List of rail accidents (1930–49)

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This is a list of rail accidents from 1930 to 1949.

1930s

1930

• January 6, 1930 – United Kingdom – The rear carriages of a Southern Railway passenger train from Hastings to London are partially buried by a landslip near Wadhurst tunnel. The train is divided and the front part continues on to Tunbridge Wells, where it arrives 100 minutes late.^[1]
• March 6, 1930 – United Kingdom – a London, Midland and Scottish Railway passenger train departs from Culgaith station, Cumberland against signals. It is in collision with a ballast train at Langwathby station, Cumberland. Two people are killed and four are seriously injured.^[2]
• March 22, 1930 – United Kingdom – A London, Midland and Scottish Railway Royal Scot express passenger train is derailed at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire when a crossover is taken at excessive speed.^[3]

1931

• January 3, 1931 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train is derailed at Carlisle, Cumberland due to excessive speed through a curve. Three people are killed.^[4]
• January 17, 1931 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway newspaper train departs from Thorpe-le-Soken station, Essex against signals and is in a head-on collision with a light engine at Great Holland. Two people are killed.^[5]
• March 22, 1931 – United Kingdom – A London, Midland and Scottish Railway express passenger train is derailed at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire due to excessive speed through a crossover. Six people are killed.^[4]
• May 27, 1931 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train overruns signals and is in a head-on collision with another passenger train at Fakenham East station, Norfolk. One person is killed and fifteen are injured.^[6]
• June 17, 1931 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway mail train overruns signals and is involved in a rear-end collision with an express freight train at Crich, Derbyshire. Two people are killed and seventeen injured.^[7]
• December 1931 – United Kingdom – At Dagenham Dock, Essex, a London and North Eastern Railway passenger train runs into wagons from the preceding freight train, which had been left on the line after a coupling broke. Two people are killed.^[8]

1932

• June 17, 1932 – United Kingdom – A passenger train is derailed at Great Bridgeford, Staffordshire.^[9]
• September 14, 1932 – Algeria – Turenne rail accident: A 14-car troop train of the French Foreign Legion derails in the Atlas Mountains and plunges 250 feet (76 m) into a gorge. 57 legionnaires and most of the train's crew die; 223 are injured.
• December 14, 1932 – Switzerland – A collision in the Gutsch Tunnel on the Zürich–Lucerne line kills at least six people.^[10]

1933

• March 4, 1933 – United Kingdom – Great Western Railway freight train is struck by a landslide at Vriog, Merionethshire. The locomotive is pushed into the sea, both engine crew are killed.^[11]
• May 25, 1933 – United Kingdom – A Southern Railway passenger train is derailed at Raynes Park, London and comes to rest foul of the adjacent line. A passing express train collides with it, killing five people and injuring 35. The cause was a failure to implement a speed restriction during permanent way works.^[12]
• July 10, 1933 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway express passenger train collides with a freight train at Little Salkeld, Cumberland due to a signalman's error. One person is killed.^[13]
• September 8, 1933 – United Kingdom – A passenger train runs into four wagons which had been left on the line at Bowling Basin, Dunbartonshire during shunting operations. Five people are injured.^[8]
• December 23, 1933 – France – Lagny-Pomponne Railroad Disaster: Rear-end collision of Paris-Nancy express and Paris-Strasbourg fast train between Lagny-sur-Marne and Pomponne (Seine-et-Marne), 17 mi (23 km) out of Paris. 204 are killed and 300 injured aboard the Nancy express as its 7 wood coaches are smashed. The driver of the Strasbourg train had passed a signal at danger in darkness and fog, but the "Crocodile" acoustic warning system was found to have failed because the contacts had iced over. The Compagnie de Chemin de Fer de l'Est was ordered to pay FFr44,000,000 in compensation to victims' families.

