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 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 mas ...

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 The "Hightstown" rail accident occurred on the Camden and Amboy Railroad between Hightstown, New Jersey and Spotswood on 8 November 1833, just two months after horses were replaced by steam locomotives on the line. It is the earliest recorded tr ...

, Hightstown, New Jersey; 2 killed plus 15 injured. Earliest recorded train accident involving the death of passengers. *1837

Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad The Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad was organized in 1833 (as the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad) to extend from the area of the rapids of the Roanoke River at its fall line near Weldon, North Carolina to Portsmouth, Virginia, across the Elizabet ...

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, Chicago Greater Grand Crossing is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the city's South Side. History Etymology The name "Grand Crossing" comes from an 1853 right-of-way feud between the Lake Shore and Michigan South ...

Train Wreck, Grand Crossing (now Chicago), Illinois; 18 killed plus 40 injured. Eventually led to massive triple level grade separation project on Chicago's South Side *1853

Norwalk rail accident The Norwalk rail accident occurred on May 6, 1853, in Norwalk, Connecticut, and was the first major U.S. railroad bridge disaster; 48 were killed when a train travelling at 50 mph plunged into the Norwalk Harbor off of an open swing bridge, ...

, Norwalk, Connecticut; 48 killed plus 30 injured. First movable bridge disaster in U.S. history * 1853 Providence and Worcester head-on collision, Valley Falls, Rhode Island; 14 killed plus 17 injured. First known photographed train disaster *1855

Gasconade Bridge train disaster The Gasconade Bridge train disaster was a rail accident in Gasconade, Missouri, on November 1, 1855. The Gasconade bridge collapsed under the locomotive ''O'Sullivan'' while crossing. More than thirty were killed in the first major deadly bridge c ...

, Gasconade, Missouri; 35+ killed plus hundreds injured. First deadly rail bridge collapse in U.S. history *1856

Great Train Wreck of 1856 The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, between Camp Hill station and Fort Washington station, on July 17, 1856. Two trains, traveling on the same track in converging directions, collided, killing between 5 ...

, Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania; 60+ killed plus 100+ injured. Encouraged busier railroads in the Eastern U.S. to double track lines; also led to mandatory use of telegraph in cases of delays *1859 South Bend train wreck, Mishawaka/South Bend, Indiana; 42 killed plus 50 injured

1860s

*1863 Chunky Creek Train Wreck, Hickory, Mississippi; ~75 killed plus ~25 injured. All but one of the dead were Confederate reinforcements headed for Vicksburg, further hindering the city's defenses *1864 Shohola train wreck, Shohola Township, Pennsylvania; ~65 killed plus many more injured. One of the trains was carrying Confederate POWs and Union guards, and citizens of Shohola and nearby Barryville, New York, treated the wounded 'without regard to the colour of their uniforms' *1867

Angola Horror The Angola Horror train wreck occurred on December 18, 1867, just after 3 p.m. when the last coach of the Buffalo-bound ''New York Express'' of the Lake Shore Railway derailed at a bridge in Angola, New York, United States, slid down into a gor ...

, Angola, New York; 49 killed. Led to the standardization of track gauges in the U.S., as well as advancements in coach brake and heating systems

1870s

*1871 Wappinger Creek trestle disaster,

New Hamburg, New York New Hamburg is a small hamlet (and census-designated place) along the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is located in the southern corner of the Town Of Poughkeepsie. History Early history Road records of 1770 show t ...

; 22 confirmed killed plus scores unaccounted for. May have a higher number of missing victims than any other U.S. rail disaster to date *1871 Great Revere train wreck, Revere, Massachusetts; ~30 killed. Victims' and families' crippling lawsuits against the company at fault—the Eastern Railroad—led to its forced merger with arch rival, the Boston & Maine *1876

Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster The Ashtabula River railroad disaster (also called the Ashtabula horror, the Ashtabula Bridge disaster, and the Ashtabula train disaster) was the failure of a bridge over the Ashtabula River near the town of Ashtabula, Ohio, in the United Stat ...

, Ashtabula/Edgewood, Ohio; 92 killed plus 64 injured. The deadliest U.S. rail disaster of the 19th century led to changes in bridge construction code, the replacement of coal and wood stoves with steam heat in coaches, and mandatory federal investigation of all U.S. rail disasters *1877 Pickering Valley wreck, Kimberton, Pennsylvania; 7 killed plus dozens injured *

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 t ...

, Tariffville, Connecticut; 13 killed plus 70+ injured. Death toll might have been worse if not for what was possibly the first emergency phone call in history *1878 Wollaston disaster,

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

; 19 killed and 170 injured

1880s

* 1883 Tehachapi train wreck, Tehachapi, California; 15 killed plus 12 injured. Fatalities included a former congressman and the wife of a former governor, who himself was injured *1886

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. 3 ...

