1906 Washington DC train wreck
Encyclopedia
The 1906 Washington DC train wreck occurred on the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
at Terra Cotta station in Washington DC on December 30, 1906 at 6:31 in the evening; when a locomotive pulling six empty cars crashed into the back of a passenger train in dense fog, killing 53 people.
and was fifteen minutes late. It was just pulling out of Terra Cotta station (near the site of the current Fort Totten Metro station) when it was struck from behind by a 'special equipment train', No 2120, travelling at full speed, about 65 mph. The heavy locomotive, which sustained very little damage itself, ploughed through the rear two cars sending bodies and debris flying for a quarter of a mile on both sides of the track.
The accident is described in the book Undergraduate Days 1904-1908 by Frank Kuntz, recounted by a fellow student at the nearby Catholic University of America - "Then came a terrible noise which he described as a combination of an explosion, escaping steam, breaking wood, groaning brakes and human screams. It was so loud it could be heard on the campus and all over Brookland
"
, "One of the cars of the wrecked train was split in two and left in halves on either side of the track. The butchery of the passengers was one of the most frightful things in the history of railroading. They were cut into pieces and portions of their bodies scattered all along the track"
Despite its nearness to the capital Terra Cotta station was an isolated place, just serving a few houses of employees of the nearby Potomac Terra Cotta
Company. The first help came from Brookland about a mile away, and it took nearly an hour for a relief train to arrive from Washington to begin taking away the dead and injured (and a further hour before it departed).
One misunderstanding which contributed in large part to the disaster was that Takoma Park station was closed between 6.30 p.m. and 6.30 a.m each day, when no signals would have been displayed; in these circumstances the previous block (controlled by signals at Silver Spring
) extends beyond Terra Cotta. No. 2120 had received a clear signal from Silver Spring so the engineer believed he was cleared through to University. Further enquiries also revealed that the engineer had been on almost continuous duty for 33 hours and had not had a full night's sleep for 57 hours.
Four men were charged with manslaughter; the engineer, conductor, brakeman and fireman of train 2120, but after a lengthy trial all were found not guilty due to lack of evidence. But the Interstate Commerce Commission
blamed them, claiming all were negligent . It did reserve some criticism for management though having received 'evidence indicating that the railroads have overworked and poorly paid men manning these safety devices and that, in the effort to rush traffic, men on trains are encouraged to be careless about heeding danger signals'. The ICC also banned wooden body passenger car construction
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
at Terra Cotta station in Washington DC on December 30, 1906 at 6:31 in the evening; when a locomotive pulling six empty cars crashed into the back of a passenger train in dense fog, killing 53 people.
Accident
The local train, consisting of three wooden cars was travelling from Frederick, MarylandFrederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
and was fifteen minutes late. It was just pulling out of Terra Cotta station (near the site of the current Fort Totten Metro station) when it was struck from behind by a 'special equipment train', No 2120, travelling at full speed, about 65 mph. The heavy locomotive, which sustained very little damage itself, ploughed through the rear two cars sending bodies and debris flying for a quarter of a mile on both sides of the track.
The accident is described in the book Undergraduate Days 1904-1908 by Frank Kuntz, recounted by a fellow student at the nearby Catholic University of America - "Then came a terrible noise which he described as a combination of an explosion, escaping steam, breaking wood, groaning brakes and human screams. It was so loud it could be heard on the campus and all over Brookland
Brookland, Washington, D.C.
Brookland is a neighborhood in the Northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., historically centered along 12th Street NE. Brookland is bounded by 9th Street NE to the west, Rhode Island Avenue NE to the south, and South Dakota Avenue to the east...
"
Aftermath
According to The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "One of the cars of the wrecked train was split in two and left in halves on either side of the track. The butchery of the passengers was one of the most frightful things in the history of railroading. They were cut into pieces and portions of their bodies scattered all along the track"
Despite its nearness to the capital Terra Cotta station was an isolated place, just serving a few houses of employees of the nearby Potomac Terra Cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
Company. The first help came from Brookland about a mile away, and it took nearly an hour for a relief train to arrive from Washington to begin taking away the dead and injured (and a further hour before it departed).
Causes
The entire Metropolitan branch operated by the 'absolute block system', which should prevent any other train from entering a 'block' of track when it is occupied. The empty train should have been stopped at Takoma Park until the passenger train had moved out of the block at University. The operator at Takoma Park states that his signal lights were burning red (Danger) when the empty train passed, corroborated by three other people. The engineer claims he slowed down and looked for the signal but could not see it. In such a situation he should have stopped and yet continued running at great speed. The operator immediately telegraphed the operator at University station: "No. 2120 has gone by my red light, going like hell".One misunderstanding which contributed in large part to the disaster was that Takoma Park station was closed between 6.30 p.m. and 6.30 a.m each day, when no signals would have been displayed; in these circumstances the previous block (controlled by signals at Silver Spring
Silver Spring (Washington Metro)
Silver Spring is a Washington Metro station in Montgomery County, Maryland on the Red Line. It is the first station in Maryland on the eastern end of the line, and is the most-used Metro station in Maryland. It is co-located with a MARC commuter rail station....
) extends beyond Terra Cotta. No. 2120 had received a clear signal from Silver Spring so the engineer believed he was cleared through to University. Further enquiries also revealed that the engineer had been on almost continuous duty for 33 hours and had not had a full night's sleep for 57 hours.
Four men were charged with manslaughter; the engineer, conductor, brakeman and fireman of train 2120, but after a lengthy trial all were found not guilty due to lack of evidence. But the Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
blamed them, claiming all were negligent . It did reserve some criticism for management though having received 'evidence indicating that the railroads have overworked and poorly paid men manning these safety devices and that, in the effort to rush traffic, men on trains are encouraged to be careless about heeding danger signals'. The ICC also banned wooden body passenger car construction
External links
- Deadly 1906 Washington DC Train Wreck Near Fort Totten
- Topics in Chronicling America - Train Wreck in Washington, DC, Dec. 30, 1906
- Terra Cotta, DC Train Wreck, Dec 1907
- Sped by Red Lights and 53 were Killed from The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
published January 1, 1907 - The Sun (New York), December 31, 1906