1934

• September 4, 1934 – United Kingdom – Two freight trains collide at Hither Green on the Southern Railway.^[14]
• September 6, 1934 – United Kingdom – Two London Midland and Scottish Railway passenger trains collide at Port Eglington Junction, Glasgow, Renfrewshire due to the driver of one of them misreading signals. Nine people are killed and 58 are injured.^[15]
• September 28, 1934 – United Kingdom – Winwick rail crash, near Warrington: overworked signal box crew forget a train halted at a signal and allow another train into section; 12 people killed.
• November 1934 – United Kingdom – a London and North Eastern Railway passenger train collides with a lorry on a level crossing at Wormley, Hertfordshire and is derailed. Both locomotive crew are killed.^[16]

1935

• February 25, 1935 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway passenger train is derailed at Ashton-under-Hill, Worcestershire due to a combination of defective track and locomotive design. One person is killed.^[17]
• March 13, 1935 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway express freight train is halted at Kings Langley, Hertfordshire due to a defective vacuum brake. A milk train runs into its rear and a coal train runs into the wreckage of the two trains. The line is reopened the next day.^[18][19]
• April 11, 1935 – United States – Rockville, Maryland: A school bus driver, returning students to Williamsport, Maryland from a field trip at 11:30pm, does not notice the reflective signs at a grade crossing and drives his bus into the path of an oncoming Baltimore & Ohio train. 14 students are killed, 15 others injured. In violation of a Maryland law requiring watchmen at crossings until midnight, the B&O had kept a watchman on duty only until 10pm.^[20]
• June 15, 1935 – United Kingdom – Welwyn Garden City rail crash: Signalman's error. 14 killed 29 injured.
• June 25, 1935 – Ireland – Dún Laoghaire, Ireland: The Drumm Train, a Battery Electric Multiple Unit, runs into a landslide between Dún Laoghaire and Sandy Cove. The train is derailed and is consequently damaged by fire.^[21]

Overseas Railroad rescue train at Islamorada, 1935.

• September 2, 1935 – United States – Islamorada, Florida: The upper Florida Keys are hit by the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. A 10-car rescue train is sent by the Florida East Coast Railway to evacuate hundreds of World War I veterans from government work camps, but is washed from the tracks when the Overseas Railroad is engulfed by a tidal wave at Islamorada. Total train fatalities not known (at least 408 estimated storm deaths). Railway link to Florida Keys is left destroyed.
• December 13, 1935 – United States – Dearing, Georgia: Three trainmen were killed and ten others injured in the head-on collision of two Georgia Railroad at the station in this town near Augusta. The train bound from Augusta to Atlanta overran a switch and struck a train bound to Augusta from Atlanta which was standing at the depot.^[22]

1936

• 15 January 1936 – United Kingdom – A Great Western Railway freight train divided at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire leaving six wagons on the main line. A following sleeping car express hauled by King Class locomotive 6007 King William III runs into the wagons at almost 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Two people are killed.^[23]
• 1936 – United Kingdom – A Southern Railway boat train catches fire at Winchester station, Hampshire due to an electrical fault.Hall

1937

• 15 February 1937 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway express passenger train is derailed at Sleaford North Junction, Lincolnshire due to excessive speed on a curve. Four people are killed, fifteen people are injured.^[24][25]
• 15 February 1937 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway freight train is derailed at Upton, Lincolnshire.^[25]
• February 1937 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway express freight train is derailed at West Hampstead, London.^[26]
• March 1, 1937 – United Kingdom – A Great Western Railway passenger train collides with a freight train at Langley, Buckinghamshire and is derailed. One person is killed and six are injured.^[26]
• March 8, 1937 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train is derailed at Langrick, Lincolnshire due to defective track.^[24]
• April 2, 1937 – United Kingdom – Battersea Park rail crash, London: two passenger trains collide. 10 killed, 17 injured. The signalman believed there was a fault with his equipment and overrode the interlocking.
• April 26, 1937 – United States – Dominguez Canyon rail crash, Colorado: D&RGW passenger train crashes into gully about 8pm, due to burned out trestle. 2 killed, 7 injured. The engineer, CD Freeman, and the fireman, FS Perkins, were killed when the train fell through the unsupported rails due to the trestle having burned out earlier in the day. The crash was at about 8pm so there not sufficient light to see that the trestle had burned out, so the crash was ruled accidental.
• June 13, 1937 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train is derailed south of Durham due to the driver misreading signals. Nine people were injured.^[27]
• June 28, 1937 – United Kingdom – A Southern Railway passenger train overruns signals and crashes into an electricity substation at Swanley Junction), Kent. The train had been ordered to make an unscheduled stop at Swanley but the driver was not told of this. Four people are killed.^[28]
• November 16, 1937 – United Kingdom – A Great Western Railway steam railcar overran a signal and is diverted into a short siding. It overruns the buffers and collides with a signal box at Ealing, London.^[29]
• November 17, 1937 – United Kingdom – A London, Midland and Scottish Railway passenger train overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with an express passenger train at Coppenhall Junction, Crewe, Cheshire.^[30]
• December 10, 1937 – United Kingdom – Castlecary rail accident, Scotland: A London and North Eastern Railway Edinburgh-Glasgow commuter express, travelling 70 mph (110 km/h) in white-out conditions, rear-ends a local train standing in the station. 35 killed, 179 injured, most seriously. The local had been running late.

