Langenwang railway accident
In the railway accident of Langenwang went on 25 September 1951 in the station Langenwang on the Austrian Southern Railway , a fast train to the edge of a shifting freight train . 21 people were killed in the railway accident.
Starting position
The D 589 from Vienna Südbahnhof to Roma Termini left Vienna on the evening of September 24, 1951 for its journey over the Semmering route . The steam locomotive 33118 with a Tender 12 cars were hung: first a luggage cart , then a Bahnpostwagen with steel box body, and finally the cars . The first passenger car was an Austrian bogie car from 1907 with wooden superstructures of the (old) second class . This was completely occupied by a group of Italian railway workers and their families from Venice and Ancona who had visited Vienna at the invitation of Austrian railway workers . The train was delayed due to speed limits and controls on the border between the Soviet and British occupation zones at Semmering .
The dispatcher from Langenwang assumed that the delay of the express train was so considerable that he was able to carry out a shunting trip in his station in the meantime: The express freight train Vienna - Graz was to be moved from platform 4 to platform 3 to park freight wagons at its freight shed . To do this, the two continuous main tracks had to be crossed behind the station's southern exit signal . The freight train was covered by the exit signal, but for safety reasons it was stipulated that a train was not permitted to enter the station during such a train movement. In the middle of the shunting journey, the dispatcher received a message from his colleague from Mürzzuschlag that the D 589 was approaching. The dispatcher from Langenwang wanted to avoid stopping the express train in Langenwang, as he feared official consequences if the train were delayed further. He therefore already prepared everything for his passage: he set the entry signal and entry pre- signal to "drive free" and "await free passage", also released the exit signal and exit pre-signal in blocks so that it was set to "drive free" as quickly as possible after the end of the shunting drive to be able to convert. Then he went to the freight train to speed up the movement.
the accident
The freight train's locomotive was pushing the freight wagons back from track 1, the main line heading south, onto track 3. There were, however, groups of wagons that had to be pushed together, which took some time. The freight train was still partly on track 1.
The engine driver of the express train overlooked the distant signal for the exit signal and drove into the station at full speed. The dispatcher ran towards the arriving train and gave an emergency signal with his hand, which the locomotive driver also saw - but only 50 to 60 m before the exit signal showing the “stop” - and initiated an emergency braking . The remaining braking distance was no longer long enough: the express train drove the shunting freight train into the flank at around 50–60 km / h.
The freight wagons hit were smashed, the express train's locomotive derailed and slid a long way along the embankment. The engine driver was thrown from the driver's cab , but survived, as did the five officers who worked in the mail car. The heater was jammed in the locomotive and had to be freed with cutting torches . Luggage and mail cars reared up on the impact and the latter fell on the following first passenger car, which was completely destroyed.
consequences
The Austrian Federal President Theodor Körner and the Austrian Federal Minister for Transport and Nationalized Enterprises Karl Waldbrunner visited the accident site.
21 people died - without exception members of the Italian tour group from the first passenger car - 16 were dead on the spot, 5 more died from their injuries in the following days. In addition, 50 people were injured, 11 seriously. The innocent at the accident heater of the freight train suffered as a result of the accident to depression and committed in November 1951 suicide . The dispatcher as well as the engine driver and stoker of the D589 were sentenced to prison terms, which were eased after appeal.
The high number of fatalities was due to an outdated wagon with a wooden box, which, in the post-war period, had to be used in large numbers due to the lack of alternatives. The accident was therefore a further rise to a modernization program, known in the ancient to the undercarriages car Spantenwagen were built with steel boxes.
literature
- Alfred Horn : The train collision in Langenwang in 1951 . Eisenbahnverkehr aktuell , 7/2019, pp. 380–383.
- NN: The railway accident in Langenwang . Eisenbahn Österreich , 10/1951, pp. 229–231.
- Ascanio Schneider u. Armin Masé: Disasters on the rails. Railway accidents, their causes and consequences . Zurich 1968, pp. 82–86.
- Josef Otto Slezak: The distant signal is astonishing. Strange things from the railways around the world. Vienna 1952.
Remarks
- ^ Photo of the accident site near Slezak, p. 143.
Individual evidence
- ↑ A. Horn, Eisenbahnverkehr aktuell, 7/2019
- ↑ A. Horn, Eisenbahnverkehr aktuell, 7/2019
- ^ Schneider / Masé.
- ↑ A. Horn, Eisenbahnverkehr aktuell, 7/2019
- ^ Schneider / Masé
- ^ Schneider / Masé.
- ^ Schneider / Masé.
- ↑ A. Horn, Eisenbahnverkehr aktuell, 7/2019
- ↑ A. Horn, Eisenbahnverkehr aktuell, 7/2019
Coordinates: 47 ° 34 '0.7 " N , 15 ° 36' 38.6" E