Cuyahoga Falls railway accident

In the Cuyahoga Falls railroad accident on July 31, 1940, a railcar and a freight train collided head-on near Cuyahoga Falls , Ohio , USA . 43 people died.

Starting position

The Pennsylvania Railroad's No. 4648 diesel multiple unit was on schedule on the 21 km single-track route from Hudson to Akron . In the opposite direction, a train of 73 freight cars pulled by a steam locomotive traveled the route. The driver had been instructed in Hudson, the station Silver Lake to wait in a siding and leave the heavy freight will pass.

the accident

Contrary to this instruction, the railcar drove through Silver Lake station . Why, could not be clarified later: Although the driver survived the accident, he could remember the instructions for the train crossing at Silver Lake station , but no longer how to drive through the station. A little later there was a head-on collision between the relatively light railcar and the heavy freight train. Both vehicles were still braking and the driver, the conductor and another railroad worker managed to jump off before the collision. They survived seriously injured. Both trains collided with each other with an added speed of about 90 km / h at 5:58 p.m. The freight train's locomotive pushed itself about four meters into the railcar and then pushed it 150 meters in front of it. The fuel tank of the railcar tore, the fuel splashed through the whole vehicle and ignited explosively .

consequences

Memorial stone near the accident site

43 people died and five were also injured, including the three railway workers mentioned and two passers-by. All passengers were killed, only nine of them by the collision, all others were burned. The freight train stayed on the track .

There were no criminal proceedings against the driver because it could not be ruled out that he had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from the vehicle's exhaust fumes and was therefore unfit to drive at the moment of his wrong decision.

In 2005, a school project turned into a memorial near the site of the accident.

See also

• List of rail accidents in the United States

literature

• ICC : Investigation No. 2440
• Beth Rankin: Doodlebug Crash Memorial Stirs Old Stories, Grief . In: Akron Bea-con Journal.

Web links

• Stu Beitler: Cuyahoga Falls, OH Head On Train Collision, July 1940 . In: Piqua Daily Call from August 1, 1940 (with photographs from the scene of the accident).
• The Doodlebug Tragedy (with photographs from the scene of the accident).
• Cuyahoga Falls History: The Doodlebug .
• Bowed Radio at the Doodlebug Memorial .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Beitler.
2. ^ ICC: Investigation No. 2440 .
3. ^ ICC: Investigation No. 2440 .
4. ^ ICC: Investigation No. 2440 .
5. ↑ Bowed Radio .

Coordinates: 41 ° 8 ′ 42.9 "  N , 81 ° 28 ′ 23.8"  W.