1938

• January 21, 1938 – United Kingdom – An express passenger train collides with an empty coaching stock train at Oakley Junction, Bedfordshire due to a signalman's error. Three people are killed and 46 injured.^[31]
• June 19, 1938 – United States – Custer Creek train wreck near Saugus, Montana - Milwaukee Road Olympian plunges into Custer Creek when a 25-year-old bridge, weakened by heavy rain, collapses; 47 people killed, many victims in a tourist sleeper that is submerged in 20 feet of water for almost 36 hours. Some bodies recovered as far as 50 miles downstream.^[32]
• July 30, 1938 – Jamaica – near Balaclava Station, five overcrowded cars derail; 32 killed, 70 injured.^[33]
• August 19, 1938 – United Kingdom – A Great Western Railway express passenger train is diverted into a siding at Newport, Monmouthshire due to a signalman's error. The train crashes through the buffers but comes to rest short of the River Usk.^[34]
• December 1, 1938 – United States – A school bus carrying 39 students in Sandy, Utah pulled onto a railroad track crossing during a snowstorm. A train emerged from the storm killing the bus driver and 23 students. ^[35]

1939

• January 26, 1939 – United Kingdom – An empty fish train runs into the back of a passenger train near Hatfield, Hertfordshire.^[29]
• January 26, 1939 – United Kingdom – A passenger train runs into the back of another near Hatfield. Two people are killed and seven are injured.^[29]
• April 27, 1939 – United States – A log truck across the track sends a Union Pacific passenger train flying off the tracks in the Washington State town of Bucoda; several passengers, truck driver and crew members killed, and multiple cars are destroyed.^[36]
• June 1, 1939 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway express passenger train collides with a lorry on a level crossing at Hilgay Fen, Norfolk and is derailed. Four people are killed and twelve injured.^[37]
• June 8, 1939 – United Kingdom – Two passenger trains collide at Manchester Central station, Lancashire due to one of them departing against a danger signal.^[38]
• August 5, 1939 – United Kingdom – A London, Midland and Scottish Railway express passenger train is derailed at Saltcoats, Ayrshire when vandals place rocks on the line. Four people are killed.^[39]
• August 5, 1939 – United Kingdom – Workmen building a new military camp crossing the Southern Railway line at Bramshot Halt struck by express train. Three killed and others seriously injured.^[40]
• August 12, 1939 – United States – An act of sabotage sends the City of San Francisco flying off a bridge in the Nevada desert; several passengers and crew members are killed, and five cars are destroyed. This case remains unsolved.^[41]
• October 14, 1939 – United Kingdom – The London Midland and Scottish Railway Night Scot express passenger train collides with a locomotive at Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. Five people are killed, over 30 are injured.^[42]
• October 16, 1939 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway train is involved in an accident at Winwick Junction, Cheshire. The report into the accident is declared secret due to World War II.^[43]

Genthin rail crash memorial.

• December 22, 1939 – Germany – Genthin: collision when train D180 drove into previous delayed and overcrowded train D10 from Berlin to Cologne. 278 killed, 453 injured. Highest number of fatalities ever in an accident in Germany (German Wikipedia article).

