{"product_id":"9780615334486","title":"Train Wreck: The True Story Behind the Silver Spring, Maryland, Commuter Rail Disaster","description":"On a snowy, February afternoon, three seasoned railroad men, an engineer and two conductors, were running a Maryland (MARC) commuter train with student passengers from Brunswick, Maryland, into Washington, D.C. At 5:35 they were only 11 miles from their destination at Union Station. Down the road and around a bend, a massive Amtrak passenger train was slowly rolling up the line toward them, finally underway on its route to Pittsburgh after being delayed in Washington for over an hour. \u003cbr\u003e Although there were two sets of tracks on the CSX Railroad's main line, both trains were approaching each other on the same one. That was temporary. The dispatcher had already arranged to get them on separate tracks by opening a crossover switch ahead.\u003cbr\u003e The day seemed to be closing quietly and insignificantly, \u003cbr\u003ebut for a number of small, time-altering glitches that somehow had been lining up over the past hours like stars in their courses (three in the last few minutes alone)—an unscheduled station stop, a distraction and an oversight—to lock the MARC train's impossible fate into place like gold bells rotating one by one onto the screen of a jackpot slot machine that would dispense death instead of coins.\u003cbr\u003e What was about to happen could have been avoided if one additional second had been added onto the daily clock that afternoon. Instead, the ending was so horrific that it shocked Baltimore and Washington area residents and elicited prayers from the White House and halls of Congress.","brand":"Spartina Press, The","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47046733889776,"sku":"9780615334486","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780615334486_p0.jpg?v=1763597461","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780615334486","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}