Nannhofen railway accident
The railway accident Nannhofen was the edge ride a fast train into the station Nannhofen shunting freight train with passenger transport on 17 April 1917 to 22 clock. 30 people died.
Starting position
The signaling
Up until 1907, the main and distant signals “Driving” or “Driving expect” were not signaled with a green but with a white light at night. At the Royal Bavarian State Railways , this was maintained well beyond this point in time, as they shied away from the costs of retrofitting.
Trains
The express train D 53 ran from Ulm to Munich and was reported that evening with a slight delay. He should have passed the Nannhofen train station at 9:54 p.m. without stopping.
The express freight train (EGz) 926 reached Nannhofen at 21:46. It consisted of a few passenger cars that ran behind the locomotive and then a number of freight cars. He was supposed to park the last of the freight wagons at the goods handling ramp in Nannhofen. The dispatcher at Nannhofen station had not been informed about this beforehand. He only found out about this from the train attendants late when he had already dispatched the train. Since the D 53 was delayed, he had the exit signal for the freight train reset and the train back up to the goods handling area. The freight car intended for Nannhofen was parked there and the train drove back to its exit track.
The railway infrastructure
For this shunting movement , the freight train had to cross the opposite track that the D 53 was to use shortly afterwards. The dispatcher left the entry signal for the express train in the stop position, set the route for the freight train and had the shunting maneuver carried out.
On the evening of the accident, there was a snowstorm and visibility was poor.
the accident
What the dispatcher didn't know was that the express train had recovered most of its delay. The engine driver of the express train did not see the entry signal showing "Halt", ran over it and hit the express freight train at the exact moment when the passenger cars it was carrying crossed the opposite track.
The train driver stated after the accident that he saw three white light, which the heater has been confirmed. Due to the snowstorm, the signal light was not recognizable and the engine driver probably mistook the illuminated windows of the passenger cars of the crossing express freight train for the signal light.
consequences
30 people died, 80 were mostly seriously injured. 5 wagons were destroyed, the locomotive of the express train and its tender overturned.
The accident showed again that if the signal light was extinguished or - as in this case presumably covered by snow - there was a risk of confusing other light sources in the route with the signal light. After several unharmed accidents, the signaling order was therefore changed. By 1913, all German railway administrations had replaced the white light with the green light, which is still in use today and which could not be easily confused. The only exception was Bavaria of all places, which until 1919 only equipped one line according to the new regulations.
The circumstances of the accident and an expert opinion that showed further deficiencies in the signaling system at the time led to an acquittal for the train driver.
literature
- NN: The Nannhofen railway accident in court and the lessons learned from it . Munich 1919.
- Hans Joachim Ritzau: Shadow of Railway History: A Comparison of British, US and German Railways. From the beginning until 1945 . Pürgen 1987, p. 105.
- Hans-Joachim Ritzau: From Siegelsdorf to Aitrang. The railway disaster as a symptom - a study of the history of traffic . Landsberg 1972.
- Ludwig Stockert : Railway accidents (new episode) - Another contribution to railway operations theory . Berlin 1920, No. 125.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Stockert: Railway accidents (NF), names 33 dead and 25 seriously injured.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ritzau: Von Siegelsdorf , p. 105.
- ↑ Ritzau: Von Siegelsdorf , p. 105.
- ↑ Ritzau: Von Siegelsdorf , p. 105.
- ^ Ritzau: Von Siegelsdorf , p. 106.
- ^ Stockert: Railway accidents (NF).
- ↑ Ritzau: Von Siegelsdorf , p. 108.
Coordinates: 48 ° 13 '0.5 " N , 11 ° 10' 32.7" E