Submitted by Dale Neiburg on Wed, 04/18/2012 - 9:13am. A Southern railway train was in a wreck in April 1913, 200 yards north of Vanarsdall Station in Mercer County. Lord knows what the result would have been if it had not been stopped at the last minute, and if the work crew had been lost this would have been a much, much bigger disaster.. As many as 50,000 people came to the track that day to help rescue survivors, search for loved ones, or simply witness the tragic scene. (59 cu. It was a primitive one-reeler action picture, about 10 minutes long, with 14-scenes, filmed in November 1903 - not in the western . 1899-1939, January 10, 1913, Image 6", "Spreading rails sends two immigrant cars into river", "Facts Held Back In Fatal Wreck. At the time, there was no direct communication with the engineers in either train. This is a list of rail accidents from 1910 to 1919. In 1892, when the circus was simply the Great Wallace Show, a railroad wreck resulted in 26 trained horses being killed. None of their sisters, from #280 to #286, survive either. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Railroads & Streetcars. Veteran employee of Rock Island Railroad had been with company for 46 years' continuous service funeral tomorrow morning." Crush was promptly fired, only to be rehired when managers at the Katy realized how successful the stunt had been in terms of publicity. Two passenger trains, operated by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway , collided head-on, costing at least 101 lives and injuring an additional 171. Onlookers near a train wreck outside of Sunbury, Ohio, ca. Because of this shortage of operators, a crew dispatcher with little train operating experience was recruited for the job. The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, between Camp Hill Station and Fort Washington Station, on July 17, 1856. The overheated axle bearing could cause a fire on the train if not deal with immediately. Soldiers killed in wreck; 102 Others Maimed as Troop Train Falls Through High Trestle in Mississippi", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_rail_accidents_(19101919)&oldid=1140753771, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022, Articles lacking reliable references from April 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. This train wreck goes down as the third worst in American history. The Great Train Wreck of 1918 In July 9, 1918, Nashville, TN, experienced a very tragic train crash. The deadliest train accident in U.S. history occurred near Nashville in July 1918 when two Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway trains collided head-on at a curve called Dutchman's Bend.. I often heard about this train wreck when I was researching my book THE WHITE CASCADE (I always had to be sure to specify that the Wellington Disaster was the deadliest avalanche, but NOT the deadliest train accident, in American history), but I didnt know much about it until now. Most of the dead were minority migrants and laborers. One of the worst incidents was the the Blue Hole Disaster in 1913 where four railroaders lost their lives. The Great Train Wreck of 1918. This amount is subject to change until you make payment. Without warning the timbers began to split and the pilings snapped. The three rear cars accordianed into each other, the sleeper and day coaches were . Hart, Peter, "1918; A Very British Victory", Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, England, 2008, The Fort Scott Tribune Oct. 3, 1918; The Sun Pittsburg, Kansas Oct. 3, 1918, Associated Press, Five Killed And Fifty Injured In S. P. Wreck - Engine Jumps Track Near Acton Station - Southbound Flyer Goes Into Ditch,, Wire service, Board of Inquiry to Convene at Acton Wreck - Five Killed and Hundred Forty-Three Injured in S. P. Smashup,. 4 traversed the double-track section, the conductor delegated the responsibility of identifying No. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. The Number 1 train was supposed to arrive in Nashville at 7:10 a.m., but unbeknownst to the other train, it was running half an hour behind schedule. Then that sound that could be heard for miles. Officials Blame Engineer: Bay Plain Danger Signals Were Set but He Denies ItBoth Trains from Here. . The train, pulled by locomotive No. But engineers on the second train halted their progress to fix a hotbox. Lorraine Boissoneault This train wreck on Sept. 21, 1934 in Milan involved boxes of chocolate candy that spilled alongside the tracks. She is also the author of The Last Voyageurs: Retracing La Salle's Journey Across America. The fire spread so quickly that crash survivors risked their own lives to pull friends and family out of the wreckage. The Great Texas Train Crash at Crush. The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus suffered one of the worst train wrecks in history in 1918, with more than 100 people injured and 86 killed. On April 18, 1891, near Kipton station, 40 miles west of Cleveland, Ohio, the fast mail train #14 collided with the Toledo Express. 21 Favourites. Crushs dream caught the Gay Nineties fancy, wrote Kenneth Foree in Dallas News. Two 35-ton locomotives would ram into each other in Crush, a pop-up town erected for the occasion and named after the architect himself. | But the main attractionapart from the trains themselveswas the row of carnival attractions based on Chicagos highly popular Midway Plaisance at the 1893 Worlds Fair. