Mud Run Railway Accident

Cars pushed into one another after the accident

The Mud Run railroad accident was a rear-end collision on October 10, 1888 that occurred on a stretch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in Kidder Township , Carbon County , Pennsylvania , when a "stop" signal was overlooked covering a broken-down train . 66 people died in the accident .

Starting position

The trains were involved in the accident in a series of eight special trains a mass event, the 5,000 participants Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America (Catholic abstinence association thereof of America ) in Hazleton for Luzerne County and Lackawanna County should return. In order to be able to handle the trains relatively quickly , they were sent out on the route every ten minutes. The trains each had eight to twelve cars and were pulled by two locomotives because of the steep incline on the route . There was an additional railroad worker on the locomotive in front to watch for the signals .

the accident

The first four trains completed their journey without incident. The fifth train was about 500 meters behind the breakpoint Mud Run to a halt as a signal there blocked the route. The conductor and another railroad worker marked the end of the train with a red lantern and ran towards the next, sixth train to warn it.

The crew of the locomotive of the sixth train overlooked the entry signal in Mud Run, which required a “stop” . When she noticed the two men on the fifth train who drew her attention to the train standing in front of them, it was too late: the existing braking distance was too short to stop the sixth train. The locomotive of the sixth train hit the last passenger car of the fifth train with such force that it pushed two thirds of it into the penultimate car and some of it into the third from the last. There were no survivors in the last car. 66 dead and 50 injured were the result. 37 dead came from the small village of Pleasant Valley (today: Avoca ) and many were teenagers from a band .

examination

The crew of the locomotive of the sixth train and the conductor of the fifth train were found guilty of gross negligence by the jury of the coroner . The signal observer on the locomotive of the sixth train even stated that he had seen a red light, but had attached no importance to it, since it was never used. In the subsequent criminal trial on March 16, 1889, all of the accused were acquitted .