[imagesource: AP Photo/Peter Dejong]

There are a number of things to hope and pray for if you’re trapped in a train, that’s about to run out of track, heading towards a body of water.

A conveniently placed whale tail usually isn’t one of them.

At the end of 2002, a sculpture of two whale tails was installed at the De Akkers station in Spijkenisse, a city just outside Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

It was clearly destined for greater things than simply decorating the stop blocks at the end of a railway line.

Per The Guardian, a train lost control and crashed through said stop blocks on Monday, before being caught by one of the whale tails, where it balanced, allowing the driver to free himself and make his way to safety.

Maarten Struijs, who made the sculpture, said that he was surprised that it held up.

He said: “I could never have imagined it that way, but it saved the operator’s life. The damage is an afterthought.”

Image: Jeffrey Groeneweg/ANP/AFP/Getty Images

“I am amazed that it is so strong. When plastic has stood for 20 years, you don’t expect it to hold up a metro train.”

Must be some kind of divine intervention.

Take a look:

It’s unclear why the train didn’t stop. The partial derailment is under investigation, and the train driver was the only person on board.

With that luck, that driver needs to play the lottery.

[source:guardian]