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. ...

; 11 killed and 36 injured. *1886 Silver Creek train wreck, Silver Creek, New York; ~15 killed plus ~15 injured *1887 West Hartford Bridge Disaster,

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 flo ...

, 37 Killed plus 50 injured. Remains the state of Vermont's deadliest rail disaster to date *1887

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 ...

, Boston, Massachusetts; 38 killed plus 40 injured. Possibly the first known U.S. rail disaster to result from a case of fraud *1887

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 cross ...

, Chatsworth Township, Illinois; ~85 killed plus hundreds injured. Widely encouraged the use of newer steel coaches over conventional wooden ones *1887

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, Mar ...

Wreck, Kouts, Indiana; 10 killed *1888

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� ...

, Orange County, Virginia; 9 killed plus 26 injured *1888 Mud Run disaster, Kidder Township, Pennsylvania; 64 killed plus 50 injured

1890s

* 1890 Quincy train wreck,

; 23 killed plus 29 injured *1891 Great Kipton Train Wreck,

Kipton, Ohio Kipton is a village in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The population was 209 at the 2020 census. History Kipton was platted around 1852 by Wm.W.Whitney in anticipation of a new railroad route being laid out through his farm. He initially na ...

; 9 killed, 6 of whom were postal workers. 40 miles west of Cleveland, Ohio, the fast mail train #14 collided with the Toledo Express. *1891 Bostian's Bridge train disaster,

Statesville, North Carolina Statesville is a city in and the county seat of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and it is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. Statesville was established in 1789 by an act of the North Carolina Legislature. The population was r ...

; 25-30 killed plus 25-30 injured. Several incidents of individuals reportedly hearing wails and moans at this location on the anniversary of the disaster have made Bostian's Bridge popular with paranormal activists *1891 Great East Thompson Train Wreck, East Thompson, Connecticut; 2 killed plus hundreds injured. First of only two U.S. rail disasters to involve four different trains *1893 Chester train wreck,

Chester, Massachusetts Chester is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, situated in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan statistical area. The town includes the Chester Factory Village Historic District. The total populati ...

; At least 14 killed *

1896 Atlantic City rail crash The 1896 Atlantic City rail crash occurred soon after 6:30 pm on July 30, 1896, at a crossing just west of Atlantic City, New Jersey, crushing five loaded passenger coaches, killing 50 people and seriously injuring approximately 60. Accident A ...

, Atlantic City, New Jersey; 50 killed plus ~60 injured *1897 Garrison train crash, Garrison, New York; 19 killed. Encouraged increases in track inspections

20th century

1900s

*1900

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Ce ...

's final run,

Vaughan, Mississippi Vaughan (also Vaughans or Vaughn) is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Yazoo County, Mississippi. The settlement is east of Yazoo City, Mississippi, Yazoo City. History Vaughan was founded in 1830 and named for Henry Vaughan, ...

; 1 killed (Jones); everyone else escaped with varying degrees of injury. Inspired several different ballads about the incident *1900 Camp Creek train wreck, McDonough, Georgia; 39 killed *1900 Tacoma Streetcar Disaster, Tacoma, Washington; 43 killed plus 65 injured *1901

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

Show train wreck, Lexington, North Carolina; no human deaths but well over 100 show animals killed. This likely led to the demise of "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Wild West Show Tours. *1902

Park Avenue Tunnel (railroad) The Park Avenue main line, which consists of the Park Avenue Tunnel and the Park Avenue Viaduct, is a railroad line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running entirely along Park Avenue. The line carries four tracks of the Metro-North R ...

collision, New York City; 15 killed plus 30+ injured. Led to the construction of the current Grand Central Terminal and electrification of all rail lines in New York City *1902

Mountain Lake (New York) Mountain Lake is a lake situated in southern Adirondack Park in Bleecker, New York. It is located just west of Great Sacandaga Lake The Great Sacandaga Lake (formerly the Sacandaga Reservoir) is a large lake situated in the Adirondack Park in nor ...

railroad wreck, Gloversville, New York; 14 killed. The little electric railroad known for its scenic tourism never recovered and was eventually removed altogether *1903 Esmond Train Wreck, Esmond, Arizona; 14 killed *1903

Wreck of the Old 97 Wreck or The Wreck may refer to: Common uses * Wreck, a collision of an automobile, aircraft or other vehicle * Shipwreck, the remains of a ship after a crisis at sea Places * The Wreck (surf spot), a surf spot at Byron Bay, New South Wales, Aus ...

, Danville, Virginia; 11 killed. Inspired the famous ballad of the same name sung by many famous musicians *1903

Purdue Wreck The Purdue Wreck was a railroad train collision in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, October 31, 1903, between two special trains that killed 17 people, including 14 players of the Purdue University football team. Team captain and future Indiana ...

