Railway accident at Schüpfheim

Railway accident at Schüpfheim
Locomotive and end car BC4ü after the impact
Main track from Lucerne to Escholzmatt Switch 14 Separation point between C4ü and BC4ü Switch 11 20 m behind the separation point BC4ü from train 369 on track 2 Collision point 110 m behind the separation point Locomotive from train 3392 on track 2 C4ü from train 369 next to platform 3 Train end 369 on track 3 Situation map of the scene of the accident in the Schüpfheim station

Impact of the C4ü driving on track 2 and 3 with the locomotive of the waiting passenger train.

Left side wall of the penultimate C4ü 9654 lightweight steel car

The interior of the third-class car C4ü, seen from behind.

The end of the BC4ü lightweight steel car that was compressed by the impact. The bogie is almost undamaged.

The Schüpfheim railway accident was a collision between the last two cars of an express train and a waiting train on October 17, 1943 at the Schüpfheim station . The station master put the retract soft under the penultimate car of a passing express train Luzern - Bern . Six people were killed.

Starting position

On the single-track route Bern-Lucerne the SBB operate both quick and passenger trains . When two such trains cross , the passenger train waits for the oncoming express train, which usually passes through the crossing station without stopping.

On October 17, 1943, the 3392 passenger train from Bern to Lucerne was waiting in the Schüpfheim station on platform 2 for the 369 Lucerne – Bern light express train. The 274-meter-long express train 369 consisted of ten heavily occupied lightweight steel cars and weighed 473 tons. The entry point 14, about 240 meters from the station building, was set up so that the light express train could pass through on platform 3.

The light express train was the name given to express trains that were run in what was then the ultra-modern light steel car. Light steel wagons were 25 to 32 percent lighter than the steel wagons common at the time.

the accident

Light express train 369 drove through track 3 at 73 km / h according to the schedule at 9:21 p.m. When the penultimate car C4ü 9654 was above the entry point 14, the officer on duty changed the point early. The rear bogie of the fully occupied third class car C4ü did not roll on track 3, but on track 2. The last car, a second / third class car BC4ü 4812, drove on track 2. Shortly after switch 14, the rear bogie of the C4ü, which now ran on two tracks, derailed . The left wheels of its rear bogie ran on the inside of the right rail of track 2. The C4ü separated from the end car BC4ü about 20 meters in front of switch 11, which triggered an emergency brake . The front bogie of the C4ü also derailed and the third-class car rolled on at an initial speed of about 67 km / h at an angle of about 30 ° to the track axis.

After more than 100 meters, the C4ü hit the locomotive of the stopping passenger train 3392 at around 60 km / h. The force of the oblique impact threw the fully occupied car over onto platform 3. In doing so, he separated from the cars in front and stood upright a few meters behind the locomotive of the opposite train next to platform 3. The front part of the express train also came to a stop after a short time.

After the separation from the C4ü, the final car BC4ü was decelerated more than the rest of the express train due to the rapid braking. A few seconds later, the also fully occupied BC4ü hit the passenger train's locomotive head-on and stopped on platform 2.

There were around 150 people in the two light steel cars involved in the accident. The clash left 6 dead. Of the approximately fifty injured, 27 had to be admitted to the hospitals in Lucerne , Langnau and Bern .

The accident was due to the fact that the station master switched point 14 before the last wagons of the express train had passed the switch.

consequences

In the third-class C4ü car, part of the left side wall was dented as a result of the oblique impact with the locomotive. The floor and roof of the car withstood the impact and prevented even greater destruction of the car. In the BC4ü final car, only the front half-compartment with the toilet was compressed against the car body . This destroyed the kinetic energy of the impact and the inner compartments with the passengers remained almost undamaged. The Schüpfheim accident demonstrated the strength of the car body of the then new light steel car of the SBB. This kept the consequences for the occupants - compared to the wooden box wagons widely used at the time - within limits.

The entire FC La Chaux-de-Fonds team that was on their way back from a match in Lugano drove in one of the derailed lightweight steel cars . The team's supervisor, Charles Daepp, was killed in the accident. Several football players suffered injuries.

literature

Strength of steel railroad cars. (PDF 0.8 MB) In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung (SBZ), Volume 123 (1944), Issue 3. pp. 25–29 , accessed on April 15, 2015 . 

References and comments

1. ↑ SBZ, p. 25
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Results of the accident statistics for the sixth five-year observation period 1943–1947. (PDF, 2.3 MB) Swiss Accident Insurance Fund, accessed on October 18, 2013 . 
3. ↑ Light steel wagon of the Swiss Federal Railways: built by Switzerland. Wagons and elevator factory Schlieren. (PDF 1.4 MB) In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 110 (1937), Issue 2. pp. 13-14 , accessed on April 15, 2015 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Railway accident in Entlebuch. (PDF; 292 kB) 3 dead. 27 seriously injured. In: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt. October 19, 1943, p. 3 , accessed April 15, 2015 . 
5. ↑ In the case of points that are set with a relay interlocking or electronic interlocking that is often used today , switching under a train is no longer possible thanks to the signal dependency .
6. ↑ Well-known footballers among the injured. (PDF; 411 kB) In: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt. October 21, 1943, p. 2 , accessed April 15, 2015 .