Deliberate mistake: The entire plot wouldn't exist without this one, but just before the engineer stumbles out the door and falls off, he pulls the big red lever on the left side of the cab. In the real world this puts the air brake system into its emergency mode. Among other things, this mode trips a solenoid which causes the engine to return to idle, and the electrical system to not put out power. Neither the Diesel engine nor the electrical system will respond to control inputs until/unless the air system is reset.
Runaway Train (1985)
1 deliberate mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Andrey Konchalovskiy
Starring: Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner
Continuity mistake: When you first see the freight train that eventually would get its caboose smashed, the locomotive is a big one with lots of snow on the front. In all the other shots of this train, it`s a smaller locomotive, and it has no snow on the front.
Rankin: Push the button. We're on a dead-end siding. We're gonna crash in five minutes.
Oscar "Manny" Manheim: Then we'll have a nice, five-minute ride together.
Rankin: You think you're a hero, huh? Shit. You're scum.
Oscar "Manny" Manheim: We're both scum, brother.
Trivia: In the film Eric Robert says jokingly to Sara "Why are we here? I'll tell you why...We're on our way to Las Vegas to see our good friend Wayne Newton." In Best of the Best 2 (1993) Eric Roberts arrives at Las Vegas at the end to stop a fight, which is being hosted by Wayne newton.
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Chosen answer: Most likely from the speed at which the train was going, a train is like driving any large vehicle. You have to maintain a certain pace, to stop at an instant, for the unexpected.