List Of American Railroad Accidents
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List Of American Railroad Accidents
This is a list of the most serious U.S. rail-related accidents.* Such accidents might have a specific adverse effect on Transportation safety in the United States or even cultural or political aspects of the time they occurred, as well as to current times, potentially. *Please note this list is of ACCIDENTS; therefore, intentional acts such as the 1939 City of San Francisco derailment are not included here. To any and all individuals who wish to enter examples to the list, please refrain from entering that particular incident as well as any other examples confirmed to be intentional acts. 19th century 1830s *1833 Hightstown rail accident, Hightstown, New Jersey; 2 killed plus 15 injured. Earliest recorded train accident involving the death of passengers. *1837 Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad collision, Suffolk, Virginia; 3 killed plus dozens injured. Later in the year, a second accident resulted in ten injuries, with two of them ultimately dying. 1850s *1853 Greater Grand Crossing ...
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Transportation Safety In The United States
Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including Traffic collision, automobile crashes, Aviation accidents and incidents, airplane crashes, Train wreck, rail crashes, and other mass transit incidents, although the most fatalities are generated by road incidents yearly killing from 32,479 to nearly 38,680 (+%) in the last decade. The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles. For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles: 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane. The U.S. government's National Center for Health Statistics reported 33,736 motor vehicle traffic deaths in 2014. This exceeded the number of firearm deaths, which was 33,599 in 2014. According to another U.S. government office, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle crashes ...
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1878 Tariffville Train Crash
The Tariffville train crash was a railroad accident that occurred on January 15, 1878 on the Connecticut Western line, then a route linking Hartford and the Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to .... On January 15, 1878, around 10:00 PM, a passenger train returning from Hartford crossed the wooden bridge spanning the Farmington River at Tariffville, as one of the two main bridge spans collapsed, dropping two locomotives, one baggage car and three passenger coaches into the icy river. Some people from New Hartford hitching a ride between the cars were killed when they were thrown beneath the wreck. The wreck claimed 13 lives and injured more than 70, some severely. Many of the passengers were returning from a Protestant revival meeting in Hartford featuring ...
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1890 Quincy Train Wreck
In 1890 a railway accident occurred in Quincy, Massachusetts that killed 23 people. It was the second major train wreck in the city, following the 1878 accident in Wollaston. The accident was caused by a jack that had been left on the track. The foreman of the crew that placed the jack on the track was charged with manslaughter, but the trial ended in a hung jury. Accident At 10:50 AM on August 19, 1890, the Old Colony Railroad's Woods Hole Express, consisting of a locomotive, baggage car, smoking car, Pullman car, and four coaches, departed Woods Hole with 391 passengers. Its riders were tourists from across the country who had vacationed in Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. It was scheduled to arrive in Boston at 1:10 PM. Near the Adams Academy campus in Quincy, Old Colony maintenance workers had returned from break and were working on surfacing the road bed. They were working at the north end of a curve, which made it so that an oncoming train could not be seen for three or four ...
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Wreck At The Fat Nancy
The Wreck at the Fat Nancy was one of the largest railroad disasters in Virginia's history. On the morning of July 12, 1888, the incident occurred when a trestle collapsed as a passenger train was atop it. Virginia Midland Railroad's Train 52—"The Piedmont Airline"—was crossing the , trestle known as the "Fat Nancy" when it gave way, sending the train to the ground. By 1888, many states had experienced memorable wrecks with high death tolls. Though Virginia newspapers were full of reports of small train accidents, there were typically few deaths. The wreck at Fat Nancy was Virginia's first experience with a train crash that resulted in multiple deaths and large-scale injuries. Five passengers, one rail employee, one mail clerk, and one newsboy were killed and another mail clerk died from his injuries the following day. At least twenty-six were injured, though some reports list a higher number. The incident is named for the trestle, known as the "Fat Nancy" for the woman w ...
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Chicago And Atlantic Railway
The Chicago and Atlantic Railway, later the Chicago and Erie Railroad, was a railway in the United States which existed from 1871 to 1941, and was an important connection between the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area and Chicago, Illinois.Camp, Mark J. ''Railroad Depots of West Central Ohio.'' Mount Pleasant, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006. The railway was formed in 1871 as the Chicago, Continental and Baltimore Railway, and renamed to the Chicago and Atlantic Railway in 1873. The western terminus was in the Chicago suburb of Hammond, Indiana, while the eastern terminus was at Marion, Ohio. The road suffered financial difficulties (particularly after a collision in 1887 outside Kouts, Indiana, which killed 10 people), and went through several internal reorganizations and name changes. It went through bankruptcy in 1890, and emerged as the Chicago and Erie Railroad with John G. McCullough as its president.Hill, Edwin Charles. ''The Historical Register.'' New York: E.C. Hill, 1921. ...
