Wallingford Railway Accident
The Wallingford Railroad Accident on September 2, 1913 was a rear-end collision near Wallingford , Connecticut , USA , on a busy route on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad to New York City . 26 people died.
the accident
Several trains ran the double-track line in a row in the direction of New York, which was secured by automatic route block. Visibility was poor because of fog. In an unscheduled stop of "Bar Harbor Express" initially was brakeman "forgotten" who had to secure the train in such situations to the rear. So the express stopped again to pick up the brakes. As the train followed his train, he heard the “White Mountain Express” approaching at considerable speed. He ran towards him, but couldn't stop him. The “White Mountain Express” smashed the last two wagons of the “Bar Harbor Express” and seriously damaged another one.
During the investigation into the accident it was found that the engine driver of the “White Mountain Express” had been on duty 159 hours in the week up to the accident and only had a nine hour break in between. There was a lack of trained locomotive drivers.
See also
literature
- Peter WB Semmens: Disasters on the rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 , pp. 42-43.