History Main / RacingTheTrain

Basically, someone shows off how fast they (or their PimpedOutCar) are by running parallel to, or if they're particularly cocky, in front of a train. It goes without saying that this is a terrible, horrible, no-good, ''very bad idea'' in RealLife. Trains are heavier than you, they're most likely faster than you, and they have so much momentum that [[TooFastToStop it can take them miles to come to a full stop]]. Even if the operator sees an obstruction (like some idiot trying to beat the train to the crossing), he cannot prevent the train from hitting the obstacle and, most probably, utterly destroying it.

* In ''Discworld/RaisingSteam'' a journalist suggests that the new railway will terrify horses. Dick Simnel retorts that when he was working on his test engine, the horses seemed to enjoy racing it.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode, "Full-Tilt Tails", when Tails steps on a piece of speedamint gum, he becomes as fast as Sonic. He decides to show his newly-acquired speed to Sonic by racing a speeding train. However, when he gets ahead of the train, he gets stuck in the tracks, leading Sonic to rescue him.

* The original cut of ''Film/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' had a variant of this in the introduction for P.T. Boomer, where he actually caused Billy Twofeathers to stop his train just as the biker was crossing it.

* Cowboy Troy's "I Play Chicken With The Train".

Basically, someone shows off how fast they (or their PimpedOutCar) are by running parallel to, or if they're particularly cocky, in front of a train. It goes without saying that this is a terrible, horrible, no-good, ''very bad idea'' in RealLife. Trains are heavier than you, they're most likely faster than you, and they have so much momentum that it can take them miles to come to a full stop. Even if the operator sees an obstruction (like some idiot trying to beat the train to the crossing), he cannot prevent the train from hitting the obstacle and, most probably, utterly destroying it.

[[/folder: Web Original]]

Basically, someone shows off how fast they (or their PimpedOutCar) are by running parallel to, or if they're particularly cocky, in front of a train. It goes without saying that this is a horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad idea in RealLife.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'''s titular character is famous for his speed, so naturally, he will occasionally have to outrun trains:

* In Warners' ''Streamlined Gretna Green'', Junior the roadster tries to outrace a train, gets hit (naturally) and has to go the hospital/body shop; once he recovers he then goes and does it ''again'', this time it's the train that gets the worst of it.

* A [[SilentFilms silent]] {{P|ublicServiceAnnouncement}}SA showed several men in a car racing a train, while a man gambled with the GrimReaper. [[CaptainObvious It doesn't end well]].

* One of ''VideoGame/ForzaHorizon 4'''s Showcase events has you race an Ariel Nomad against the legendary Flying Scotsman.

* One of ''VideoGame/ForzaHorizon 4'''s Showcase events has you race an Ariel Atom against the legendary Flying Scotsman.

* The [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons MGM cartoon]] ''One Cab's Family'', starting around 5:15. The father cab is [[{{Understatement}} understandably]] [[AdultFear terrified]] at his son doing this and speeds after him.

* ''Film/PowerRangers'' has a short scene where the main characters are fleeing the cops (ItMakesSenseInContext) and the only way out is to cut in front of a train. [[RealityEnsues They don't make it]], the car is completely totaled, and it's made pretty clear that the only reason they survived was their recently acquired superpowers.

* There is a race in southwest Colorado called the Iron Horse Classic where cyclists race an old steam train 50 miles through mountainous territory. The train almost never wins.

* Railfair 1999, a large railfan expo at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, featured a race between two geared Shay locomotives. Played with in that the top speed of the winning locomotive was just shy of 20 miles per hour.

* The [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons MGM cartoon]] ''One Cab's Family'', starting around 5:15.

* ''JeevesAndWooster'': Madeleine Bassett is travelling by train. Bertie tries to get to her destination before her in his Aston Martin. It overheats in a cloud of smoke.

* ''Series/TopGear'' has used the format several times with Jeremy Clarkson in a car vs. James May and Richard Hammond riding the train. In Europe the train was the Eurostar and TGV, and in Japan it was the ''Shinkansen''.

* In one issue of ''TheFlash'', Wally realizes that while he was fighting a supercriminal, his girlfriend was taking a train and leaving town. He then proceeds to run down the train, climb on board, and asks her to stay.