, Indianapolis, Indiana; 17 killed. Devastated Purdue University's Football team for the year *1903

Connellsville train wreck The Connellsville train wreck was a rail accident that occurred on December 23, 1903, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad near Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

, Connellsville, Pennsylvania; 64 killed plus 68 injured *1904 Jackson rail disaster, Jackson, Utah; 30+ killed. Most of town was leveled altogether *1904 Eden train wreck, Pueblo, Colorado; 88 confirmed killed plus scores missing. Despite the devastation, a Pullman porter became a hero when he prevented the rear coach from plunging into the river by pulling the brake cord *1904

New Market train wreck The New Market train wreck happened when two Southern Railway passenger trains traveling at great speed collided head on near New Market, Tennessee, on Saturday, September 24, 1904, killing at least 56 passengers and crew and injuring 106. Trai ...

, New Market, Tennessee; 60+ killed plus 100+ injured *1905

Ninth Avenue derailment The Ninth Avenue derailment, on the Ninth Avenue Elevated in Manhattan on September 11, 1905, was the worst accident on the New York City elevated railways, resulting in 13 deaths and 48 serious injuries. Context Trains of the Ninth Avenue and ...

, New York City; 13 killed plus 48 injured. Deadliest accident on New York's elevated railways *1905 Baker Bridge train wreck,

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States Census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWest region o ...

; 17 killed plus 33 injured. Led RR commission to encourage railroads and street railways where trains or cars followed each other in quick succession to implement a signalling block system *1906 Cimarron River bridge disaster,

Dover, Oklahoma Dover is a town in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 464 at the 2010 census. a 26.4 percent gain over the figure of 367 in 2000. History The area around Dover was ideal for cattle grazing, By 1884, all the land had be ...

; 4 confirmed fatalities plus scores unaccounted for *

1906 Atlantic City train wreck The 1906 Atlantic City train wreck occurred in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Sunday October 28, 1906, when a West Jersey and Seashore Railroad electric train fell off a draw (swing) bridge, drowning 53 people.Haine Accident The newly-constructe ...

, Atlantic City, New Jersey; 53 killed. Resulted in what is likely the first known press release by a private entity * 1906 Woodville Train Wreck, Porter County, Indiana; at least 48 confirmed killed plus many missing and at least 81 confirmed injured * 1906 Washington, D.C., train wreck; 53 killed plus 70 injured. Led to a complete U.S. ban on wooden coach construction; the accident is notoriously described in Frank Kuntz's book Undergraduate Days 1904-1908 *1907

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

Sunset Express derailment, Colton, California; 24 killed *1907

Pere Marquette Railway The Pere Marquette Railway operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections in ...

wreck, Salem, Michigan; 31 killed plus 101 injured. Remains the state of Michigan's deadliest rail disaster to date *1907 Boston & Maine collision,

Canaan, New Hampshire Canaan is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,794 at the 2020 census. It is the location of Mascoma State Forest. Canaan is home to the Cardigan Mountain School, the town's largest employer. The main vi ...

; 25 killed plus 25 injured *1908 Metz Fire and derailment,

Metz Township, Michigan Metz Township is a civil township of Presque Isle County, Michigan, Presque Isle County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 302 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. Communities Metz is a small unincorporated community with ...

; 26 killed *1909

The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway formed in 1901, is the earliest predecessor of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (and South Shore Line). History At its formation on November 30, 1901, the corporate title was the Chicag ...

wreck, Porter County, Indiana; 12-14 killed plus ~40 injured

1910s

*1910 FW&WV (

Indiana Railroad The Indiana Railroad (IR) was the last of the typical Midwestern United States interurban lines. It was formed in 1930–31 by combining the operations of the five major interurban systems in central Indiana into one entity. The predecessor comp ...

) collision, Kingsland, Indiana; 35-40 killed. Worst interurban Trolley disaster in U.S history *1910

Wellington avalanche Wellington (later known as Tye) was a small unincorporated railroad community in the northwest United States, on the Great Northern Railway in northeastern King County, Washington. Founded in 1893, it was located in the Cascade Range at the we ...

, Wellington, Washington; 96 killed. The worst avalanche in U.S. history destroyed two trains and a rail depot *1910 Green Mountain train wreck, Green Mountain, Iowa; 52 killed plus scores injured. Remains the state of Iowa's deadliest rail disaster to date *1911 Indianola train wreck, McCook, Nebraska; 18 killed plus 32 injured *1911 Federal Express (train) wreck, Bridgeport, Connecticut; 14 killed. Train was transporting the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team *1912

Corning train wreck The Corning train wreck (also known as the Gibson train wreck) was a railway accident that occurred at 5.21 a.m. on July 4, 1912, on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad at East Corning freight station in Gibson three miles east of Cor ...