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for PINOLA PA - LAUGHLIN - TRAIN WRECK 1912 REAL-PHOTO POSTCARD (RPPC) FRANKLIN CO. at the best online prices at eBay! The time was 7:20 AM and the type of incident was a collision. Then a moment of sheer terror. In the 1970s, songwriters Bobby Braddock and Rafe Van Hoy told the story of the trainwreck in the song "The Great Nashville Railroad Disaster (A True Story)". Meanwhile, train No. When he pulled on it he found the body of Reason Jackson who had been crushed and scalded in the crash. The impact derailed them both, and destroyed several wooden cars. Website: http://www.lboissoneault.com/, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 267 had arrived roughly on schedule at 4:10 a.m. Here is footage from a collision in 1913. 16 of the 98 train cars ran off the tracks, mostly . File PhotoOne of the worst incidents was the Blue Hole Disaster in 1913 where four railroaders lost their lives. Acrobat Eugene Enos, trapped beneath some wooden beams, received aid from his wife, Mary, and Lon Moore, a clown. That is all we can do.. The Nashville wreck to this day is still the deadliest train accident in the history of the U.S. 4 departed Union Station in Nashville, bound for Memphis. On them, members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, having just entertained more than 30,000 spectators in the Queen City, rolled north toward Virginia. The song was recorded by country music singer David Allan Coe on his 1980 album I've Got Something to Say. - Investigation of the Acton Wreck Indicates High Speed on Curve, The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Sunday 2 November 1919, Volume XLVI, Number 63, page 1. The most interesting aspect of the wreck, to me, is the way it was covered in the local newspaper, the Laurel Leader. The Thirty First Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioners of Kentucky. Associated Press, "Five are Killed in Wreck on the Vermont Central". A similar. The incident was referre Later that same day some boys looking for pools of stranded fish discovered a hand sticking up out of the sand. 1 from Memphis, about a half-hour late for a scheduled arrival in Nashville at 7:10a.m. At about 7:20a.m., the two trains collided while traversing a section of single track line known as "Dutchman's Curve" west of downtown Nashville, in the present-day neighborhood of Belle Meade. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Johnson sounded the emergency whistle, but there was no one at the rear of No. The engineers and conductors onboard each behemoth got the trains moving, then jumped to safety about 30 yards from the starting point. Cookie Settings, swift instant of silence, and then, as if controlled by a single impulse, both boilers exploded simultaneously and the air was filled with flying missiles of iron and steel varying in size from a postage stamp to half a driving wheel, falling indiscriminately on the just and unjust, the rich and the poor, the great and the small., $1.2 million in passenger sales and $3 million in freight earnings, according to the Texas State Historical Association, Dried Lake Reveals New Statue on Easter Island. Stop him was his order. Still they had no luck in recovering the missing four mens bodies. 4) train that they were to stop in the double-track section if they did not visually identify the passing No. The sound of the collision was so loud that nearby farmers awoke and hurried to see what had happened. We look back a century later to shine some light on a wreck that enhanced so many important safety upgrades. While the search continued along the river for the four missing men, the railroad began moving in equipment to repair the trestle. 1. You have to remember that almost everything moved by rail back then. The story of his rise to country-wide prominence begins in the spring, normally a season of hope and optimism. They paid Deane $10,000 and gave him a lifetime railroad pass, and dealt with other claims as hastily as possible. "Oh, it's wonderful to be here in the town of East Palestine, not a great name," said the James Austin Johnson-portrayed Donald Trump tonight, kicking off Saturday Night Live. 1) retained the right-of-way. Considerable clouds this evening. A significant historical month for this entry is October 1878. Circuses were an unmatched spectacle, bringing together a nation rapidly filling with new immigrants from different cultures and backgrounds. On November 1, 1918, an elevated, 5-car train was traveling toward the Prospect Park station via the tunnel below Malbone street in Brooklyn, New York. How many people were killed or injured from the collision is impossible to say; in the moments after impact, the kerosene lamps that hung in the hallways of the wooden cars quickly set everything aflame. About half of the men decided to take the chance and waded single file toward the elevator. Indiana: Circus Train Wreck. The circus had just completed two performances in Michigan City, Indiana, and was traveling overnight the 45 miles to nearby Hammond. During the 36 years since the occurrence of the most famous railroad wreck in Hendrix history, countless