Railway accident in Frankfurt Central Station

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The locomotive in the waiting room

In the railway accident in Central Station Frankfurt on December 6, 1901 crossed the locomotive of Ostende-Wien-Express in Central Station Frankfurt , today Frankfurt Central Station , a terminus station , the buffer stop , the locomotive and its train tender only in the waiting room of the first and second class of Station came to a standstill.

Starting position

The accident happened early in the morning around 5 a.m. The station was still relatively empty at this time.

The Ostend-Wien-Express , a luxury train that carried only three sleeping cars , a mail car and a baggage car , was pulled by the Mainz 329 steam locomotive . The locomotive was a class S 3 express train engine of the Prussian State Railways . The train was an hour late that day. The last stop was Mainz main station . There had been no problems there yet. In Frankfurt Central Station , the train drove on platform 2 (today: platform 4).

the accident

The following investigation emphasized the very high speed with which the train driver tried to reduce the delay on the journey from Mainz to Frankfurt. According to the engine driver, the compressed air brake failed when entering the station due to a malfunction . During the judicial investigation, however, it turned out that he had failed to top up the brake's compressed air supply while driving. As a result, the compressed air brake actuated in good time showed no effect. The locomotive ran over the bumper. The coupling between the locomotive and the rolling stock broke . The locomotive shot over the cross platform , broke through the opposite wall and came - slightly dented - to a standstill in the waiting room of the first and second class . The cars themselves stopped on the track.

consequences

Nobody was injured because the accident occurred at 5 a.m. in the still rather empty train station. The intact train is said to have resumed its journey with a new locomotive very soon. Some of the passengers did not notice the event at all. On the other hand, one of the photos of the accident - in addition to the railway staff proudly presenting themselves in the scene - shows a row of passenger cars behind the crashed locomotive. The hole in the wall of the waiting room was about 10 x 12 meters. There are contradicting information on property damage with 30,000 and approx. 50,000 marks . The accident was the "climax" of a whole series of such accidents in Frankfurt Central Station. The first had already occurred on the evening of the opening day of the station.

The train driver was sentenced to a fine of 100 marks for endangering the train and neglecting his duties. The locomotive was repaired due to the only moderate damage.

Trivia

  • Photos of this accident, which show the locomotive in the dining room in the middle of the tables set for breakfast, became very well known and depicted many times.
  • In part of the literature it is stated - incorrectly - that the train that crashed was the Orient Express. However, the Orient Express never ran via Frankfurt am Main .

Similar accidents

literature

  • Markus Meinold: The locomotive drivers of the Prussian State Railroad 1880–1914 . Hövelhof 2008. ISBN 978-3-937189-40-6 , p. 129.
  • Press and Information Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main: Frankfurt presents: The main train station . Frankfurt 1993.
  • Ludwig Ritter von Stockert : Railway accidents. A contribution to railway operations theory. , Vol. 1. Leipzig 1913, pp. 205 f., No. 95.
  • Hans Joachim Ritzau: Railway disasters in Germany. Splinters of German history . Vol. 1. Landsberg-Pürgen 1979, p. 69.
  • Heinz Schomann : The Frankfurt Central Station . Stuttgart 1983. ISBN 3-421-02801-X .
  • Report on the court hearing against the train driver and stoker in the Darmstädter Zeitung on April 28, 1902

References

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ferdinand von Rüden: Frankfurt am Main transport hub. From the beginning until around 1980 . EK-Verlag GmbH 2012. ISBN 978-3-88255-246-1 , p. 37.
  2. ↑ http://www.albert-gieseler.de/dampf_de/lokdaten16/lokdet161589.shtml
  3. ↑ Schomann, p. 161.
  4. ^ Stockert, p. 206.
  5. ↑ Darmstädter Zeitung of April 28, 1902
  6. ↑ Meinold, p. 129.
  7. ^ Press and Information Office (lit.-directory); Ferdinand von Rüden: Frankfurt am Main transport hub. From the beginning until around 1980 . EK-Verlag GmbH 2012. ISBN 978-3-88255-246-1 , p. 37.
  8. ^ Stockert, p. 206.
  9. ↑ A list can be found in Schomann, p. 161.
  10. ↑ ZB: Schomann, p. 161; Press and Information Office (lit.-directory); Ludwig Ritter von Stockert: Railway accidents. A contribution to railway operations theory. , Vol. 2. Leipzig 1913, Fig. 55.
  11. ↑ Schomann, p. 161; Press and Information Office (lit.-directory); Hans-Otto Meissner: Railway Safari. On rails through five continents . Bertelsmann, Munich 1980, p. 111.

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 22.9 ″  N , 8 ° 39 ′ 49.4 ″  E