Little Falls Railroad Accident
In the Little Falls railway accident on April 19, 1940, a New York Central Railroad (NYC) long-distance train derailed near Little Falls , New York , USA . 30 people died.
Starting position
At Little Falls , the route that connects New York City with Chicago ("Water Level Route") lies in a narrow valley. The curve in the entire NYC network with the smallest radius, the “Gulf Curve”, was also located here. At the same time, a road bridge with brick abutments crossed the railway line at this point . While on the rest of the route mostly 120 km / h was permitted, there was a maximum speed of 70 km / h here. A train protection system should ensure that this was observed, which triggered an alarm signal in the driver's cab of the locomotive if the speed was exceeded.
That evening, the Lake Shore Limited was 21 minutes late from New York to Chicago on the route. He drove 15 cars.
the accident
For an unexplained cause - the engine driver did not survive the accident - the train did not reduce its speed until the last second. Only then did the engine driver brake. The train was carried out of the curve, the locomotive and the first three wagons hit the bridge's abutments and were badly damaged. The following wagons, including the eleventh, derailed. The end of the train, cars 12 to 15, stayed on the track.
consequences
30 people died and 100 were also injured.
See also
literature
- Peter WB Semmens: Disasters on the rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Peter WB Semmens: Catastrophes on rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 , p. 103.