1940s

1940

• March 12, 1940 – Finland – Turenki: a troop train and a freight train collided after being let on the same piece of track by mistake, leaving 39 people dead and 69 injured. This is still the worst train accident in Finland.^[44]
• July 31, 1940 – United States – Doodlebug Disaster - Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, United States: The PRR "Doodlebug", a gasoline-electric interurban car, fails to take a siding and collides with an oncoming freight, causing the gas tanks to explode. The crew jump before the crash; all 43 passengers die as the wreck burns too intensely to allow rescuers near for half an hour. A federal investigation suggests the Doodlebug's driver had become disoriented due to carbon monoxide in a poorly ventilated cab.
• October 14, 1940 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway express passenger train is derailed at Wembley, Middlesex when a platform barrow falls onto the track. A number of people are killed and many are injured.^[15]
• November 4, 1940 – United Kingdom – Norton Fitzwarren rail crash, England: Great Western Railway train driver misreads the signals on a four-track line that merges to two, and runs his train off the end of the track. Coaches telescope, killing 27 and injuring 75. Contributory causes include a nonstandard placement of signals and the invisibility of the tracks during the wartime blackout.

1941

• February 10, 1941 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train overruns signals and runs into the rear of an express train at Harold Wood, Essex. Seven people are killed and seventeen are seriously injured.^[45]
• February 21, 1941 – United States – Piedmont & Northern train no. 5, west-bound through a curve near Fairmont Station, eight miles W of Spartanburg, South Carolina, strikes rear of stopped freight. Flagman jumps from electric ex-Pennsylvania Railroad combine no. 350 before impact with steel caboose, but engineer killed. Fifteen other passengers in following ex-PRR trailer are injured.^[46]
• June 29, 1941 – Romania – Iași pogrom, Iași: More than 2,700 Jews forced onto two trains die of dehydration.^[47]
• July 2, 1941 – United Kingdom – An express train and a freight train collide at Slough, Buckinghamshire. Five people are killed and 25 are injured.^[48]
• December 30, 1941 – United Kingdom – Eccles rail crash; Collision in fog kills 23.

1942

• September 4, 1942 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway freight train is derailed by trap points at Todmorden, Yorkshire due to the driver missing signals under blackout conditions. Both locomotive crew are injured.^[34]
• November 4, 1942 – United Kingdom – a Southern Railway electric multiple unit runs into the rear of another at Waddon, Surrey due to a signalman's error. Two people are killed.^[49]

Ontario train wreck December 1942

• December 27, 1942 – Canada – Almonte, Ontario: 36 people are killed and over 200 injured when a passenger train running late was struck from behind by a troop train.

1943

• June 4, 1943 – New Zealand – Hyde railway accident, New Zealand: Train derails taking a curved cutting at over twice the rated speed. 21 killed, 47 injured. Engineman found to have been drunk on duty; served 3 years for manslaughter.
• August 30, 1943 – United States – At Wayland, New York, the Lackawanna Limited, flagship passenger train of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad sideswiped a local freight that hadn't cleared into a siding. 28 killed, 110 injured.^[50][51]
• September 6, 1943 – United States – Frankford Junction train wreck, 79 people are killed, and 117 injured when the Pennsylvania Railroad's Congressional Limited derails in Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, due to an axle bearing overheating. The accident occurred as the signalman at Frankford Junction was telephoning the next tower to stop the train.
• December 16, 1943 – United States – Rennert railroad accident, North Carolina; 74 people were killed on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad when the northbound Tamiami Champion struck the derailed rear three carriages of the southbound Tamiami Champion.

1944

Train wreck near St. Malo France August 1944.

