I surprised Sammie got caught. I guess the Westsiders are too used to living in the banana belt of Oregon.

What surprises me is that the one CN crew survived a runaway not once, but twice. They surely had to throw their underwear away.

While a closed angle cock or frozen brake pipe would explain things, it might not be that simple as there really aren't that many modern runaways for that reason. Also remember that a dynamite FRED was required by the FRA rules for the grade, so surely they knew if they had an intact brake pipe and sufficient brake pipe pressure on the rear. I wonder if anyone bothered to inspect the brakes after the first runaway - some brake shoes may have been burned off by the second one. More likely this will end up being a comedy of errors, a combination of mechanical issues, weather and improper train handling. I would also question CN's changes in operations since their purchase of the DMIR, and who "authorized" the second runaway.