At one point the TV reporter refers to the train's braking system as "hydraulic brakes". This is also emphasized when you see "brake fluid" dripping from a hose. If they did an ounce of research, they would know that trains operate with a compressed air braking system. No train in existence uses hydraulic brakes. Also when two air hoses bust open, the train automatically goes into emergency, and the movie would've been 10 minutes long.
The film was not shown on the Colorado NBC affiliate, KUSA-9, because of the Columbine shootings.
Pre-release publicity and commercials referred to atomic waste, not an atomic bomb, being carried on the train.
The train used in the final wreck scene was actually 1/6 scale.
As of 2012, the lead locomotive that pulled the runaway train in the movie is still in use, now owned and operated by the Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern Railroad and renumbered as MHWA 2042 (when owned by BC Rail, it was numbered 642, the same number it had in the movie, though it was painted with a fictional "WestRail" paint scheme.)