jump the rails (or track)
(Of a train) become dislodged from the track: the engine jumped the rails on its maiden run it’s an action movie so fast it threatens to jump the rails...- A report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada reveals that improperly supported track joints led to surface defects on both rails, causing a CN train to jump the track in May 2003.
- He and his co-driver were trapped in their cab after the train jumped the rails and ploughed into trackside gardens.
- The accident happened when the train jumped the rails at a level crossing in Wigtownshire and landed on its side.
See parent entry: jump