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On February 6, 1951, a
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
train derailed on a temporary wooden
trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...
in
Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, killing 85 passengers. It remains New Jersey's deadliest train wreck, the deadliest U.S. derailment since
1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...
, and the deadliest peacetime rail disaster in the United States.


Description

Around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 6, 1951,
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
Train No. 733 left Exchange Place in
Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Bay Head via the
North Jersey Coast Line The North Jersey Coast Line is a commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or com ...
, No. 733 was crowded that day due to a labor strike on the nearby
Jersey Central Railroad The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...
. It carried over 1,000 passengers in 11 cars drawn by PRR K4 4-6-2 steam locomotive No. 2445. That afternoon, rail traffic through Woodbridge was being diverted onto a temporary wooden trestle and a
shoofly Shoofly and similar may refer to: * Shoofly pie * "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me", a traditional children's song. * " Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", a song first performed by June Christy. * Shoofly Comer aka Niviatsinaq, Aivilingmiut (Canadian In ...
near Fulton Street, allowing laborers building the
New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not consi ...
to work on the main line. A notice had gone out to train engineers in late January: after 1:01 p.m. on February 6, they were to proceed through Woodbridge not at the normal but at . Before Train No. 733 left Jersey City, conductor John Bishop reminded engineer Joseph Fitzsimmons about the speed restriction. It was not the railroad's practice to install warning lights in such cases, and Fitzsimmons failed to slow the train as it approached Woodbridge. Bishop, alarmed at the train's speed, tried to pull the emergency cord, but the crush of passengers made it impossible. The train was traveling faster than when it reached the curve approaching the trestle, according to a subsequent inquiry. At 5:43 p.m., the tracks shifted under the massive locomotive, and eight of the train's eleven passenger cars derailed. The first two cars fell on their sides. The third and fourth cars crashed into each other as they hurtled down a embankment. It was in these two cars that most of the 85 deaths occurred. The fifth and sixth cars were left hanging in mid-air over a street that glistened from rain. Some passengers may have jumped to their deaths, believing they would land in water. The accident occurred in a heavily populated area, so help soon arrived. Neighbors opened their houses and businesses to those in need. The critically injured were taken to nearby hospitals. Although Fitzsimmons initially claimed that he had been traveling at only , the inquiry estimated that the train's speed was between . The report concluded that the wreck was caused by "excessive speed on a curve of a temporary track". Fitzsimmons continued working for the railroad, but never operated a train again. Near the derailment site, the victims are memorialized by a pair of historical markers, installed by
New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
in 2002 and by Woodbridge Township in 2013.


In popular culture

In the prologue to his 1976 novel ''Slapstick'',
Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...
references the death of his brother-in-law, James Carmalt Adams, killed in the derailment.


See also

*
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 curre ...
*
List of rail accidents (1950–1959) This is a list of rail accidents from 1950 to 1959. 1950 * January 29 – ''India'' – At Sirhind, a goods train and a mail train collide, killing 63 people, about half of them soldiers. * February 17 – ''United States'' – Rockville Ce ...


References


Further reading

*


External links

*Dziobko, John (February 7, 1951)
"Pennsylvania Railroad at Woodbridge, New Jersey"
Color photo of the scene the day after the accident. *Interstate Commerce Commission (April 19, 1951)
"Accident at Woodbridge, N.J."
Report of the accident investigation. * *Sesnowich, Mike H. (2009)
"The Woodbridge Train Wreck"
Includes dozens of documentary photos from the scene.
Wreck of the Broker 70 years later
on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{1951 railway accidents Bridge disasters in the United States Railway accidents and incidents in New Jersey Derailments in the United States Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Transportation in Middlesex County, New Jersey Accidents and incidents involving Pennsylvania Railroad Railway accidents in 1951 1951 in New Jersey February 1951 events in the United States