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Great Chatsworth Train Wreck
The Great Chatsworth train wreck was a major rail accident that occurred late on the night of August 10, 1887, east of Chatsworth, Illinois, in the United States. A Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad (TP&W) train bound for Niagara Falls crossed over a trestle, weakened earlier in the day by a fire, causing it to collapse. In 2007, staff of the McLean County Museum of History wrote that "the Chatsworth Train Wreck probably ranks as the second- or third-deadliest U.S rail accident in the 19th century." Crash The summer of 1887 had been hot and dry. Fearing that sparks from the steam engines of the trains could ignite brush fires, the TP&W company began performing controlled burns to prevent an uncontrollable brush fire. On the day of the accident, TP&W crews performed a controlled burn near the site of the accident—it is suspected that failure to extinguish the fire resulted in charring of the bridge. That day, a TP&W train carried vacationers taking advantage of a specia ...
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Forest Hills Disaster
The Forest Hills disaster (also called the Forest Ridge disaster and the Bussey Bridge train disaster) was a railroad bridge accident that occurred on March 14, 1887, in the Roslindale section of Boston, Massachusetts. Disaster A morning commuter train, inbound to Boston, was passing over the Bussey Bridge, a Howe truss, at South Street in the Roslindale neighborhood a half mile from the Forest Hills station, when it suddenly collapsed, sending several cars crashing to the street below. Thirty-eight commuters were killed and another 40 were seriously injured. The train, made up of nine cars, was traveling over the Dedham Branch of the Boston & Providence Railroad The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the first rail lines in the United States - with a ... on a sunny Monday morning with about 300 passengers, including sev ...
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Hartford, Vermont
Hartford is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It is on the New Hampshire border, at the intersection of Interstates 89 and 91. It is the site of the confluence of the White and Connecticut rivers; the Ottauquechee River also flows through the town. The town is composed of five unincorporated villages: Hartford, Quechee, West Hartford, White River Junction and Wilder. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,686. History The community was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire in 1761, and is named for Hartford, Connecticut. On February 5, 1887, Hartford became the site of what remains Vermont's worst railway disaster when a Vermont Central Railroad train struck a broken rail on a bridge west of town. The ensuing derailment threw the train to the frozen river below, killing 37 and injuring 50. Geography The town of Hartford is located at (43.66444, −72.38667). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total are ...
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Silver Creek, New York
Silver Creek is a village in the town of Hanover in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 2,637. Silver Creek is named after a small creek which runs through the village. It is on the shore of Lake Erie. History The community was first settled ''circa'' 1803, and the first school house was erected in approximately 1823. In 1822 a well-known black walnut tree, measuring about in diameter, was blown over in a storm. The village of Silver Creek was incorporated in 1848, and was an important port on Lake Erie until railroads reduced shipping. The village is home to a skew arch railroad bridge, one of the few bridges in the country built on an angle. In September of 1886, two trains collided near this location, killing approximately 15 and injuring roughly the same number. Geography Silver Creek is located at 42°32'39" North, 79°10'2" West (42.544083, -79.167088). According to the United States Census Bureau, the villa ...
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Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area in western Massachusetts, lying north of the city of Springfield. Deerfield includes the villages of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, South Deerfield and Old Deerfield, which is home to two museums: Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and Historic Deerfield, Inc. Historic Deerfield is designated as a National Historic Landmark district, and the organization operates a museum with a focus on decorative arts, early American material culture, and history. Its eleven house museums offer interpretation of society, history, and culture from the colonial era through the late nineteenth century. The Pocumtuck Valley M ...
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Deerfield Railway Accident
The Deerfield railway accident occurred on April 7, 1886, outside of Deerfield, Massachusetts. 11 people were killed after a washout caused Passenger Train No. 35 to fall 100 feet down an embankment. Accident Around 4:45 pm Passenger Train No. 35, made up of an engine, tender, two baggage cars (one express car and one post office car), a smoking car (belonging to the Fitchburg Railroad), two passenger coaches (one belonging to Fitchburg the other to the Troy and Boston Railroad), and a parlor car, departed North Adams, Massachusetts for Boston with 48 passengers on board. The train was traveling on the Hoosac Tunnel line, which was owned and maintained by the state and operated by the Fitchburg Railroad. Shortly before 6 pm, the outer rail and a portion of the track between the Bardwell's Ferry and West Deerfield stations gave way due to a washout. The locomotive was wrecked and cars were thrown 100 feet down an embankment. Three of the cars caught fire almost immediately. All o ...
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