10 Little Known Yet Devastating (And Somewhat Disturbing) Railroad Accidents.

Article By Ian Cole

Sept. 29, 2016

Train accidents  are a fairly common occurrence, with one happening every 90 minutes in the United States alone according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Most of them don't  even make the news due to the lack of severity, however a couple of them every year make national news due to their severity.

The goal of this is to bring little  known train accidents  that were devastating to light. This list is not based in any particular order, and all accidents will be viewed as equally sobering and tragic. We must always remember that while trains are fun for enthusiasts like myself and others, they are massive machines that can be deadly if not used properly and should always be treated with respect as such.

10. April 11, 1935 The Williamsport High School Bus Disaster Williamsport, Maryland: On a dark damp night, a school bus carrying 27 students returning from Williamsport High School after a chemistry fair was struck by a Baltimore  and Ohio express train traversing from St. Louis, Missouri to Washington DC. Unfortunately, 14 of these students were killed, and to make matters worse 6 of them were high school  seniors with essentially  a month to go before they would experience  the adult life. Another note is that senior class shrunk from an already modest 33 to an unfortunate  27. A relative  of one of the students killed in the tragic accident stated "Even the World War didn't  do that to us. Only five from Williamsport were killed then." The city of Williamsport, Maryland  had to endure 14 separate funerals, then built a library in memory of those who had died.  A prominent  Williamsport  doctor who delivered many of the students as infants was the same one identifying their lifeless bodies. A very tough tragedy to deal with that could've been avoided between a combination of better crossings and better judgement by the bus driver. Thankfully Franklin D. Roosevelt vowed to improve railroad crossing safety, and was willing to pledge up to two-hundred million dollars for this cause. These grants did improve the crossing where this tragedy occurred.

9. July 31, 1940 The Doodlebug Disaster Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio: On a rather hot summer night in 1940, a Pennsylvania Railroad Dispatcher told the single car passenger train's engineer to hold on a siding. Likely due to a lack of proper communications, the engineer of the train, Thomas L. Murtaugh continued onward, not following any directions his dispatcher gave him, or attempted to give him whatsoever. Around 6 PM the doodlebug ran head on into a freight train near Hudson Drive.  Conductor's Harry B. Shafer, and Tod E. Wonn, both jumped and were the only two that survived.  All the others either were killed upon impact, or were unable to escape the flames, as flaming gasoline was sprayed upon the victims almost instantly, burning them to death. Today a memorial has been erected for future generations to know about the devastating accident that had occurred. 

8.January 8th, 1902 The Park Avenue Tunnel Tragedy: During the steam era, two commuter trains were running their typical routine routes taking commuters to and from work. One train was on what was known as "The New Haven Line" and the other was on a perpendicular route called the "Harlem Division Line". Apparently the engineer on the Harlem Division  Line train was unable to see his traffic signals due to the darkness of the tunnels, as well as the lack of visibility due to the steam clouds dwelling in the tunnel. The result of this problem was by far worse than a lack of visibility, it ultimately took 17 lives, due to the fact that the train on the New Haven Line's last car was stopped on the diamond of the two lines. 

7. August 15, 1919 The Parkersburg Streetcar And Switcher Collision Parkersburg, West Virginia: 

A church group from Reno, Ohio were headed to a picnic at the City Park, in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The Streetcar was approaching a junction near the Baltimore & Ohio line and the local silk mill, when it collided with a Baltimore and Ohio Steam switcher, rupturing the boiler and ultimately killing 8 People (mostly children) The cause of the accident was reportedly due to a lack of control of traffic by the flag man responsible for maintaining safety at the junction.  Something truly ironic but also very tragic at the same time is that a janitor from the silk mill died of a heart attack while helping remove the injured victims from the accident and the heart attack was reportedly due to a weak heart condition he suffered from and the excitement and trauma probably triggered it. 

6. September 2, 1919 Man Refuses To Save Himself, Dies With Wife Who's Foot Was Caught In Rail Chicago, Illinois: Mr. and Mrs. William Fitch Tanner, both got killed by a Chicago and Northwestern train. While Mr. Tanner had the opportunity to save himself, he refused to leave his wife's side who became trapped after her foot was caught on the rail. Ironically, Mr. Tanner worked for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and it can be assumed that he didn't necessarily expect to go out like this. Tragically he left behind three children.

