1883 Tehachapi train wreck | |
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Details | |
Date | January 20, 1883 12:00 PM |
Location | Tehachapi, California |
Country | United States |
Operator | Southern Pacific Railroad |
Incident type | Derailment of a runaway train, fire |
Cause | Air brakes were released, suspected robbery |
Statistics | |
Deaths | 15 |
Injured | 12 |
The Tehachapi train wreck occurred on January 20, 1883, near Tehachapi, California, when a runaway train rolled down a slope into a curve and derailed. The accident resulted in the deaths of 15 people, including former Wisconsin congressman Charles H. Larrabee and Maria Guirado, the wife of the former California Governor John G. Downey. Governor Downey was also injured in the wreck.
On January 20, 1883, a 4-8-0 steam locomotive had just climbed a steep peak in Tehachapi, California. However, when the train was left unattended, it became a runaway and derailed along the same track that it had previously climbed. Both sleeper cars, an express car, and the mail and baggage coaches derailed and ignited a fire. Fifteen were killed. [1] Investigation into the incident revealed that two strangers had boarded the train. It is believed that these two men were robbers that had lost control of the train and would also die in the disaster. [2] [3]
The Malbone Street wreck, also known as the Brighton Beach Line accident, was a rapid transit railroad accident that occurred on November 1, 1918, on the New York City Subway's BMT Brighton Line in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. A speeding train derailed in the sharply curved tunnel beneath Willink Plaza, the intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Ocean Avenue, and Malbone Street. At least 93 people died, making it the second-deadliest train crash in American history, as well as the deadliest crash in the history of the New York City Subway.
On September 22, 1993, an Amtrak Sunset Limited passenger train derailed on the CSX Transportation Big Bayou Canot Bridge near Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was caused by displacement of a span and deformation of the rails when a tow of heavy barges collided with the rail bridge eight minutes earlier. Forty-seven people were killed and 103 more were injured. To date, it is the deadliest train wreck in both Amtrak's history and Alabama's railway history. It is also the worst rail disaster in the United States since the 1958 Newark Bay rail accident, in which 48 people died.
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The San Bernardino train disaster, was a combination of two separate but related incidents that occurred in San Bernardino, California, United States: a runaway train derailment on May 12, 1989; and the subsequent failure on May 25, 1989, of the Calnev Pipeline, a petroleum pipeline adjacent to the tracks which was damaged by earth-moving equipment during the crash cleanup.
There have been a number of train accidents on the railway network of Victoria, Australia. Some of these are listed below.
A runaway train is a type of railroad incident in which unattended rolling stock is accidentally allowed to roll onto the main line, a moving train loses enough braking power to be unable to stop in safety, or a train operates at unsafe speeds due to loss of operator control. If the uncontrolled rolling stock derails or hits another train, it will result in a train wreck.
The CSX 8888 incident, also known as the Crazy Eights incident, was a runaway train event involving a CSX Transportation freight train in the U.S. state of Ohio on May 15, 2001. Locomotive #8888, an EMD SD40-2, was pulling a train of 47 cars, including possibly two cars loaded with hazardous chemicals, specifically molten phenol, a substance used in dyes and glues, and ran uncontrolled for just under two hours at up to 51 miles per hour (82 km/h). It was finally halted by a railroad crew in a catch locomotive, which caught up with the runaway train and coupled their locomotive to the rear car.
The 1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck occurred on January 15, 1953, when a passenger and mail train from Boston to Washington DC failed to brake sufficiently on its approach to Union Station, Washington, jumping the platform and plunging through the floor of the concourse. There were no deaths, but 43 people were injured.
Maria Downey, was First Lady of California, being wife of John Downey, Governor from 1860 to 1862.