History Main / RailCarSeparation

* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'': In "Calcutta Adventure", the Quest team is taking a train trip up into a mountain range. Bad guys aboard the train detach the car the Quests are in and the car rolls down the mountain. It jumps the tracks and ends up at the edge of a cliff, but the Quests manage to get off the train car safely.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'': In the Military Train level, Repliforce soldiers will sometimes blow up the couplings between the train carriages in an attempt to hinder X and Zero's progress through the level.

** "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS5E23BusyGoingBackwards Busy Going Backwards]]" (pictured above): When Toad the Brake Van wishes he could go forwards instead of backwards, the Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver when he reaches the top of Gordon's Hill. With no conductor to slow Toad down (due to having jumped clear), the signalmen take action by [[HighSpeedTrainReroute switching the points]] to avoid having Toad crash into other engines. Toad eventually comes to a stop in a muddy pond.

* ''Anime/AceAttorney'': An original story for the anime involves the separation of the cars of an operating train in order to rearrange them mid-journey. The reason for this was it was to move the dining car, from the middle of the train to the back, as the train's owner planted a bomb there as part of a suicide plot. He was an escaped convict who didn't think he would get a fair trial, so intended to die without endangering the rest of the train's passengers.

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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/railcarseperation.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"And they jerked at a coupling, which broke."]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': The sea train mini-arc between Water 7 and Enies Lobby sees this being used several times by the Straw Hats as they try to retrieve Robin from the head cabin of the Puffing Tom. The first time it works like a charm, letting them eliminate fifty-odd {{Mooks}} without breaking a sweat; the [[ItOnlyWorksOnce second time, unfortunately]], one of their enemies turns out to own whips strong enough to hold the cars together in lieu of the steel links. And [[FromBadToWorse then]] it turns out another of their enemies [[PortalMaster can teleport]].

This is a handy setup for a TrainJob, and may lead to a HighSpeedTrainReroute. Also a SisterTrope to the third type of TrainEscape.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/railcarseperation.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS5E23BusyGoingBackwards And they jerked at a coupling which broke]]".]]

-->-- '''The Narrator''', ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'', "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS1E9TroublesomeTrucks Troublesome Trucks]]''

** "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS5E23BusyGoingBackwards Busy Going Backwards]]": When Toad the Brake Van wishes he could go forwards instead of backwards, the Troublesome Trucks grant his wish by breaking away from Oliver when he reaches the top of Gordon's Hill. With no conductor to slow Toad down (due to having jumped clear), the signalmen take action by [[HighSpeedTrainReroute switching the points]] to avoid having Toad crash into other engines. Toad eventually comes to a stop in a muddy pond.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': The sea train mini-arc between Water 7 and Enies Lobby sees this being used several times by the Straw Hats as they try to retrieve Robin from the head cabin of the Puffing Tom. The first time it works like a charm, letting them eliminate fifty-odd {{Mooks}} without breaking a sweat; the [[ItOnlyWorksOnce second time, unfortunately]], one of their enemies turns out to own [[WhipItGood whips]] strong enough to hold the cars together in lieu of the steel links. And [[FromBadToWorse then]] it turns out another of their enemies [[PortalMaster can teleport]].

Compare EmergencyCargoDump, where a character tosses cargo out of their vehicle to make it weigh less to go faster and/or avoid sinking.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': In "Whistlestop Mindy", Mindy strays onto the mail car of a train. When Buttons chases after her, Mindy pulls out the bolt that keeps the mail car coupled to the passenger coach, causing the two cars to separate. Buttons grabs the couplings of the two cars to keep them together and lets Mindy walk across him like a bridge. When Mindy gets to the passenger car, Buttons puts the bolt back in the couplings.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': In "Ridiculous Journey", Taz, Tweety, and Sylvester are on the run from Blacque Jacque Shellacque, and at one point attempt to escape from him by boarding a freight train. Jacque catches up to them, and chases them to the caboose. Taz bites the coupling between the caboose and the hopper, causing the caboose to roll away from the train. Taz, Tweety, and Sylvester escape from Jacque, but the caboose rolls down the mountain and sinks into a river.