Rails & Ties

Laura Danner is a mentally ill, single mother who takes illegal drugs and is unable to care for her 10-year-old son Davey. Driven to despair, she decides to commit suicide by driving a car on to a railway track, taking Davey with her. She offers him some tranquillisers beforehand but, unbeknownst to her, he spits them out. His mother drives on to the tracks. As a train approaches, Davey tries in vain to drag her out of the car, himself jumping clear just in time. Two train crewmen, Tom Stark and Otis Higgs, seeing the car on the tracks ahead, argue about whether an emergency stop will derail the train or not. However, the train hits and kills the boy's mother. Subsequently, the railroad company calls for an internal inquiry and suspends the two drivers pending an informal inquiry.