, Corning (Gibson), New York; 39 killed plus 88 injured. Strongly encouraged use of automatic block signaling and led to mandatory use of steel coaches for high speed passenger rail service *1912

Ligonier Valley Railroad The Ligonier Valley Railroad connected the communities of Latrobe and Ligonier, Pennsylvania, approximately apart, between 1877 and 1952. For much of its length, the railroad ran parallel to Loyalhanna Creek in a scenic mountain gorge. In addi ...

Wilpen disaster, Wilpen Fairgrounds, Pennsylvania; 26 killed plus 29 injured *1913 Bar Harbor Express-White Mountain Express collision, New Haven, Connecticut; 21 killed *1914 Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad/Kansas City Southern Railway collision,

Tipton Ford, Missouri Tipton Ford is a small unincorporated community in Newton County, Missouri, United States, and located at the intersection of Interstate 49 and Route 175. The community is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The communit ...

; 43 killed plus 38 injured *1916 Summer Street Bridge disaster, Boston, Massachusetts; 46 killed. Deadliest disaster in Boston's history up to that point and still remains the city's deadliest transport-oriented disaster. *1917 Frisco collision,

Kellyville, Oklahoma Kellyville is a town in Creek County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,150 at the 2010 census, compared to 906 in 2000. History Kellyville was named for James E. Kelly , who established a local trading post in 1892 and opened a pos ...

; 23 killed along with many cattle plus 80 injured. Remains the state of Oklahoma's deadliest rail disaster to date *1917

Shepherdsville train wreck The Shepherdsville train wreck was a fatal rail accident that killed at least 49 people when an express collided with a local train at Shepherdsville, Kentucky on December 20, 1917. It was the deadliest train wreck in Kentucky’s history. Blame ...

, Shepherdsville, Kentucky; ~50 killed. Remains the state of Kentucky's deadliest rail disaster to date *1918

Hammond Circus Train Wreck The Hammond Circus Train Wreck occurred on June 22, 1918, and was one of the worst train wrecks in U.S. history. Eighty-six people were reported to have died and another 127 were injured when a locomotive engineer fell asleep and ran his troop ...

, Gary/Hammond, Indiana; 86 killed plus 127 injured *1918

Great train wreck of 1918 The Great Train Wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Two passenger trains, operated by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway ("NC&StL"), collided head-on, costing at least 101 lives and inj ...

, Nashville, Tennessee; 101 killed plus 171 injured. Officially the deadliest U.S. rail disaster to date *1918

Malbone Street Wreck The Malbone Street wreck, also known as the Brighton Beach Line accident, was a rapid transit railroad accident that occurred on November 1, 1918, on the New York City Subway's BMT Brighton Line (now part of the BMT Franklin Avenue Line) in the ...

, New York City; 95-100 killed plus 100+ injured. Remains the deadliest rail disaster in the History of New York state and the New York City Subway *1919 New York Central collision,

Byron, New York Byron is a town in Genesee County, New York, United States. The town is named after a famous poet, Lord Byron. It on the northern border of the county, and lies northeast of the city of Batavia. The population was 2,369 at the 2010 census. The l ...

; 22 killed *1919 Onawa train wreck, Onawa, Maine; 23 killed plus 50 injured

1920s

*1921 Porter Train Wreck,

Porter, Indiana Porter is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 4,858 at the 2010 census. Porter is in the Indiana Dunes ecosystem, which played a role in the creation of The Nature Conservancy, and insp ...

; 37 killed plus 100+ injured. Eventually led to the requirement of cab signaling in the U.S. *1921 Bryn Athyn Train Wreck, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania; 27 killed plus 70 injured *

1922 Winslow Junction train derailment The 1922 Winslow Junction train derailment was a July 2, 1922 accident on Atlantic City Railroad's Camden to Atlantic City route. Train № 33 the Owl going per hour sped through an open switch at Winslow Junction. 7 were killed, 89 were injured. ...

, Winslow Junction, New Jersey; 7 killed plus 89 injured *1922 Missouri Pacific collision,

Sulphur Springs, Missouri Sulphur Springs is an unincorporated community in eastern Jefferson County, Missouri, United States. It is located near Barnhart, bordering the banks of Glaize Creek and the Mississippi River. Sulphur Springs was platted in 1860, and named for ...

; 34 killed plus 150 injured *1923 Glenrock train wreck, Glenrock, Wyoming; 30 killed plus 66 injured. Remains the state of Wyoming's deadliest rail disaster to date *1925 Rockport train wreck, Rockport, New Jersey; ~45 killed plus ~25 injured *1925 Granite train wreck,

Granite, Colorado Granite is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community with a United States Postal Service, U.S. Post Office in Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The zip code of Granite is 81228. According to the 2010 census, the population is 116. ...

