Porter Railway Accident
In the Porter railway accident on February 27, 1921 near Porter , Indiana , USA , two passenger trains collided at the level crossing of two railway lines . 37 people died.
Starting position
The intersection concerned a multi-track route of the Michigan Central Railroad (MC) and the New York Central Railroad (NYC), which intersected at Porter at an angle of about 45 degrees. The crossing was secured by interdependent signals and track closures, the latter installed 90 meters from the crossing point, and the maximum speed allowed to be traveled was 65 km / h.
On the NYC, the Interstate Express approached the intersection and the responsible signal box allowed him to drive. This automatically activated the track closures for the crossing line of the MC.
On the route of the MC approached Canadian with destination Toronto , Montreal and Quebec . Its locomotive driver made two mistakes: he perceived the last signal before the intersection as "clear travel" and failed to reduce the speed to the prescribed 65 km / h.
the accident
The Canadian's locomotive jumped off the rails at the barrier, but then sloped up again and came to a stop 120 meters past the intersection. The coupling to the train she was leading broke, the following cars derailed, slipped a little further and also came to a stop - one in the middle of the intersection. Immediately afterwards, the Interstate Express drove into the car.
consequences
37 people died: 35 passengers on the Canadian and the locomotive crew of the Interstate Express .
See also
literature
- Peter WB Semmens: Disasters on the rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 .
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 41 ° 35 ′ 16.9 ″ N , 87 ° 11 ′ 0.6 ″ W.