two fugitives were holed up on a rocky promontory at the side of the highway.

One of the police from Oaklee had a rifle and took up a position on the rise on the highway.

He fired and was keeping both of the criminal fugitives down and out of sight, while the other police officers moved in.   

There were now 6 police officers on the ground below the protected position of the two fugitives. The Oaklee officer continued peppering the promontory with triple 2 ammo.

The six officers stormed the outcrop. As they arrived, one guy threw two explosive devices down the hill, which exploded short of the officers. They charged. One man turned on them and was gunned down before he could get off another shot.

The second man had been shot in the head by the rifle shot from the Oaklee police officer.

It was done. It was all over!

Both fugitives were dead and it was also confirmed that they had killed the Mayor in the car which they had blown up. They had slowed the train at Carnavon to jump ship and had sent it driverless out of control with a full passenger load to its fate at the Crowsnest bridge.

The death toll now stood at 26.