; 2 killed plus 107 injured *1925 Frisco derailment,

Victoria, Marshall County, Mississippi Victoria is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Marshall County, Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to t ...

; ~20 killed *1926 Granite train wreck,

; ~30 killed plus 54 injured *1926

Ponce de Leon (train) The ''Ponce de Leon'' was a named train of the Southern Railway which ran from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Jacksonville, Florida, from 1924 to the mid-1960s. Operations The ''Ponce de Leon'' (Train #4) departed Jacksonville at midday going north via s ...

Royal Palm (train) The ''Royal Palm'' was a named train of the Southern Railway that ran from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Jacksonville, Florida, and then on the Florida East Coast Railway's '' East Coast Champion'' to Miami, Florida. The train was discontinued in 1970. ...

collision, Rockmart, Georgia; 19 killed plus 113 injured. Inspired the song "The Wreck of the Royal Palm" * 1928 Times Square derailment, New York City; 18 killed plus ~100 injured

1930s

*1938

Custer Creek train wreck The Custer Creek train wreck (sometimes called the Saugus train wreck) is the worst rail disaster in Montana history. It occurred on June 19, 1938 when a bridge, its foundations washed away by a flash flood, collapsed beneath Milwaukee Road's '' ...

, Saugus, Montana; 47 killed plus 75 injured. Remains the state of Montana's deadliest rail disaster to date *1938 South Jordan bus-train crash,

South Jordan, Utah South Jordan is a city in south central Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, south of Salt Lake City. Part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the city lies in the Salt Lake Valley along the banks of the Jordan River between the Oquirrh ...

; 24 killed plus 15 injured. Led to state and eventually federal law requiring the practice of school buses stopping to look and listen for trains at grade crossings

1940s

*1940 Little Falls Gulf Curve crash, Little Falls, New York; 31 killed plus 51 injured *1940

Doodlebug disaster The Doodlebug disaster was a railway accident that occurred on July 31, 1940, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in the United States. A Pennsylvania Railroad, gasoline-powered " doodlebug" passenger rail car collided head-on with a freight train; the impac ...

, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; 43 killed *1942

Exchange Place station (PATH) Exchange Place is a station on the Port Authority Trans–Hudson (PATH) rail system in the Paulus Hook neighborhood of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey. The station is on the Newark–World Trade Center line between Newark Penn Station an ...

derailment, Jersey City, New Jersey; 5 killed plus hundreds injured *1943

Lackawanna Limited wreck The ''Lackawanna Limited'' wreck occurred when a Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) passenger train, the New York-Buffalo '' Lackawanna Limited'' with 500 passengers, crashed into a freight train on August 30, 1943, killing 29 p ...

, Wayland, New York; 29 killed plus 114 injured *

1943 Frankford Junction train wreck The Frankford Junction train wreck occurred on September 6, 1943, when Pennsylvania Railroad's premier train, the ''Congressional Limited'', crashed at Frankford Junction in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United ...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 79 killed plus 117 injured *1943 Rennert railroad accident, Rennert, North Carolina; 74 killed *1944

Stockton train wreck The Stockton train wreck occurred on August 4, 1944 at 11.45 p.m. on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad at Stockton, Georgia and killed 47 people, mostly black labourers returning home to Alabama for the weekend.Table 4-2 Selected Train Wrecks in t ...

, Stockton, Georgia; 47 killed plus 41 injured *1944 "Tragedy on Election Day",

Aguadilla, Puerto Rico Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...

; 16 killed plus 50 injured *1944

Bagley train wreck The Bagley train wreck (also known as the Great Salt Lake wreck) occurred in Utah, United States, on the morning of Sunday December 31, 1944. The crash killed 50 (initially reported as 48), including over 35 military personnel, and injured 81. Pa ...

, Bagley, Utah; ~50 killed plus 79 injured *1945 Michigan train wreck, Michigan, North Dakota; 34 killed plus hundreds injured *1945

California Limited The ''California Limited'' was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It carried train Nos. 3 & 4 and ran between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California. The line was conceived by company preside ...

derailment, Santa Anita, California; 5 killed plus hundreds injured *1946

Naperville train disaster The Naperville train disaster occurred April 25, 1946, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad at Loomis Street in Naperville, Illinois, when the railroad's ''Exposition Flyer'' rammed into the ''Advance Flyer'', which had made an unschedul ...

, Naperville, Illinois; 45 killed plus 125 injured *1947

Downers Grove train wreck The Downers Grove train wreck happened on April 3, 1947, at the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad station in Downers Grove, Illinois. The ''Twin Cities Zephyr'', a high-speed inter-city passenger train, struck a tractor that had fallen fr ...

