I ran across this wild  YouTube video over the weekend:

Train vs. Tornado

It happened on January 7th, 2008. The narrow view is an obviously stationary camera at the rear of the train’s engine. The video gets exciting as you begin to see rain on the window. Go to the end of the video; there’s a near disastrous “Hollywood ending”.

Here’s part of a statement from the Chicago National Weather Service office:

THE TORNADO THEN MOVED ACROSS THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD WHERE IT BLEW 12 RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS OFF THE TRACK. THE TRAIN WAS MOVING AT THE TIME THE TORNADO HIT IT…SO AS THE MAIN ENGINE STOPPED…THE REMAINING CARS ON THE TRACK CONTINUED ALONG IT AND SLAMMED INTO THE FRONT PART OF THE TRAIN. THIS CAUSED A FEW MORE CARS TO DERAIL…INCLUDING ONE CONTAINING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS THAT CAUSED THE EVACUATION OF THE TOWN OF LAWRENCE. THE DAMAGE IN LAWRENCE WAS RATED AS EF2 WITH WINDS UP TO 110 MPH.