Railway accident in Schwarzenau

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The railway accident in Schwarzenau was an attack on the Franz-Josefs-Bahn near Schwarzenau on November 4, 1875, during which a passenger train derailed . Probably 8 people died.

Starting position

The Franz-Josefs-Bahn ran at Schwarzenau train station, Lower Austria , on a 10-meter-high embankment with a gradient of 5 ‰ and with a curve towards the 9-meter-long Limpfingser Bridge , a wooden bridge that crossed a street.

On the evening of November 3, two freight trains were still en route at around 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. , and they passed the accident site without any problems. The next train was followed up 0:30 of the passenger train no. 9 of Vienna Franz Josef station to Prague . 128 travelers were on the train . It consisted of a steam locomotive with a tender and 14 cars .

The route attendant responsible for the route section was in an economic emergency due to a large family and low income. He therefore developed the idea of ​​provoking an accident situation, but "saving" the train from the accident and receiving a reward for it.

the accident

After the freight trains had passed through, the station attendant released a 6-meter-long section of track from the outer track in the curve and positioned himself on the track with a warning light above the point, a bit in the direction of Vienna. However, there was heavy fog . When the train came, the fog was so thick that the locomotive crew did not notice the warning light and drove past the station attendant. At around 12:30 a.m., the passenger train drove into the damaged part of the track and derailed along the tangent of the curve. The locomotive , tender and eleven wagons fell from the embankment, some of them onto the road under the bridge. Only the last three cars on the train were spared. The locomotive came to rest on the road, and the following cars piled up on it: three baggage cars , a mail car and four passenger cars .

consequences

Memorial plaque for the employees of the Franz-Josefs-Bahn who died in the railway accident.

Four railway workers, including a locomotive driver and stoker, as well as a post office worker who served in the mail car , were killed. At least three travelers died and five more were injured. The four killed railwaymen and postal workers were given a "state funeral" on the cemetery of Windigsteig .

The forensic investigation revealed very clearly that an attack had been carried out. The perpetrator (s) could not initially be identified, and nothing could be proven to the railway attendant. The police suspected “subversives” as the perpetrators. The matter had to be put to the files unresolved.

The railroad attendant was later transferred to another route and given early retirement due to mental health problems. When calculating the pension, he received a number of fictitious years of work as compensation for the shock suffered in the accident on the job. It was only more than 35 years later, shortly before the First World War , that he confessed to the fact on his deathbed. According to the bereaved, the confession was officially recorded, but - in order not to damage their reputation - it was simply put on file and not published.

literature

  • Edmund Daniek: The terrible railway accident near Schwarzenau on November 4, 1875 . In: Das Waldviertel 2 (1929), No. 6, pp. 81–87.
  • Ascanio Schneider u. Armin Masé: Disasters on the rails. Railway accidents, their causes and consequences . Zurich 1968, p. 285f.
  • Ludwig Ritter von Stockert : Railway accidents. A contribution to railway operations theory. Vol. 1, Leipzig 1913, p. 268, no.196.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to Daniek, there were 13 cars that crashed.
  2. ↑ After Daniek, only the last car remained standing on the embankment because the coupling broke.
  3. ↑ Daniek, p. 83, reports of other, unidentified dead, but he does not name their number.
  4. ↑ NN: Stories names 11 dead and also 81, some seriously injured; Schneider / Masé name 9 dead.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NN: Stories .
  2. ↑ Daniek, p. 83.
  3. ^ Schneider / Masé, p. 286.
  4. ↑ Daniek, pp. 83, 87.
  5. ↑ Stockert; Daniek.
  6. ↑ Daniek, p. 84.
  7. ↑ Daniek, pp. 85f.
  8. ↑ Daniek, S. 87th


Coordinates: 48 ° 45 ′ 28 "  N , 15 ° 16 ′ 52.1"  E