, Downers Grove, Illinois; 3 killed plus 30 injured

1950s

*1950

Rockville Centre train crash On February 17, 1950, two Long Island Rail Road trains collided on the Montauk Branch just west of Rockville Centre station in Rockville Centre, New York, killing 32 and injuring several dozen more. At the time, it was the deadliest collision in t ...

, Rockville Centre, New York; 32 killed plus 100+ injured * 1950 Chicago streetcar crash, Chicago, Illinois; 34 killed plus 50 injured *1950

The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company , also referred to as the Milwaukee Interurban Lines or TMER&L, is a defunct railroad that operated in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the largest electric railway and electric utility syst ...

Rapid Transit & Speedrail Crash, Greenfield, Wisconsin; 8 killed plus 40 injured *1950

Kew Gardens train crash The Kew Gardens train crash (also known as the Richmond Hill disaster) was a collision between two trains on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line, which occurred during the evening rush hour of November 22, 1950. The trains collided between Kew G ...

, New York City; 78 killed plus hundreds injured *1951

Woodbridge train wreck On February 6, 1951, a Pennsylvania Railroad train derailed on a temporary wooden trestle in Woodbridge, New Jersey, killing 85 passengers. It remains New Jersey's deadliest train wreck, the deadliest U.S. derailment since 1918, and the deadlie ...

, Woodbridge, New Jersey; ~85 killed plus hundreds injured *

1953 New York Central Railroad Accident The 1953 New York Central Railroad accident occurred on the four-track mainline 2.4 miles east of Conneaut, Ohio at 10:02 P.M. on March 27, 1953. The accident sequence began when an improperly secured load of large pipes broke loose from a gondol ...

, Conneaut, Ohio; 21 killed plus 49 injured * 1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck; 0 killed but 44 injured; served as inspiration for the ending of

Silver Streak (film) ''Silver Streak'' is a 1976 American buddy comedy thriller film about a murder on a Los Angeles-to-Chicago train journey. It was directed by Arthur Hiller and stars Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, and Richard Pryor, with Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty ...

*1955 Spring City School bus-train collision,

Spring City, Tennessee Spring City is a town in Rhea County, Tennessee, Rhea County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,949 at the 2020 census and 1,981 at the 2010 census. The town is located along Watts Bar Lake, and Watts Bar Dam and the Watts Bar Nuclea ...

; 11 killed plus many injured *1956

Redondo Junction train wreck The Redondo Junction train wreck occurred at 17:42 on the evening of January 22, 1956, on the Santa Fe Railroad in Los Angeles. The accident happened at Redondo Junction, California, just southwest of Boyle Heights near Washington Boulevard and t ...

, Los Angeles, California; 30 killed plus 117 injured *1956 Collision of the

Chief (train) The ''Chief'' was a long-distance named passenger train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that ran between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California. The Santa Fe initiated the ''Chief'' in 1926 to supplement the ''California Lim ...

, Springer, New Mexico; 20 killed plus 35 injured *1958

Newark Bay rail accident The 1958 Newark Bay rail accident occurred on September 15, 1958 in Newark Bay, New Jersey, United States, when a Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) morning commuter train, #3314, ran through a restricting and a stop signal, derailed, and sl ...

, Bayonne, New Jersey; 48 killed plus 48 injured *1959 Meldrim trestle disaster, Meldrim, Georgia; 23 killed

1960s

*1960

San Francisco Chief The ''San Francisco Chief'' was a streamlined passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway ("Santa Fe") between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. It ran from 1954 until 1971. The ''San Francisco Chief'' was the last new str ...

Disaster, Bakersfield, California; 17 killed plus ~60 injured *1961 City of Denver-schoolbus collision,

Auburn, Colorado Auburn is an unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado, United States, five miles southeast of Downtown Greeley."The Crossing: Six Degrees." ''Rocky Mountain News''. Tuesday January 23, 20072 In the 1960s, Auburn was a farming community w ...

; 20 killed plus 16 injured *1962 Steelton train derailment,

Steelton, Pennsylvania Steelton is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Harrisburg. The population was 6,263 at the 2020 census. The borough is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. History After initi ...

; 19 killed plus 120+ injured *1963 Chualar bus crash, Chualar, California; 32 killed plus 25 injured *

1966 Everett, Massachusetts train crash The Everett, Massachusetts train crash was a railway accident that occurred on December 28, 1966, when a train struck a stalled tank truck, killing 13 people. Crash At 12:10 am, a Boston and Maine Railroad Buddliner traveling from Boston to Rock ...

