1906 Washington DC train wreck

The railway accident in Terra Cotta, Washington, DC, was a collision on December 30, 1906 due to poor visibility, a run over, " stop" commanding signal and sleep-deprived staff. 53 deaths were the result.

Starting position

The breakpoint Terra Cotta lay on the outskirts of Washington, DC, at the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, near the modern metro station Fort Totten Washington Metro. The breakpoint at that time was quite isolated and served only to employees of the Potomac Terra Cotta Company at the entry and exit. The track was secured with block system. The block portion Terra Cotta was secured by a signal back to the block section Takoma Park. From 18 clock 30-6 clock 30 of the Takoma Park station, however, was not staffed. The signal was then turned off and the block section Takoma Park interconnected with the previous block section of Silver Spring into a single block section.

A passenger of Frederick, Maryland, arrived with 200 passengers and about 15 minutes late in the breakpoint Terra Cotta and held there as planned. The train consisted of a locomotive and three attached wooden coaches.

This was followed by a train on the track with six empty wagons, pulled by a heavy locomotive. Their train driver had not slept a full night through more for 33 hours non-stop service and for 57 hours. That evening it was very foggy.

Circumstances of the accident

The signal that regulated the entrance to the block section Takoma Park at the end of the block portion Silver Spring, showed for the empty train " ride free", the signal block section '' Terra Cotta '' against the block section Takoma Park provided protection, on the other hand " grip ". The empty train went past it nevertheless. The engineer testified later that he had reduced the speed at which the signal but not seen. In this situation, he should have followed the regulations, but went with undiminished speed further, because he assumed that the two block portions are already connected together and the signal " ride free" at the entrance to the block section Takoma Park him a free ride in the block section Terra Cotta grant. The staff of the station Takoma Park telegraphed the incident immediately to the colleagues in the breakpoint Terra Cotta, but took nothing.

At 18 clock 31 as the passenger train just drove off to exit the breakpoint Terra Cotta again, the empty train went unabated with about 100 km / h later in the wooden cart into it. The heavy locomotive, which remained almost intact even split a car, so that one half left, the other was lying right of the track, and broken up the rest. The force of the impact was so strong that vehicle and body parts were thrown in a radius of more than 400 meters.

Since the breakpoint Terra Cotta was remote, it took a while to initially came from the Brookland 1.5 km away first aid and nearly an hour to an emergency train from Washington arrived, who drove the wounded after a further hour to Washington.

Follow

The staff of the empty train was acquitted in a criminal trial, but the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC ) accused them nevertheless negligence. However, they also criticized the railway company because of the conditions under which the railwaymen had to work and should guarantee the safety. The ICC prohibited, moreover, to provide future still wooden coaches in service.