History Main / RailroadTracksofDoom

* ''VideoGame/FZero GX'': Captain Falcon's special movie involves him trying to save Mrs. Arrow's baby trapped in the middle of a railroad crossing. She stares in shock, but Falcon arrives and grabs the baby and jumps out of the crossing to avoid the oncoming train. He gives Mrs. Arrow her child, only to have the back of his pants ripped in the process.

** Early on in ''{{WesternAnimation/Cars}}'': Lightning McQueen is nearly hit by a freight train after accidentally being knocked out of his trailer thanks the Delinquent Road Hazards' antics and left behind, before mistaking a grouchy semitruck for his own truck and then arriving at Radiator Springs and destroying their main road in the process.

* At the very beginning of ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'', Lightning [=McQueen=] and Mater can be seen exploring an abandoned railroad tunnel, only to be chased out by... [[BigShadowLittleCreature ...a Galloping Goose.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Propagation}}'' have you battling the spider-zombie-hybrid monster, which you shoot repeatedly until it falls into the subway's tracks. Then your train arrives and runs the monster over, only for it to [[TheDeterminator climb back up]] - [[AnArmAndALeg sans an arm]] and most of it's body squashed to a pulp - and continue attacking you.

** In "Decoy for a Dognapper," Shaggy and Scooby are sent on an old handcar down the tracks, and have to outrun an approaching speeding train (resembling an older Santa Fe passenger train) once they reach a trestle. Fortunately, Fred comes to the rescue by throwing a switch track.

** In "Foul Play in Funland", when a bumper car driven by Velma and Scooby goes out of control when they are chased by Charlie the robot, especially when she [[BlindWithoutEm loses her glasses]], they end up driving towards a train crossing, with a train approaching. Velma and Scooby make it through the crossing in time, but the train hits Charlie, and he just lands in one of the cars.

Bear in mind that it is very, very rare for someone's life to be saved because the train actually stops. This is TruthInTelevision, depending on setting, and also speed, as braking distance is proportional to it. A bullet train can take up to 4 km to come to a full stop, while slow subway or light rail might be able to stop in 50 meters, but [[DontTryThisAtHome don't count on it]].

-->-- '''WebVideo/Game Care Network''', ''[[https://youtu.be/RJAEVBf5Q_Q?t=1325download Everything Wrong with]] VideoGame/LifeIsStrange [[https://youtu.be/RJAEVBf5Q_Q?t=760 (feat. Geek Remix)]]''

-->-- [[https://youtu.be/RJAEVBf5Q_Q?t=1325 GamingSins]] on ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange''

* In ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'', there is a mine cart track in Komodo Joe's boss race. If you time it right and have a turbo, you can cut about 30 seconds off the course (more if you stay on the tracks past the first tunnel... and avoid the oncoming carts.)

* At the end of the ''VideoGame/MiskatonicStation'' level of Blood, curious players can follow the tracks outbound and into a tunnel. No points for guessing what happens, and no, you ''can't'' outrun or dodge it.

* Brad Bird likes inverting this trope. In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Bomb Voyage's grenade destroys the El Train tracks right as a train is rounding the corner.

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%%* Trev Diesel from ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}''.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the brother of a boy who grew up to be one of Gotham's top mob bosses lost his leg when his foot got caught in the rails of a train track at the wrong time. Said brother grew up to become a priest and convinced his mob brother in the present day to finally turn himself into the police so he could begin the atoning for the crimes and guilt he'd built up over the years.

* In ''Film/FinalDestination1'', Carter deliberately stops on the train tracks in an attempt to prove that he "controls his own destiny". Having made his point he discovers that his car won't start and his seat belt is jammed as the train bears down on him.
** [[spoiler:Although he escapes, a piece of the resulting shrapnel means that Billy isn't so lucky.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' comic story "Bus Fuss" had Chicken taking the school bus on a joyride after accidentally knocking the driver off the vehicle with a large spitball. But the bus ends up stalling on a railroad crossing just as a speeding train is approaching, driven by the Red Guy with No Pants (in the role of [[PunnyName Casey Clearbottom]]) and hauling freight cars loaded with Chemical X. Fortunately, Cow changes into her Super Cow alter-ego and saves everyone from the bus, right before the train hits it, causing [[StuffBlowingUp the bus to violently explode]] and [[UpToEleven the entire train to derail]], much to the Red Guy's amusement.

* At the end of ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', Marty returns to 1985 in the [=DeLorean=] on train tracks (since without gasoline in 1885, it was necessary to use a train to boost the car up to the needed 88 MPH) and notices a nearby crossing signal is blinking red. At first he thinks it's just because of him—but quickly discovers that he coincidentally landed on the tracks at the exact same time as a freight train shows up.

* ''VideoGame/{{Middens}}: While exploring a seemingly abandoned subway, the Nomad enters a particularly dark tunnel when suddenly a locomotive appears out of nowhere and he's tossed into a boss fight against the [[AfterlifeExpress Train of the Dead]].

* Will Tweedy, the main character in ''Literature/ColdSassyTree'', very nearly gets run over by a train while fooling around on a trestle. Unable to outrun the train, he survives--albeit with some burns and hearing damage--by lying down between the rails and letting it pass over him.

* Like the kids in ''Film/StandByMe'', Will Tweedy, the main character in ''Literature/ColdSassyTree'', was very nearly run over by a train while he was fooling around on a trestle. He can't outrun the train and survives, with some burns and hearing damage, by lying down between the rails.

* That Creator/StephenKing novella ''The Body'', later adapted into the film ''Film/StandByMe'', has the kids discover that part of the way to get to their destination is to cross over a rail bridge. The wimpy kid, Vern, tempts fate by wondering would happen if a train comes while they're on the tracks. Of course, Vern is such a [[TheMillstone pain in the group's side]] that he has to cross the track, plank by plank, out of fear of falling off the bridge. A train inevitably starts coming down the bridge, causing both Vern and Ralphie to panic. They sprint across the boards and make it to the other side with a grand leap of faith, just barely dodging the train in time.