, Everett, Massachusetts; 13 killed plus 21 injured *1969

New Canaan Branch The New Canaan Branch is an 8.2-mile (13 km) long branch line of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line that begins from a junction east of downtown Stamford, Connecticut, north to New Canaan. It opened in 1868 as the New Canaan Railroad. ...

collision, Darien, Connecticut; 4 killed plus 40 injured

1970s

1971 Salem, Illinois, derailment The 1971 Salem, Illinois derailment occurred on June 10, 1971, when Amtrak’s ''City of New Orleans'' passenger train derailed near Salem, Illinois. It is sometimes referred to as the Tonti derailment, after the unincorporated community of Ton ...

; 11 killed plus 163 injured *1972

Gilchrest Road, New York crossing accident The Gilchrest Road crossing accident was a grade crossing accident that occurred on March 24, 1972, in the town of Clarkstown, New York, between the hamlets of Valley Cottage and Congers, roughly northwest of New York City. Five students from ...

; 5 killed plus 46 injured *

1972 Chicago commuter rail crash A collision between two commuter trains in Chicago occurred during the cloudy morning rush hour on October 30, 1972, and was the worst such crash in Chicago's history. Illinois Central Gulf Train 416, made up of newly purchased Highliners, oversho ...

, Chicago, Illinois; 45 killed plus hundreds injured *1973

Littlefield, Texas Littlefield is a city in and the county seat of Lamb County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,372 at the 2010 census. It is located in a significant cotton-growing region, northwest of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado just south of t ...

bus/train crash; 7 killed plus 16 injured *1974 Decatur tank car explosion,

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

; 7 killed plus hundreds injured *1976 1976 Beckemeyer train accident, 12 killed and four injured. *1976

collision, New Canaan, Connecticut; 2 killed plus 29 injured * 1977 Chicago Loop derailment, Chicago, Illinois; 11 killed plus 180+ injured *1978

Waverly, Tennessee, tank car explosion The Waverly, Tennessee, tank car explosion occurred at approximately 2:58 pm on February 24, 1978, in Waverly, Tennessee, following a train derailment incident days earlier. A tank car containing of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exploded ...

; 16 killed plus 43 injured *1979 Southwest Limited (predecessor to the

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff ...

) derailment, Lawrence, Kansas; 2 killed plus 69 injured *1979

Harvey, Illinois train collision The Harvey train collision took place on October 12, 1979, when the Shawnee train operated by Amtrak between Carbondale and Chicago Union Station crashed into a parked Illinois Central Gulf freight train, leading to the death of two crew member ...

; 2 killed plus 38 injured *1979 Philadelphia Conrail collision, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 1 killed plus hundreds injured

1980s

1982 Washington Metro train derailment The 1982 Washington Metro train derailment was an incident involving a single Orange Line Washington Metro train during the afternoon rush hour of January 13, 1982, in Downtown Washington, D.C. in the United States. The train derailed as it wa ...

, Washington, DC; 3 killed plus 25 injured *1984

Montrealer (train) The ''Montrealer'' was an overnight passenger train between Washington, D.C., United States, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The train was operated from 1924 to 1966, and again under Amtrak from 1972 to 1995, excepting two years in the 1980s. The t ...

derailment, Williston, Vermont; 5 killed plus 100+ injured *

1987 Maryland train collision The 1987 Maryland train collision occurred at 1:30 pm on January 4, 1987, on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor main line. The site of the crash was in the Chase community in eastern Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, at , about northeast of B ...

, Chase, Maryland; 16 killed plus 164 injured *1989

San Bernardino train disaster The San Bernardino train disaster (sometimes known as the Duffy Street incident), was a combination of two separate but related incidents that occurred in San Bernardino, California, United States: a runaway train derailment on May 12, 1989; an ...

, San Bernardino, California; 6 killed plus 7 injured

1990s

*1990

Market–Frankford Line The Market–Frankford Line (MFL) (also called the Market–Frankford Subway–Elevated Line (MFSE), the Market–Frankford El (MFE), the El (), or the Blue Line) is one of three rapid transit lines in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it and the Broad ...

subway derailment, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 4 killed plus 162 injured *1991

Dunsmuir, California Dunsmuir is a city in Siskiyou County, northern California. It is on the upper Sacramento River in the Trinity Mountains. Its population is 1,707 as of the 2020 census, up from 1,650 from the 2010 census. Dunsmuir is currently a hub for tourism ...

derailment; no human deaths but vast numbers of aquatic animals poisoned to death by chemical leak *

1991 Union Square derailment On August 28, 1991, a 4 Lexington Avenue Express train on the New York City Subway's IRT Lexington Avenue Line derailed as it was about to enter 14th Street–Union Square station, killing five people. It was the worst accident on the subway sy ...

