Sunset Limited

What they had just seen and heard was, in fact, a train.

The Amtrak No. 2, also known as the Sunset Limited, had just crashed at full speed into the murky waters of Big Bayou Canot.

The train consisted of three locomotives, a baggage car, a crew dormitory, and six passenger cars, and had departed from Mobile just 20 minutes prior.

The other boat the Movilla had hit was, in actuality, a railroad bridge.

The impact, slight as it had seemed, had been sufficient to dislodge one of the spans, which the Sunset Limited had hit at 112 kilometres, or 70 miles, per hour.

This had launched the train into the air, ruptured the fuel tanks and sent all locomotives, the baggage car, the crew dormitory, and two double-decker superliner coaches crashing into the water below.

It was at this moment that Willie Odom realised the mistake he'd made.

Smoke and fog combined to make visibility even worse.