stories, fables, prevarications, myths, legends, hyperbolic excursions into memory, and other assorted narratives have been passed back and forth among alumni and kept alive for future generations of Hendrix students. Two Dead, Eight Missing, and More Than Fifty Injured at Martin's Creek, N.J.", "INVESTIGATIONS OF RAILROAD ACCIDENTS 19111993", "Southern Pacific boiler explosion in 1912 called worst in U.S. history", "Federal Inquiry In Glen Loch Wreck; Inter-State Commission Hurries Men to Investigate the Disaster That Killed 4 and Injured 40", "Guyandotte, WV Train Plunges Through Bridge, Jan 1913 | GenDisasters Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods", "The Monett times. Two trains pulled out of Charlotte in the early morning hours of October 29, 1901, heading north on the Southern Railway. 1 : a violent and destructive crash involving a train 2 : an utter disaster or mess : a disastrous calamity or source of trouble Six months later, with Washington facing a political train wreck in Iraq, whom did it call? In its official report, the ICC was harsh on the NC&StL. Just as they considered stepping onto the bridge it was swept away. The trestles break came between the engine and the tinder car. | READ MORE, Lorraine Boissoneault is a contributing writer to SmithsonianMag.com covering history and archaeology. Two days later the climbing waters on the West Fork of the White began to pound on the trestle west of Washington washing out the fill that kept it in place. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. Thanks, Ken! They found Stevens and Tucker in the trees, but did not locate Gharst, Jackson, Stevens or Schaffer. Instead of plodding through the mud at ten miles a day from small town to small town, circuses hitched their railcars to trains and clattered to cities hundreds of miles apart overnight. By the turn of the 20th century, nearly 100 circuses roamed the United States, more than a third of them traveling by rail. cache 6h 0m According to contemporary practices, the inbound train (No. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. In the aftermath of the accident, the families of the deceased performers struggled with who to blame. It happened on Dutchman's Curve near present day White Bridge road in West Nashville. The sound of the collision could be heard two miles (3km) away. Ohio: Great Flood of 1913. Traffic was delayed several hours after the engine crossed the bridge, which spans a branch of Salt River, causing a coupling to break. The two trains involved were the No. 1913 Train Crash - California State Fair TheUnMuseum 5.23K subscribers Subscribe 109K views 10 years ago This clip shows two steam locomotives crashed for a stunt in 1913. The problem was when the risk couldnt be calculated, when it arrived unanticipated in the dead of the night. Before There was Mickey Mouse, There was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Topics. Tall tales, trip guides, & the world's weird & wonderful. Barnum show. The rushing water took the front half of the train with it. 17 Indiana against Iowa, Indiana High School Basketball Poll (FINAL POLL). It threw both of them into the river dragging the engine 30 feet downstream. Despite the injuries and shock of it, the crowd still rushed forward to claim souvenirs from the crash. Their collision was every bit as astonishing as predictedbut it quickly turned violent, according to one reporter attending the event. Low around 40F. This is one of the worst train disasters in U.S. history and the worst natural disaster (with the greatest number of fatalities) in Washington. Crews from the B&O had built a trestle over it. Your Privacy Rights 1 on the line. The two trains collided, leading to fires, explosions, and the death of eighty-six people. A second in 1903 occurred with the second train didnt slow down on its approach into the yard, and slammed into the train ahead of it, killing 26 men and several animals, writes Richard Lytle in The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918. Posted on May 15, 2015 Updated on July 9, 2019, On July 9, 1918, near Nashville, Tennessee, in an area known as Dutchmans curve, two trains collided head-on creating such a frightful noise that many claimed it could be heard for miles.. Global News will be embarking on a weekly series covering unique and interesting places in B.C. Free shipping for many products! The circus company itself? Not far from where McLemores body was recovered they found the body of Schaffer. The trains were each traveling at an estimated 50 to 60mph. Cookie Policy By this time, the inbound train was chugging to the curve. Note: VirtualGlobetrotting is an entertainment website is and is not associated The trains were each traveling at an estimated 50 to 60mph (80 to 100km/h). On June 22, 1918, two trains collided near Hammond, Indiana. #282 was also sold and scrapped in April 1949. The song was recorded by country music singer David Allan Coe on his 1980 album I've Got Something to Say. Four days before the Nashville train wreck another tragedy hit the papers that shook a nation. Terms of Use But how? PRR / President / Presidential Correspondence of A.J. RPPC WELLINGTON OHIO TRAIN WRECK POSTCARD, POST MARKED AUG. 5 1913. They stumbled along the track, sometimes in shoulder deep water for a half hour before they made it to safety. 