Railway accident at Schönhausen

In the railway accident Schoenhausen went on 16 October 1917 at the railway station of Schönhausen (Elbe) , a special train on a freight train on. 26 people died.

Starting position

A freight train was traveling west on the Berlin-Lehrter Railway .

This was followed by train no. 2240, a special train for 250 children from Essen who were on their way home from a recreational stay.

the accident

The entry signal for Schönhausen station was set to "Free travel" for the freight train, but it braked and drove slowly because it was supposed to stop at Schönhausen station. The train route section in front of the station, which the freight train had not yet left, was blocked for subsequent train journeys by a signal showing "Halt" . The engine driver but the subsequent special train ignored the stop signal and drove into the blocked section. Since the entry signal for the freight train was still set to "clear travel", he saw it next, related it to his train and had no reason to reduce his speed until he recognized the freight train's final signal . The impact occurred at a relatively high speed. Several of the passenger cars of the special train were smashed.

consequences

26 people died, 25 children and a conductor , 16 other people, 15 children and one companion were injured. The engine driver and stoker of the approaching train were able to save themselves by jumping off.

literature

• Hans Joachim Ritzau: Railway disasters in Germany. Splinters of German history . Vol. 1: Landsberg-Pürgen 1979, p. 91.
• Ludwig Stockert : Railway accidents (new episode) - Another contribution to railway operations theory . Berlin 1920, no.86.
• Martin Weltner: Railway disasters. Serious train accidents and their causes. Munich 2008. ISBN 978-3-7654-7096-7 , p. 14.

Coordinates: 52 ° 35 ′ 25 ″  N , 12 ° 3 ′ 27 ″  E