Eden railway accident

The Eden railway accident on August 7, 1904 was caused by a bridge washed away under a train . 111 people were killed.

Starting position

Missouri Pacific Railroad's No. 11 express train was en route from Denver , Colorado to St. Louis , Missouri that day. The engine driver had received a warning to ensure that the bridges over the wadis to be crossed were in order and not damaged by flash floods due to a thunderstorm . So he only drove at around 20 km / h. The train consisted of the locomotive with a tender , a subsequent baggage car , the seating car and the smoking car. At the end of the train there were dining cars and two Pullman cars . 12 km north of Pueblo was a wadi near the Eden train station (now a northern suburb of Pueblo) to cross.

accident

The bridge over the wadi was undamaged and so the engine driver drove over it. While the train was crossing the bridge - the locomotive was already on the opposite bank - a flash flood rushing through the wadi overturned the wagons moving on the bridge to the right and washed the bridge away from under the train. The coupling between the front part of the train and the Pullman car broke. The front part of the train fell into the river and swept the locomotive backwards. A conductor in one of the Pullman cars that were still on the exit bank pulled the emergency brake so that the cars stopped on the exit bank, the one in front hanging from the broken bridge over the river.

consequences

29 people were able to save themselves from this rear part of the train (the relevant numbers vary). In the front part of the train only 4 people survived, 97 were killed, 14 could not be found. Corpses were recovered up to 35 kilometers below the accident site in the Arkansas River . The use of sniffer dogs had to be canceled due to quicksand . The locomotive was found right next to the bridge, and the wagons that had fallen into the river were found 7 kilometers down the valley. The first rescue train reached the scene of the accident after four hours. The bridge was repaired immediately and traffic on the route resumed 24 hours after the accident.

See also

• List of rail accidents in the United States

swell

• Telluride Journal . Telluride, San Miguel County, Colorado v. August 11, 1904.
• Colorado Springs Gazette v. 9/12 August 1904.

Web links

• 1904 Train Wreck, Eden, Colorado - (English) .
• Pueblo County, Colorado - 1904 Railroad Accident - (English) .
• Pueblo County CO Archives News: List of Dead and Missing in Sunday's Railroad Wreck August 12, 1904 .

Coordinates: 38 ° 18'56.2 "  N , 104 ° 36'25.2"  W.