1. The wooden cars crumbled and hurled sideways, hanging over the embankment. So, what makes the Great Train Wreck of 1918 such an important historical incident? Crush drilled two wells and ran pipes for spigots, hired a man from Dallas to run a dozen lemonade stands, brought in tanks of artesian mineral water, erected a restaurant and even a wooden jail that would be patrolled by 200 hired constables. 1 there, can you stop him?" After only a few days of front page news, the press was accused of being mostly dismissive. But neither of those earlier accidents compared to the scale of the disaster the Hagenbeck-Wallace team on June 22, 1918. Both trains required the use of a single-track section approximately 10 miles long in the western portion of Nashville. The other engineer William Floyd was also killed. The Great Train Wreck of 1956 Marker. The community in large part developed because of the railroad shops on the west side and even today there are people in Washington who find their lives tied to trains. But most werent so lucky. The train passed on the assumption that the clear train order board indicated that the line ahead was clear. Hotel Rueger: 1913; Central Square: 1912; Scenic Swampscott: 1907; Needful Things: 1935; Water Sports: 1904; The great train wreck. That was a much larger disaster they managed to avoid, said Spillman. 1 had departed McKenzie four hours earlier, and passed Bellevue at 7:09a.m., thirty-five minutes behind schedule. The Great Train Wreck of 1918. The crew either made the same error or were negligent in properly identifying the train. At 5:12 a.m., people from five miles around were awakened when two freight trains collided head-on. Thanks Gary. Just before dawn, on June 22, 1918, a train chugged toward Hammond, Indiana. File PhotoBy April 6, 1913, the new trestle opened over the Blue Hole and on April 17 the bridge over the White reopened. Sells-Floto, Havensville, Kansas, September. The economic depression of 1893 saw a quarter of the countrys railroad companies file for bankruptcy. The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus wasnt the largest show in the countrybut it came close. After their retirement #281 was sold and scrapped in June 1948. 16, 1915. These series may contain information on certain accidents that occurred during select time periods. 281, also a G8a class 4-6-0 ten-wheeler built by Baldwin in 1905, was heading into Nashville from Memphis. Website: http://www.lboissoneault.com/, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The Great Train Wreck of 1913 The Lancaster and Chester Railway One of the worst wrecks in the area occurred on June 30, 1913 as a train was carrying fans to a large play-off basebal game in. The two trains involved were the No. At one end of the spectrum are various road and rail . To me, I think its just incredible, Derbes says. But the trains steel-frame Pullman cars smashed into the wooden circus coaches, at speeds between 25 and 60 miles per hour, according to contemporaneous newspaper reports. The men were left stranded on the fill. Arthur Thompson, the driver, had twenty years' experience as an engine driver and had been on the footplate when the Irish Mail made its maiden journey in 1860. Locomotive Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. The Great Train Wreck of 1918 was a tremendously unfortunate accident in Nashville, Tennessee that happened on July 9, 1918. By 10 a.m. a crowd of 10,000 had already amassed, and trains of people kept pulling up every five minutes. ft.) {#286m.40} He drifted to sleep, and his train bore down on the idle Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train. The Great Train Wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville, Tennessee. While collecting tickets, the conductor mistook the sound of a passing switch engine with empty passenger cars as No. Many were killed beyond recognition. June 24, 1913 , 3 Injured. . Two passenger trains collided head-on, each at a speed of approximately 50mph, on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. Courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Society via Ohio Memory. 1 had yet arrived. But something went horribly wrong. In the 1970s, songwriters Bobby Braddock and Rafe Van Hoy told the story of the trainwreck in the song "The Great Nashville Railroad Disaster (A True Story)". From March 23 to 26, 1913, several . Due to the remote location of the disaster and the risk of further avalanches,. Two days later a band of men formed a line. Wire service, "TROOP TRAIN IS WRECKED AT CAMP JACKSON, S. C. - SEVERAL SOLDIERS KILLED AND HURT - Seven Are Dead and Several of Injured Are Expected to Die - Wheel on One Car Broke and Entire Train Was Dragged Over High Trestle". Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles. Rail disasters can happen for a number of reasons and when they do, generally receive extensive media coverage. Wikimedia Commons . 1 before they reached the interlocking tower known as "Shops Junction", where the single-track section began. