Thompson Railroad Accident
The Thompson Railway Accident was a four-train crash in five minutes that occurred near East Thompson , Connecticut station on December 4, 1891 . There were two dead.
Starting position
The pile-up occurred on the New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE), at East Thompson Station, where the East Thompson – Southbridge railway branches off from the main NY&NE line. Today there are no more railway systems in the area of the station.
As planned, four trains were to pass through East Thompson station in quick succession that morning: The Long Island & Eastern States Express from New York City to Boston , the Norwich Steamboat Express from New London to Boston, a local freight train to Southbridge and another freight train, No. 212, in the direction of Boston. The railway line, which was actually single-track, had a long meeting track in the area of East Thompson station, so that it was double-tracked from the branch of the line to Southbridge to north of the station.
the accident
In order to keep the slow freight train No. 212 out of the route of the approaching Long Island & Eastern States Express , the dispatcher let it enter East Thompson Station on the left track of the line. He overlooked the fact that the track was already occupied by the local freight train coming from the opposite direction, which was supposed to turn to Southbridge. At 6:40 a.m., the two trains collided head-on shortly before the station. The wagons derailed, lay sideways and were partly pushed into the adjacent second track. The Long Island & Eastern States Express followed immediately and drove into the derailed freight cars that had been pushed onto the track that this train was using. The locomotive derailed and tore down an overhead line mast that killed the engine driver and stoker . An adjacent house was also destroyed. One of the railway workers involved was aware that the Norwich Steamboat Express was also approaching the scene of the accident and he sent another railway worker to warn him of the train. But this initiative came too late. The Norwich Steamboat Express could not brake fully and drove into the end of the Long Island & Eastern States Express . The locomotive of the Norwich Steamboat Express slipped into the last car, a sleeping car , about ten feet into it and set it on fire , as did the locomotive's cab . The locomotive crew got away with minor injuries.
consequences
Of the vehicles involved, all four locomotives, the sleeping car and a baggage car were destroyed in the accident and around 450 meters of track tore up. Except for the two railroad workers on the Long Island & Eastern States Express locomotive , there were no deaths, but several hundred were injured.
An investigation by the Coroner of Windham County followed because of the two deaths , which came to the conclusion that the train driver and train driver of freight train No. 212 were responsible for the death of the railway workers on the locomotive of the Long Island & Eastern States Express .
See also
literature
- Gregg M. Turner et al. Melancthon W. Jacobus: Connecticut Railroads: An Illustrated History. Hartford (Connecticut) 1985; 2nd edition 1989.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Marlene Clark: 116th Anniversary Of Train Wreck . In: Hartford Courant v. November 28, 2007.
Coordinates: 42 ° 0 ′ 32 " N , 71 ° 48 ′ 33.1" W.