, New York City; 5 killed plus 161 injured *1992

Nemadji River The Nemadji River is a river rising in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, which flows through Carlton County, Minnesota, and Douglas County, Wisconsin, to Lake Superior. The river is long measured from its source in Maheu Lake in Pine Count ...

bridge derailment, Superior, Wisconsin; no direct human deaths but many animals—wild and domestic—confirmed killed by chemical leak *1993

Big Bayou Canot rail accident On September 22, 1993, an Amtrak train derailed on the CSX Transportation Big Bayou Canot Bridge near Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was caused by displacement of a span and deformation of the rails when a tow of heavy barges collided with th ...

, Mobile, Alabama; 47 killed plus 103 injured * 1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision, Fox River Grove, Illinois; 7 killed plus 21 injured * 1996 Secaucus train collision, Secaucus, New Jersey; 3 killed plus 162 injured * 1996 Maryland train collision, Silver Spring, Maryland; 11 killed plus 26 injured * 1999 Bourbonnais, Illinois, train crash; 11 killed plus 122 injured

21st century

*2002 Minot train derailment, Minot, North Dakota; 1 killed plus hundreds made ill *

2002 Placentia train collision The 2002 Placentia train collision occurred at around 8:10 am. PDT on April 23, 2002, when a BNSF Railway freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on at Control Point Atwood (CP Atwood) in Placentia, California, United ...

, Placentia, California; 2 killed plus 22 injured *2004 Macdona rail disaster, Macdona, Texas; 3 killed plus ~50 made ill *2005 Graniteville train crash, Graniteville, South Carolina; 9 killed plus hundreds made ill *2005

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...

Rock Island derailment, Chicago, Illinois; 2 killed plus 83 injured *

2008 Massachusetts train collision On May 28, 2008, shortly before 6:00p.m., two westbound MBTA trains collided on the Green Line (MBTA), Green Line Green Line D branch, D branch between Woodland (MBTA station), Woodland and Waban (MBTA station), Waban stations, behind 56 Dorset Ro ...

, Newton, Massachusetts; 1 killed plus 12 injured *

2008 Chatsworth train collision The 2008 Chatsworth train collision occurred at 4:22:23 p.m. PDT (23:22:23 UTC) on September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, C ...

, Chatsworth, California; 25 killed plus 135 injured *2009

June 2009 Washington Metro train collision During the afternoon rush hour of June 22, 2009, a subway train wreck occurred between two southbound Red Line Washington Metro trains in Northeast, Washington, D.C., United States. A moving train collided with a train stopped ahead of it; ...

, Washington, DC; 9 killed plus 80 injured

2010s

*2012 Midland train crash, Midland, Texas; 4 killed plus 16 injured *2013

December 2013 Spuyten Duyvil derailment On the morning of December 1, 2013, a Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line passenger train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station in the New York City borough of the Bronx. Four of the 115 passengers were killed and another 61 injured; the ac ...

, New York City; 4 killed plus 61 injured *2015

Valhalla train crash On the evening of February 3, 2015, a commuter train on Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line struck a passenger car at a grade crossing near Valhalla, New York, United States, between the Valhalla and Mount Pleasant stations, killing six people a ...

, Valhalla, New York; 6 killed plus 15 injured *

2015 Oxnard train derailment The 2015 Oxnard train derailment occurred on February 24, 2015, at 5:44 a.m. local time when a Metrolink passenger train collided with a truck that a driver had mistakenly turned from Rice Avenue onto the tracks and became stuck. After impact, ...

, Oxnard, California; 1 killed plus 29 injured *

2015 Philadelphia train derailment On May 12, 2015, an Amtrak ''Northeast Regional'' train from Washington, D.C. bound for New York City derailed and wrecked on the Northeast Corridor near the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of 238 passengers and 5 crew on ...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 8 killed plus hundreds injured * 2016 Chester, Pennsylvania, train derailment; 2 killed plus 31 injured *

2016 Hoboken train crash On September 29, 2016, an NJ Transit commuter train crashed at Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey. The accident occurred during the morning rush hour, at one of the busiest transportation hubs in the New York metropolitan area. The events ...

, Hoboken, New Jersey; 1 killed plus 114 injured *

2017 Washington train derailment On December 18, 2017, Amtrak ''Cascades'' passenger train 501 derailed near DuPont, Washington, United States. The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) final report said regional transit authority Sound Transit failed to take steps t ...

, DuPont, Washington; 3 killed plus 62 injured * 2017 Brooklyn train crash, Brooklyn, New York; 103 injured *2018 Cayce, South Carolina train collision; 2 killed plus 116 injured

2020s

* 2022 Missouri train derailment, Mendon, Missouri; 4 killed and 150 injured.

References

*{{Shaw-RailroadAccidents

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...