Fear of trains fear about rail travel was heightened after British surgeon John Eric Erichsen described a post-traumatic diagnosis known as railway spine or "Erichsen's disease". People diagnosed with this had no obvious injury and were rejected as fake. Nowadays it is known that traffic accidents may cause posttraumatic stress disorder. It has been variously called as "train phobia", "railroad phobia", "dread of railway travel", etc. The German term "Eisenbahnangst" used, e.g., by Sigmund Freud was literally converted into Greek as "siderodromophobia" (Eisen = sideron = iron, Bahn = dromos = way, Angst = phobos = fear). In cases when this anxiety exceeds
Fear Is the Key Fear Is the Key Fear Is the Key is a 1961 first-person narrative thriller novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. In the prologue, set in May 1958, John Talbot, owner of Trans Carib Air Charter Co is at an airfield in British Honduras, awaiting radio contact with one of his aircraft en route to Tampa, Florida. Not long after establishing contact the aircraft is attacked by a P-51 Mustang, after which all contact is lost. Two years later, Talbot is on trial for robbing a bank. At a point where his guilt is in doubt, new information comes to light