Zschortau railway accident
The Zschortau railway accident on May 5, 1902 was caused by the breakage of a tender axle on the Munich - Berlin night train ( D-Zug 21). Two dead, three seriously and four slightly injured were the result.
Framework
The train was on its way from Munich Central Station to Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof . It consisted of the locomotive , the tender , a baggage car, four passenger cars of the old first and second class and a sleeping car running at the end of the train . The train was coming from Leipzig as it approached the scene of the accident.
the accident
Shortly before the Zschortau train station , just before 5 a.m., the third and last axle of the tender broke, but it only derailed after it had passed through the train station. The following baggage car remained on the track , but the three following passenger cars derailed. The first two of these cars overturned, including the through car from Rome . The coupling between the baggage car and the passenger car broke and the front part of the train only came to a stop after 600 meters. By then, the tender had lost the defective axle. The locomotive - like the last sleeping car that ran - remained undamaged on the track.
Examination result
The broken tender axle was delivered in 1898 and showed no material defects. Nevertheless, it was broken in the hub on both sides at the same time . A conclusive cause for this could never be determined.
consequences
Two travelers were killed in the accident , including the Bavarian national liberal member of the Reichstag, Johann Friedel (second constituency in Upper Franconia ), who was on his way to a meeting of the Reichstag . In addition, seven more people were injured.
More accidents
This was only the first accident in a row in which the D 21 was involved. In addition, the following are known:
- On November 19, 1902 , the train drove at the Schwarzenfeld station exit on the Regensburg – Weiden railway line on a freight train that was also leaving late . Its last four wagons were smashed, 2 brakemen of the freight train died. The cause was a misunderstood telephone order from the station master to a railway attendant .
- On May 1, 1906 , the train was involved in another rear-end collision at Regenstauf . Due to a wrongly set point, he ran into a freight train that he was supposed to overtake. A prominent passenger on the train was Thomas Mann , who dealt with the events in the story The Railway Accident - published in 1909.
- On August 9, 1925, after ignoring a signal on the Regensburg – Weiden railway line between Wernberg and Luhe , the train ran into a freight train . 3 people died, 13 were also injured.
literature
- Ludwig Ritter von Stockert : Railway accidents. A contribution to railway operations theory. , Vol. 1. Leipzig 1913, pp. 223f, No. 130.
- Hans Joachim Ritzau: Railway disasters in Germany. Splinters of German history . Vol. 1: Landsberg-Pürgen 1979, p. 106.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ludwig Ritter von Stockert: Railway accidents. A contribution to railway operations theory. , Vol. 1. Leipzig 1913, p. 185, no. 49; Ritzau, p. 26.
- ↑ Mark Meinold: The engine driver of the Prussian State Railway 1880-1914 . Hövelhof 2008. ISBN 978-3-937189-40-6 , p. 170; Ritzau, p. 29.
- ↑ Thomas Mann: The railway accident. In: The Stories. German paperback publisher. Frankfurt 1986, pp. 462-473.
- ↑ Ritzau, p. 40.
Coordinates: 51 ° 28 ′ 49.6 " N , 12 ° 21 ′ 45.1" E