5. February 4, 1977  The Loop Crash Chicago Illinois: This accident could've likely been avoided if the motor man was paying attention and carrying out his responsibilities. The Motorman of the 8 car Lake-Dan Ryan train, completely ignored his cab signals and struck the rear end of the Ravenswood train. 11 people were killed and 180 were injured in what is the worst accident to this date on the Chicago Elevated Rail. Coincidentally it was found that the motorman of the Lake-Dan Ryan train was in possession of marijuana, however there was no evidence found showing that he had actually used it while operating this train. 

4. October 31, 1903 The Purdue Train Wreck Of 1903, Indianapolis, Indiana: Purdue was taking a train to a neutral location to take on their arch rivals the Indiana Hoosiers in a football match. Unfortunately that match would never happen, as there was a  crucial mistake made by a railroad dispatcher outside of Indianapolis. The engineer unaware of the dispatchers awful mistake chugged on as if there were no issues or obstructions.The oncoming train and the Purdue train collided with such force that the wooden coaches splintered like kindling sticks used to start a fire.  Tragically 18 people were killed, including most of Purdue's football team. The tragedy led to the rivalry's burning passion to simmer down and cool off a bit, but that's essentially the only good thing that came out of this horrific accident.

3. August 28, 1991 The Union Square Crash New York, New York: This particular subway train that derailed had many problems throughout the night well before the derailment. The motorman missed several stations to let passengers off, was speeding excessively (which played into the derailment), and was also asleep at the time of the accident. The reason behind all of this? He was drunk, on top of that after he reported the accident to the police he had the nerve to drink 3 more beers before being hauled off. He was responsible for five deaths in the accident, however he later only got 5 counts of 2nd degree manslaughter which led to only 10 years in jail. 

2. June 24, 2011 Semi Truck Driver VS Amtrak Reno, Nevada: Once again another accident that could've been avoided had someone been paying attention! A semi truck driver struck the side of an Amtrak train, even with all proper warning devices in place. The resulting consequences were the death of six people, the trucker, the conductor, and four passengers on the train. It is unclear as to why the truck ran into the side of the train. 

1. January 6, 2005 Graniteville Train Disaster Graniteville, South Carolina:  When 10 people die due to a freight train accident, you know you have something devastating on your hands. When the derailment was caused by a misaligned switch which causes a mixed freight hauling chlorine gas, sodium hydroxide, along with other hazardous materials you have something beyond devastating. Not only did this take human life, it resulted in the injuries of 250 people, contaminated waterways, Led to the bankruptcy of Avondale Mills displacing over 4,000 people of their jobs, and required a two week clean up by Hazardous Material crews. It was later cited that the crew of the local train had failed to realign the switch to mainline operations. The NTSB did not expect alcohol or drugs to be a factor in this accident. 

                                                           Works Cited: 

10. Keyser, Tom. "After 60 Years, Small Town's Tragedy Remains Vivid "THIS WAS OUR WORST DAY"" The Baltimore Sun (1995): n. pag.The Baltimore Sun. The Baltimore Sun. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

9.Ed, Mr.. "The Doodlebug Tragedy." The Doodlebug Tragedy (n.d.): n. pag. The Doodlebug Tragedy. Blogger. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

8."Http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nywestch/NewRoc1902/." Web log post. 1902 Park Avenue Tunnel Collision- A New Rochelle Tragedy. Ed. Cathy Horn. Ancestry, 15 June 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

7."Collision Leads To Tragedy." The Parkersburg News (1919): n. pag.The Parkersburg Journal and Sentinel. 14 Mar. 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

6."Wouldn't Leave Wife, Both Die Under Train." New York Times (1919): n. pag. New York Times. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

5."Chicago ''L''.org: Mishaps & Unusual Occurrences - The Loop Crash."Chicago ''L''.org: Mishaps & Unusual Occurrences - The Loop Crash. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

4.Slutzky, Jason. "Indiana University Bloomington." Indiana University Archives. Indiana University, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

3.N.Y. Police Say Subway Motorman Was Drunk; Charged With Manslaughter. N.p.: Greenfield Recorder, n.d. PDF.

2."Federal Officials Investigate Cause of Deadly Amtrak Crash." CNN. Cable News Network, 28 June 2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

1.Rep. No. 916304 at 68 (2005). Print.