California Penal Code § 218 PC makes it a felony offense to engage in “train wrecking“, which means to obstruct or set fire to railroad tracks in an attempt to derail or otherwise damage the train. A conviction is punishable by life in prison with no parole.
The full text of the statute reads as follows:
218. Every person who unlawfully throws out a switch, removes a rail, or places any obstruction on any railroad with the intention of derailing any passenger, freight or other train, car or engine, or who unlawfully places any dynamite or other explosive material or any other obstruction upon or near the track of any railroad with the intention of blowing up or derailing any such train, car or engine, or who unlawfully sets fire to any railroad bridge or trestle, over which any such train, car or engine must pass with the intention of wrecking such train, car or engine, is guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life without possibility of parole.
Legal Analysis
California Penal Code 218 PC prohibits “train wrecking.” Train wrecking comprises any of the following six unlawful actions:
- throwing out a switch with the intent to derail a passenger, freight or other train, car or engine;
- removing a rail with the intent to derail a passenger, freight or other train, car or engine;
- placing any obstruction on any railroad with the intent to derail a passenger, freight or other train, car or engine;
- placing any dynamite or other explosive material upon or near the track of any railroad with the intent to blow up or derail the train, car or engine;
- placing any other obstruction upon or near the track of any railroad with the intent to blow up or derail any train, car or engine; or
- setting fire to any railroad bridge or trestle – over which any such train, car or engine must pass – with the intent to wreck the train, car or engine.
Example: Max puts a mannequin of a person on a train track with the intent to derail the oncoming train. Here, Max could be convicted of train wrecking even if the train stops in time and no one gets hurt.
Train wrecking is a felony punishable by life without the possibility of parole in California State Prison.1 And there is no criminal statute of limitations for bringing 218 PC charges.2
See our related article on the California crime of damaging railroad tracks (PC 587).
Violating PC 218 carries life in prison with no parole.
See our related articles on train robbery (PC 214) and railroad trespassing (PC 369i).
Legal References
- California Penal Code 218 – Train wrecking; Acts intended to wreck. See, for example, People v. Thompson (Cal. Nov. 30, 1896), 115 Cal. 160; People v. Lovren (Cal. Nov. 23, 1897), 119 Cal. 88.
- California Penal Code 799.