Off the Rails

Off the Rails: The Darius McCollum Story is a 2016 American documentary film about Darius McCollum, a man with Asperger's syndrome who was jailed 32 times for impersonating New York City bus drivers and subway conductors and driving their routes. The film was written, directed and produced by Adam Irving. It was nominated for a 2016 Critics' Choice Documentary Award for Best First Documentary Feature. Synopsis As a boy in Queens, New York in the 1970s, Darius McCollum found sanctuary from school bullies in the subway. There he befriended transit workers who taught him to drive trains. By age 8, he memorized the entire subway system. At 15, he took unauthorized control of a packed train and drove it eight stops by himself, making all the stops and announcements. Over the next three decades, McCollum commandeered hundreds of trains and buses, staying on route and on schedule, without ever getting paid. He attended transit worker union meetings, lobbying for better pay and working conditions for a union he didn't belong to. McCollum has Asperger's syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by social impairment, repetitive behaviors, and an intense interest in one subject. Although he never damaged any property or hurt anyone, he has spent 23 years in maximum security prison for transit-related crimes. He has been arrested 32 times, most recently in November 2016. Background and production Director Adam Irving initially read about McCollum's transit-related escapades by happenstance on Wikipedia and thought it would make a good subject for a documentary. After doing more research on McCollum, Irving flew to New York to meet with Jude Domski, who wrote and produced a 2003 play about McCollum called Boy Steals Train. Domski helped Irving get in touch with McCollum, who was in jail at Rikers Island in New York. Over the next six months, Irving and McCollum exchanged about 100 letters and phone calls before Irving visited him at Rikers in March 2013. Filming commenced six months later, following McCollum's release from prison. Irving directed, produced, shot and edited the film, which took three years to complete.