in March 1958 a freight train mysteriously disappeared at 2 am from a railyard in Manitowoc, after the train crew disembarked to take a breakfast break with their train parked and running. The engine and nine cars were gone when they returned.

On Friday morning March 7, 1958 at 0210 hrs. at the Calumet Rail Yards, a Chicago and Northwestern Railroad train crew, with their train parked and running, disembarked to take a breakfast break. The engine and nine cars were gone when they returned. The train traveled l0 miles and went through 20 crossings 

The train picked up speed after passing the crossing at Revere Dr.

Manitowoc Police Officers Roland Dueno and Frank Wensing observed the train pass the Mirro Dr. crossing heading towards Two Rivers traveling about 5 to 8 miles an hour. The train did not sound a warning before making the crossing and at the time they were not aware that a train was missing. It was not until 0400 did they learn that a train was missing from the Calumet yards.

People in Two Rivers who witnessed the passing train were surprised that a train was in the Two Rivers area at that time of night and described its speed of at least 50 miles an hour.

The engine and two box cars smashed through a dead end obstruction, traveled 60 feet and plunged into 18 feet of water in the Two Rivers Harbor.  

 A witness seeing the train plunge into the water at first had a difficult time convincing Two Rivers Police as to what he saw. Only after Two Rivers Police checked out the witness’s story and saw the train engine’s headlight underwater did they contact the Manitowoc Police Department.

In order to recover the train an additional 60 ft. of track had to be laid to bring heavy lifting equipment to the river’s edge. In addition, two barges with heavy lift cranes from Mc Mullin and Pitz Construction from Manitowoc were brought in to lift the engine and cars out of the water.

The engine was raised from the harbor on Wednesday March 12,1958. Due to the fact that the engine was stuck in12 feet of mud, the trucks (wheels) were snapped off as the engine was lifted from the river bottom. A separate salvage operation was made to recover the trucks.

Three cranes held the engine as it was removed from the water while hoses sprayed it to remove the mud.

Further investigation by Police found that someone had boarded the engine and advanced the throttle.

The runaway train was investigated by the Manitowoc Police Dept., Two Rivers Police Dept., Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Police, and the FBI. 

 No one was ever found responsible for starting the train on its journey.

https://www.manitowoccountyhistory.org/stories/runaway-train

https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=15452344&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI1NjE0MjQwNiwiaWF0IjoxNjU0ODAwODUxLCJleHAiOjE2NTQ4ODcyNTF9.t0hna-aCegkEoclC8RMzgZOp97f3ds1QPGMjP2nIyCo

Don't think that runaway trains were only a thing in history, here's a 47 car train in 2001that went 66 miles  https://www.cnn.com/2001/US/05/15/runaway.train.05/