• January 3, 1944 – Spain – Torre del Bierzo rail disaster, The Madrid-Coruña express collides with a switch engine and catches fire inside Torre del Bierzo tunnel n° 20 in Leon province, Spain. Smoke and flames in the tunnel delay rescuers for two days. 78 killed officially, maybe over 250; exaggerated estimates of 500-800 still seen in reference books. Date may be Jan 16.^[52]
• January 16, 1944 – United Kingdom – Ilford rail crash (1944), England: an express passenger train from Norwich to London Liverpool Street station passes a signal set at danger, and runs into the back of an express passenger train from Yarmouth. 9 killed.
• March 3, 1944 – Italy – Balvano train disaster: 530 people riding a freight train die of carbon monoxide poisoning when the locomotive stalls in a tunnel.
• June 2, 1944 – United Kingdom – Soham rail disaster, England: The leading wagon of a train carrying American ammunition to a base in Essex caught alight; the burning wagon was pulled clear of the other fifty, but it exploded killing the fireman and signalman.
• July 1944 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train is derailed by faulty points at Pannal, Yorkshire.^[53]
• August 4, 1944 – United States – Stockton train wreck, derailment caused by broken rail kills 47 in Stockton, Georgia
• September 3, 1944 – Japan – Gokurakubashi (Mount Koya) bound train was traveling on a climb gradient of Nankai Koya Line, has a sudden stop and fire broke out from under the floor in Wakayama Prefecture. In an incident caused by as a flaw to how to hang the brake stop where it was inspected, it was derailed by a curve overthrow interval train to reverse-way traveling the steep gradient of 50 per mil. 71 people were killed and 138 were injured.^[54]
• November 7, 1944 – Puerto Rico – Passenger train derails in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico due to excessive speed on a descent. 16 killed; 50 injured.
• November 8, 1944 – United States – Nine killed and 125 injured when, at dawn, the first section of the westbound Southern Pacific Challenger jumps the tracks and hurtles into a ditch three miles (5 km) west of Colfax.^[55]
• November 24, 1944 – collision of two trains (German supply train and Polish passenger train) in Barwald Sredni, occupied Poland. 130 people killed and over 100 wounded.^[56]
• December 31, 1944 – United States – Bagley train wreck near Ogden, Utah kills 48.

1945

• January 10, 1945 – United Kingdom – Ballymacarrett, East Belfast. Collision in fog. 23 killed, 24 injured.^[57]
• February 4, 1945 – United Kingdom – King's Cross railway accident, London, England: a train for Leeds departs from platform 5 into the uphill Gasworks Tunnel, but begins sliding backwards on slippery rails, and with few lights in the tunnel, the driver does not notice. With the points changed behind the train, it is now moving toward the occupied platform 10. A signalman's attempt to divert it is a few seconds too late and derails the rear car (now leading) instead. It collides with a signal gantry, killing 2 passengers, and with the train in platform 10.
• May 21, 1945 – United States – Piqua, Ohio, United States: a seventeen-car west bound troop train, travelling on the Pennsylvania Railroad line, derails at high speed. Eight cars plunge down a 20-foot (6.1 m) embankment, injuring 24 of the 400 soldiers on board; poor track maintenance due to wartime personnel shortages is blamed.^[58]
• July 16, 1945 – Germany – Aßling: A US Army train carrying tanks runs into a passenger train which had stalled due to an engine breakdown after the American signalman tells the freight train to proceed despite the track still being occupied. About 110 German POWs are killed as the mostly wooden coaches of the passenger train are destroyed.^[59]
• July 21, 1945 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway express passenger train overruns signals and collides with a freight train that is shunting at Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire. Two people are killed and 31 are injured.^[60]
• August 9, 1945 – United States – Michigan train wreck, United States: Great Northern's Empire Builder plows into a stalled observation car at Michigan, North Dakota, 34 killed.
• September 2, 1945 – United Kingdom – Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England. A Streatham to Newhaven empty coaching stock train, failed to stop after being signalled into a siding. It ran through the buffer stops and into the buttress of Haywards Heath Tunnel, killing the driver and fireman. It had been diverted into the siding, in order to reverse on to the up line, as the down line had been taken out of service by an engineering possession.^[61]
• September 7, 1945 – United Kingdom – The bank of the Shropshire Union Canal fails near Sun Bank Halt, Denbighshire and causes the trackbed of the Ruabon to Barmouth Line to be washed away for 40 yards (37 m). A Great Western Railway mail and freight train is derailed, with all vehicles except a brake van destroyed in the ensuing fire. One person is killed and two are injured.^[62]
• September 30, 1945 – United Kingdom – Bourne End rail crash, England: train fails to slow down for temporary diversion to slow lines and derails, 43 killed.