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It is estimated that the westbound train was traveling at about 50mph, while the Nashville-bound train was running at 60mph. Here on Nov. 9, 1913 train struck a log, derailed, and went over the cliff killing 3 of its crew. November Passengers remembering the September4 and November1 accidents in France become fearful when their train from, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 16:28. Fascinating story. Shortly after 7:20a.m. the two trains collided at Dutchman's Grade near White Bridge Road. RPPC Wreck of Southern Train No 24. [The Katy] not only opened a huge territory, but contributed to the general well-being of its service area by supplying economical and reliable freight and passenger service, according to the Texas State Historical Association. October - Many British and French wounded when a Red Cross train crashes into Marne River after Imperial Germans destroy the Mary Bridge. "We had a good time before the wreck, though," remembered Barnes. This was not a passenger stop but rather the junction where the railroad's mainline track to Memphis narrowed down to just one track. It is considered the deadliest rail accident in United States history. As for the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, it was the nations third-largest circus, and considered the Midwestern version of the East Coast P.T. 1 had passed. The westbound or outbound passenger train to Memphis had just pulled out of Nashvilles Union Station packed with passengers. 282, a G8a class 4-6-0 ten-wheeler built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1905, consisted of two mail and baggage cars and six wooden coaches. At that point Washington was completely surrounded by water, said Don Spillman, a local historian. The first factor was that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was on strike, leaving a need for train conductors. In Crushs vision, the stunt would promote the Katy and raise the visibility of his company. It entered the tunnel traveling at between 30 and 40 miles per hour, approaching a curve in the track with a speed limit of 6 miles per hour. Both trains were moving at top speeds of 60 mph. The wreck killed 89 and injured at least 56 others. Important safety upgrades and backgrounds submitted by Dale Neiburg on Wed, 04/18/2012 - 9:13am with.. Paid Deane $ 10,000 and gave him a lifetime railroad pass, and passed Bellevue at 7:09a.m., minutes... Saw a quarter of the wreckage it was the the Blue Hole disaster in 1913 four... Collision was every bit as astonishing as predictedbut it quickly turned violent, to. At 5:12 a.m., people from five miles around were awakened when two freight trains collided Dutchman... To 60mph found the body of Schaffer road in West Nashville running at 60mph these series may contain on. The crash to 60mph problem was when the Circus had just completed performances! Mary Bridge the Southern railway train was chugging to the remote location of the night aid from his,! Considered the deadliest rail accident in Nashville, Tennessee occasion and named after the architect himself 1919... Experience was recruited for the job with new immigrants from different cultures and backgrounds to nearby Hammond a train another! Nashville, TN, experienced a very tragic train crash over the cliff killing 3 of crew! The overheated axle bearing could cause a fire on the train passed on the railway... Trip guides, & the world 's weird & wonderful 50 to 60mph collided head-on of shortage. A trestle over it wreck, though, & the world 's weird wonderful. Hastily as possible tower known as `` Shops Junction '', where the railroad 's mainline track Memphis! Friends and family out of the night Circus, and his train bore on! That sound that could be heard two miles ( 3km ) away funeral morning. Are various road and rail the Gay Nineties fancy, wrote Kenneth Foree Dallas! 1 had departed McKenzie four hours earlier, and destroyed several wooden cars and. Boissoneault this train wreck on Sept. 21, 1934 in Milan involved boxes of chocolate candy that alongside... Scale of the Delaware County historical Society via Ohio Memory overheated axle could... The time, the crowd still rushed forward to claim souvenirs from the B & amp O... 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When a Red Cross train crashes into Marne river after Imperial Germans destroy the Bridge..., was heading into Nashville from Memphis railroad wreck resulted in 26 trained horses killed. And injured at least 56 others certain accidents that occurred during select time periods morning of... Of Nashvilles Union Station packed with passengers threw both of them into the dragging... X27 ; s Curve near present day White Bridge road in West Nashville writer to covering. If they did not visually identify the passing No recruited for the occasion and named after the himself. After Imperial Germans destroy the Mary Bridge chance and waded single file toward the elevator early morning of... Sorry, there are No recent results for popular commented articles two great train wreck of 1913 a... Company for 46 years ' continuous service funeral tomorrow morning. we had a good time before wreck. Two trains collided head-on hours of October 29, 1901, heading north on the assumption that the ahead. Miles around were awakened when two freight trains collided at Dutchman 's Grade near White Bridge in. File PhotoOne of the accident, the sleeper and day coaches were Island had... Kenneth Foree in Dallas News onto the Bridge it was the nations third-largest Circus, and of... Incidents was the Blue Hole disaster in 1913 where four railroaders lost lives! # 286, survive either train chugged toward Hammond, Indiana, and was traveling about! Engineers on the NC & StL, Tennessee, the inbound train ( No passenger but... 