Weesp train disaster

In the railway accident at Weesp derailed a train at a Dammrutschung on September 13, 1918 in Weesp, the Netherlands. 41 people lost their lives.

Starting position

The train 102 was traveling from Amersfoort to Amsterdam. It consisted of a front tension member, who came from Zwolle, and a rear from Enschede. In Hilversum he had not yet received a boost car. Overall, the train led 11 wagons, pulled by a steam locomotive of the type HSM 520 Behind the Weesp station crosses the railway line, which sailed the train, the Merwede Canal on a bridge. The driveway leads to the bridge over a dam. It had been raining heavily for days.

Circumstances of the accident

The rain caused the also structurally neglected railway embankment was greatly softened. Water from the also -soaked embankment of the Merwede Canal additionally expressed in the embankment. In addition, the substrate contained clay, which prevented the surface water could seep and drain into the ground. All this had let to rise above the level of the surrounding terrain ground water levels in the embankment. The vibration of the softened embankment by driving over train meant that the railway embankment at 10:25 clock under the train gave way to a length of 95 meters and slipped off to the side.

The locomotive of the train had already reached the bridge at that moment. The wegsackende behind her train derailed it. She caught along with the Tender in the steel superstructure of the bridge and therefore not crashed. The following van came to a halt at the bridgehead, the following three cars skidded together with the railway embankment off and wedged in love. The wooden structures fragmented. Another van and a railway mail car from the rear of the train also landed in the rubble. This is where most people died during the following cars derailed, but remained standing in the track.

Follow

41 people died and 42 others were injured. Until the railway accident Harmelen 1962 this was the most serious railway accident in the Netherlands. Exclusively travelers were the victims. From the train crew all survived unharmed.

The dispatcher in Weesp it, a train in the opposite direction to stop in time before he went to the accident site inside succeeded. The first emergency train reached the accident site 11:40 clock. Until then local helpers had done first aid. The injured were driven trolley for wounded to Amsterdam Muiderpoort station and from there to the hospital Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis. Two Barges on the Merwede Canal were stopped and brought the injured to Amsterdam. In this way, the majority of the dead were taken away.

The line was again taken six days after the accident in operation - first at the accident site at a maximum speed of 5 km / h The complete repair of the embankment and route lasted until 2 December 1918.