Borki train disaster
When railway accident Borki derailed on 17 Oktoberjul. / October 29 1888greg. the two steam locomotives drawn Chapel Train of Emperor Alexander III. on the drive from Kharkov to Rostov north of the present breakpoint Spasiw Skit near the train station Borki in the Kharkiv Oblast 295 km south of Kursk. 23 travelers died, the members of the imperial family, nothing happened, although the lounge car in which they traveled, were severely damaged or destroyed.
Starting position
The accident occurred on the Kursk -Kharkiv railway line of the then existing Kursk - Kharkov - Azov Railway. The Emperor was of on the way back from his vacation in the Crimea in the Russian capital Saint Petersburg. The parlor car had a higher weight than vehicles of the control traffic. Contrary to the rules, the time limited passenger trains to 42 axes, the Court Train had 64 axes. The moving within the limits for freight trains, but the train with respect to travel speed was driven like an express train. This seemed harmless, because the train was so driven for almost ten years without an accident.
Circumstances of the accident
Added to this was, however, that the double cover with two steam engines enabled the track at the accident site in vibrations, which should have then led to the derailment. 21 people were killed immediately and two more died later of their injuries. The information on the injured fluctuate between 12 and 36 people. The Kaiser Family held at the time of the accident in her dining car on. All members of the imperial family were unhurt, although the dining car was severely damaged.
Follow
Other facts about the accident of which are superimposed on the one hand the official state propaganda, the stylized " miraculous rescue of the emperor and his family " to a divine judgment on the legitimacy of the reign of Emperor Russia. On this occasion, numerous churches were built, including a cathedral in Borki, and a chapel in Riga, and shaped a commemorative medal. A created this occasion icon circulated widely regarded as reproduction. In this environment, the episode is to be expected that the Emperor Alexander had the roof of the dining car while still supported by his arms until all occupants had left the car. This version of events was rejected by the post-revolutionary and parts of the foreign historiography: The exterior walls of the dining car were stable enough after the accident to support the roof yet.
The facts of the accident are also superimposed on the assumption that held the other persistent rumors, the accident was caused by an assassination attempt. However, this was officially excluded in the subsequent investigations.
Investigation
Immediately after the accident commissioned Baron Scherwal, chief inspector of the Russian railways and responsible for the movement of such court train, which were riding on the train and in the accident broke his leg, the railway director Sergei Witte ( later Russian Prime Minister ) and the Director of the Polytechnic Institute Kharkov, Viktor Kirpichev in order to investigate the accident. Later still came Anatoly Koni, a well-known lawyer from St. Petersburg, to the Commission of Inquiry. Two weeks ago the emperor had criticized anti-Semitic remarks Sergei Witte, because he had insisted to reduce the speed limits on the railway line managed by him. The Commission of Inquiry was no uniform result, what the causes of accidents concerned - the members maintained in their result clearly partisan strategies and results. Witte, as a railway director, made the excessive speed of the train responsible for the accident - and blamed all of the railway company to the responsible for the running of the imperial train government officials. Kirpichev other hand held rotted thresholds for the cause of the accident - and pushed all the blame on the railroad company. Also Koni tried to push all the blame away from the government officials and the railway company. Emperor Alexander it eventually preferred not to bring the matter to a conclusion, Scherwal allowed to retire and appointed Witte director of the state railways of Russia. This suggests that the version was accident causation closer to the assumptions Wittes, as to those who wanted to put the blame on his railroad company. Finally, the Public Opinion invited some of the blame on the general contractor, who had the railway line Kursk - Kharkov built, but had died two months before the accident, Samuel Poliakow, from. He had low-grade gravel used which did not sufficiently absorbed the vibrations about passing trains.