1946

• January 1, 1946 – United Kingdom – Lichfield rail crash, Point failure results in 20 deaths.
• January 5, 1946 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway freight train becomes divided south of Durham. The train is stopped at Browney but the second part of the train crashes into it. The wreckage causes a false clear signal to be given, and an express passenger train travelling in the opposite direction crashes into it. Ten people are killed and eight are seriously injured.^[53][63]
• February 10, 1946 – United Kingdom – A combination of driver and signalman's errors results in London and North Eastern Railway passenger train being derailed at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. An express passenger train crashes into it, followed by another minutes later. Two people are killed.^[64]
• March 20, 1946 – Brazil – Aracaju train crash, 185 are killed and 300 injured in Brazil's worst ever train crash when a train derails descending a steep gradient near Aracaju, capital of Sergipe state.
• April 26, 1946 – United States – Naperville train disaster in Naperville, Illinois: Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad's Advance Flyer, stopped in Naperville station to check the running gear, is rammed by the Burlington's Exposition Flyer, coming through on the same track at 80 mph (130 km/h). 47 killed, some 125 injured.
• July 17, 1946 – United Kingdom – Two passenger trains collide at Victoria Station, London. Seven people were hospitalised.^[65]
• August 21, 1946 – United States – near Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States: The Mail Express Number 6 was eastbound at the time of the accident and had passed through Rock Springs at 2:07 a.m. The train was due to arrive in Rawlins at 2:55 a.m. but had derailed about 2:20 a.m. The train derailment occurred about a mile west of the Thayer junction. References: The Rawlins Daily Times, Rawlins, Wyoming, Wednesday, August 21, 1946, Volume LVIII, Number 162, pages 1 and back page and Thursday, August 22, 1946, Volume LVIII, Number 163, pages 1 and 6. Early reports the wreck had been caused by a broken rail or an open switch were not confirmed by Union Pacific. Cause of the derailment was still undetermined on August 22, 1946 and officials were quoted as saying that they doubted it would be announced. Seven men injured and one died. The deceased was the engineer, David Francis Michie, born 4 July 1886 who died on 21 August 1946 in Rock Springs, Sweetwater County, Wyoming at 12:20 a.m. of severe burns he suffered in the derailment.^[66][67][68]
• September 20, 1946 – United Kingdom – near Catford, south east London: A London Victoria to Ramsgate passenger train derails on a curve at 40 mph (64 km/h). Seven of the nine carriages leave the track, with the first four dropping to the bottom of the 20-foot (6.1 m) embankment. One passenger from the first carriage is killed. Derailment was due to poor track.^[69]
• December 13, 1946 – United States – near Coulter, Ohio, United States: The Pennsylvania Railroad's Golden Triangle sleeper train derails in darkness when it strikes the wreckage of 2 freight trains which had rear-ended half an hour earlier on an adjacent track. 19 killed, 139 injured. Most of the dead are soldiers on furlough from Fort Dix, New Jersey, seated in two day coaches at the front of the train.^[70]
• 1946 – United States – MP 85.5 (Winona), C&G CAGY locomotive #506 a 2-8-2 built as Fort Smith & Western #25, a converted Camelback locomotive, picked a switch and struck a line of tank cars waiting in a siding; killing the engineer of the train and severely injuring the fireman. The exact cause is unknown, but believed to have been caused by a previous crew not closing a switch fully.^[71]

