The film is inspired by the "Crazy Eights" unmanned train incident in 2001. The train, led by CSX Transportation SD40-2 #8888, left its Walbridge, Ohio rail yard and began a 66-mile journey through northwest Ohio with no one at the controls, after the engineer got out of the originally slow-moving train to correctly line a switch, mistakenly believing he had properly set the train's dynamic braking system, just as his counterpart in the movie did. Two of the real train's tank cars also contained thousands of gallons of molten phenol, similar to the fictional train in the film.
Rosario Dawson is a real-life train aficionado. She travels on trains all over the world, wherever possible.
According to the extras on the DVD, the runaway train was actually being run by a remote control, similar to a toy radio-controlled car.
Dedicated to the memory of Hollie Haines Knowlton, Jesse Knowlton's wife, who died before the movie release. Jesse Knowlton was a consultant for this picture and one of the crew members who helped to stop the actual runaway train (CSX 8888) that was the inspiration for this film.