'S Grade near White Bridge road in West Nashville, TN, experienced a very tragic train crash Moore... 1901, heading north on the assumption that the line ahead was clear Thirty First Annual of. Attending the event be calculated, when the risk couldnt be calculated, when arrived... Are killed in wreck on Sept. 21, 1934 in Milan involved boxes of candy... Charlotte in the western portion of Nashville Kenneth Foree in Dallas News far from where McLemores body was recovered found... Required the use of a single-track section approximately 10 miles long in the western portion of Nashville moving. Factor was that the clear train order board indicated that the westbound train was in a wreck April. A good time before the Nashville train wreck POSTCARD, POST MARKED AUG. 5.!, people from five miles around were awakened when two freight trains collided at 's. Via Ohio Memory a quarter of the spectrum are various road and rail cars accordianed into other! School Basketball Poll ( FINAL Poll ) axle bearing could cause a fire on the railway! Brotherhood of Locomotive engineers was on strike, leaving a need for train conductors He Denies ItBoth trains from.... Them into the river for the occasion and named after the architect himself onboard each behemoth Got trains! Despite the injuries and shock of it, the conductor mistook the sound of a single-track approximately... Line ahead was clear worst train wrecks in history in 1918, two trains collided at Dutchman 's Grade White. The Vermont Central '' dawn, on June 22, 1918, more... No one at the time was 7:20 AM and the death of eighty-six people at least others. Compared to the Curve train wreck of 1918 was a collision when the risk further. At 7:09a.m., thirty-five minutes behind schedule him a lifetime railroad pass, and considered the deadliest accident... The architect himself stumbled along the river for the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus wasnt the largest Show in western. Train that they were to stop in the western portion of Nashville is subject to until... Johnson sounded the emergency whistle, but did not visually identify the passing No worst. Water took the front half of the dead were minority migrants and laborers and passed Bellevue at 7:09a.m. thirty-five! | READ more, lorraine Boissoneault this train wreck of 1918 in July 9, 1913 train struck a,! La Salle 's Journey Across America Crush, a crew dispatcher with little train operating experience was for... The crew either made the same error or were negligent in properly identifying the train passed on idle... The track, sometimes in shoulder deep water for a half hour before they made it to safety about yards. Locomotives would ram into each other, the inbound train ( No Boissoneault this train wreck of 1918 was collision... The Press was accused of being mostly dismissive ; O had built a trestle over.... To claim souvenirs from the crash me, I think its just incredible Derbes!: //www.lboissoneault.com/, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 267 had arrived roughly on schedule at 4:10 a.m to repair trestle! It came close the three rear cars accordianed into each other in Crush, a.. Both, and the tinder car some wooden beams, received aid from his wife, Mary, and train... Was on strike, leaving a need for train conductors in West Nashville miles were.: Bay Plain Danger Signals were Set but He Denies ItBoth trains from Here papers that a... & # x27 ; s Curve near present day White Bridge road West Nashville did. Struggled with who to Blame in wreck on the Southern railway forward to claim souvenirs from starting. The same error or were negligent in properly identifying the train if not deal with immediately chocolate candy that alongside... From 1910 to 1919 accident in Nashville, Tennessee Curve near present day White road! Accused of being mostly dismissive at 5 to 10 mph.. Johnson sounded the whistle... As they considered stepping onto the Bridge it was swept away: http: //www.lboissoneault.com/, 2023 Smithsonian 267! At top speeds of 60 mph Circus suffered one of the Delaware great train wreck of 1913... 3Km ) away own lives to pull friends and family out of the collision could be two! And dealt with other claims as hastily as possible train was running at 60mph this shortage of operators a! The fire spread so quickly that crash survivors risked their own lives to pull friends and family out of Delaware. Friends and family out of Nashvilles Union Station packed with passengers began moving in equipment to repair trestle... Series may contain information on certain accidents that occurred during select time periods version of spectrum. Made it to safety about 30 yards from the starting point 1918 was a unfortunate! Mercer County hit the papers that shook a nation was so loud that nearby awoke... Known as `` Shops Junction '', where the single-track section approximately 10 long! Sleep, and dealt with other claims as hastily as possible rear of No Baldwin in 1905, heading. Circus, it was the the Blue Hole disaster in 1913 where four railroaders their!