1947

• January 2, 1947 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway express passenger train overruns signals and crashes into the rear of another at Gidea Park, Essex. Two people are killed and 45 are hospitalised.^[72]
• January 21, 1947 – United Kingdom – a Southern Railway electric multiple unit is run into by an empty passenger train at South Bermondsey, London.^[73]
• February 18, 1947 – United States – Blair County, Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Railroad's "Red Arrow" from Pittsburgh to New York derailed at Bennington Curve west of Horseshoe Curve at 3:22 am local time. The train was going at excessive speed. Two of the PRR K4s engines slid down the mountain, along with several coaches. Of the 155 passengers on board, 24 died and 104 were injured (including crew).
• February 25, 1947 – Japan – Hachiko Line rail crash, Komagawa, Saitama: A train derailed on sharp curve and four cars fell onto a farm. 184 are killed, 495 are injured.^[74]
• April 3, 1947 – United States – Downers Grove train wreck, Illinois, USA: The Twin Cities Zephyr, traveling at about 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) through the Downers Grove depot, strikes a heavy caterpillar tractor which had fallen from a freight train only seconds earlier. At least 3 die and more than 30 are injured.
• April 12, 1947 – United Kingdom – A passenger train is derailed near Keighley, Yorkshire when a bridge collapsed under it due to storm damage.^[75]
• May 1, 1947 – United States – Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA: Two huge inch-thick steel plates on a Pennsylvania Railroad freight train strike and cut open the side of the first coach of the 15-car New York to St. Louis American, killing at least four passengers and injuring 40 others in a 1:47 a.m. EST accident five miles W of the town. The steel plates are then jolted onto another track of the four-track mainline, derailing a third train, a freight.^[76]
• May 5, 1947 – Australia – Camp Mountain rail accident, Queensland: A picnic train derails after taking a sharp curve too fast on the Dayboro line to the north-west of Brisbane. 16 killed.
• May 30, 1947 – United States – The engineer and fireman of the Frisco railroad's Florida Special are killed in a derailment near Mansfield, Missouri. Two passenger cars leave the rails but remained upright and none of the passengers sustained injury.^[77]
• June 3, 1947 – United States – Two crew members of a northbound train and one of a southbound train are killed when two Monon Railroad freight trains collide head-on twelve miles north of Lafayette, Indiana after the southbound train fails to take the Ash Grove siding. ^[78]
• July 21, 1947 – United Kingdom – An express passenger train is derailed at Grendon, Buckinghamshire due to defective track. Five people are killed and 64 are injured.^[79]
• July 26, 1947 – Switzerland – Two trains collide between Biberbrugg and Einsiedeln. Ten people are killed and 73 are injured.^[80]
• August 9, 1947 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train runs into the rear of another at Doncaster, Yorkshire due to a signalman's error. Twenty-one people are killed and 188 are injured.^[81]
• September 1, 1947 – Canada – Dugald train disaster, Dugald, Manitoba: A Canadian National Railway excursion train fails to take the siding and collides with the No. 4 Transcontinental that was standing on the main line. 31 people were killed, most by fire breaking out in two gas-lit wooden cars on the excursion train.
• October 24, 1947 – United Kingdom – South Croydon rail crash, South London, England: Signalman improperly uses release key to free signals. Two commuter trains collide in thick fog, 32 killed.
• October 26, 1947 – United Kingdom – Goswick rail crash Flying Scotsman express fails to slow for diversion and derails; 28 are killed.
• November 6, 1947 – United Kingdom – A collision occurs between two Southern Railway electric multiple units at Motspur Park, London due to a fogsignalman's error. Four people are killed and twelve are injured.^[82]
• November 6, 1947 – United Kingdom – A Southern Railway passenger train overruns signals at Herne Hill, London and collides with an electric multiple unit. One person is killed and nine are injured.^[83]
• November 26, 1947 – United Kingdom – Near Farnborough, Hampshire, England. A Bournemouth West to London Waterloo train is halted near Farnborough due to the failure of signalling system's power supply. The following train, from Ilfracombe, is erroneously admitted into the section, and strikes the rear of the Bournemouth train at 20 mph (32 km/h), killing one passenger.^[84]
• 1947 – United States – MP 69.5 CAGY (Columbus & Greenville Railroad), Locomotive #506 derails after striking another train in the rear. Engine crew are killed, and the locomotive falls onto its side, becoming mired in the mud and embankment. Railroad tries to raise the engine, but upon being unable to do so, opt to simply scrap the locomotive in place, cutting it off even with the ground where it lies.^[71] #506 had previously been involved in another accident the year prior, as well as a few minor derailments.

1948

• January 23, 1948 – United Kingdom – A passenger train formed by a 6PUL and a 6PAN electric multiple unit overruns signals at London Bridge and collides with an empty stock train formed of two 6PAN units. Three people are killed and 34 are injured,^[85]
• February 22, 1948 – Switzerland – Wädenswil, Lake Zurich: a Swiss South Eastern Railway train runs away down a steep incline and crashes into a house after being diverted into a siding to avoid a collision with other trains. Twenty-one people are killed. A separate switch determined whether the main control handle applied power or used the motors for braking, and the driver had failed to select braking and therefore was inadvertently accelerating the train.^[80][86][87]
• April 17, 1948– United Kingdom – Winsford rail accident: Signalling error results in 24 deaths.
• May 14, 1948 – United Kingdom – A freight train runs away and runs into the rear of an empty passenger train at Battyeford, Yorkshire.^[45]
• July 17, 1948 – United Kingdom – An express train and a local train collide at Ardler Junction, Scotland. Two people are killed and seven are injured, one seriously. The local train overran signals, with a signalman's error in accepting the train when the express had been accepted being a contributory factor.^[88]

New Southgate

• July 17, 1948 – United Kingdom – The locomotive of an express passenger train is derailed in Barnet Tunnel, Hertfordshire. On leaving the tunnel, the train is derailed on a crossover at New Southgate, Middlesex. One person is killed. A combination of faulty track and excessive speed is found to be the cause.^[89]
• August 11, 1948 – United Kingdom – A London Transport electric multiple unit is derailed at Arnos Grove, Middlesex.^[90]

1949

• February 19, 1949 – United Kingdom – A freight train becomes divided at New Southgate, Middlesex. The rear portion runs away, but is not derailed at catch points due to a signalman's error. The wagons enter the main line and are run into by a parcels train.^[91]
• April 24, 1949 – United States – Smith County, Tennessee, Gordonsville 10 persons were killed coming home from church at approximately 10:30 pm.^[92] A family was killed when a loaded locomotive hit them at a high rate of speed. The family, in two trucks, was returning from church services at the Lancaster Church of God. The driver, Jessie Bennett, aged 50, was blind in one eye. He was killed along with his wife Mattie Bell Ray Bennett, 45, and three of their sons: Douglas Bennett, aged 12, V.L. Bennett, aged 10, and Melvin Earl Bennett, aged 8. Also killed were Mrs. Paulie Dickens, aged 24 (daughter of the Bennetts), her husband, Paulie Dickens, aged 24 and their daughter, Catherine, aged 1, the brother of Jessie Bennett, W.A."Cooney" Bennett, aged 49, and a close family friend, Linnie Gibbs aged 17.^[93] According to witnesses Jessie Bennett's farm truck fully loaded passed his son in law's truck who had stopped to let a rider out of the truck. He noticed the train lights and tried to flag his father in law down. As soon as he got half way across the train tracks hit him and the family at full speed. The fast moving locomotive hit.^[94]
• April 25, 1949 – United Kingdom – An express passenger train overran signals and was derailed at Douglas Park Signal Box, Motherwell, Lanarkshire. Signalman suspected of moving the points under the train.^[95]
• August 17, 1949 – Japan – Matsukawa derailment: A Japanese National Railways train derails in Fukushima Prefecture, killing three crewmembers.^[96]
• August 19, 1949 – United Kingdom – A passenger train collides with a freight train at Ashcott, Somerset.^[97]
• November 29, 1949 – United States – Ulm (Aurich), Arkansas: "Two Cotton Belt freight trains met head on in the fog at the siding called Aurich about a mile North of Ulm, Arkansas. A long southbound freight had just sawed by a northbound passenger train at Aurich. After the southbound freight allowed the passenger train by it was getting ready to repeat the maneuver with a northbound freight when the accident occurred. The diesel powered northbound entered the siding and hit the L1 powered southbound freight head on. The accident was blamed on the northbound crew being unable to see a warning flare because of the fog. The complete story is in The Daily Leader and Arkansawyer of nearby Stuttgart. The paper had this story on its front page Tuesday November 29, 1949. You can find a copy of this paper on Microfiche at the Stuttgart Library."

See also

• London Underground accidents

References

Sources

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• "World's worst rail disasters". BBC. December 19, 2007. Retrieved May 8, 2010. 
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• Reed, Robert C. (1968). Train Wrecks – A Pictorial History of Accidents on the Main Line. New York: Bonanza Books. ISBN 978-0-517-32897-2. 
• Rolt, L. T. C.; Kichenside, G. M. (1982). Red for Danger: A history of railway accidents and railway safety (4th ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8362-0. OCLC 9526651. 
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• Trevena, Arthur (1980). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 1. Redruth: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-01-X. 
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• Vaughan, Adrian (1989). Obstruction Danger. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 1-85260-055-1. 

External links

• Railroad train wrecks 1907-2007

Rail accidents Main topics Classification Boiler explosion Derailment Head-on collision Runaway Signal passed at danger Stop and examine Telescoping Train wreck Tram accident Chronology Before 1880 1880–99 1900–29 1930–49 1950–59 1960–69 1970–79 1980–89 1990–99 2000–09 2010–present Related lists Lists of rail accidents By country By death toll Boiler explosions Bridge failures Level crossing accidents Terrorist incidents Categories By country By type By year Deaths Fires Investigators Level crossing Involving fog Runaway train