Stockton train wreck
Encyclopedia
The Stockton train wreck occurred on August 4, 1944 at 11.45 p.m. on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
at Stockton, Georgia
and killed 47 people, mostly black labourers returning home to Alabama
for the weekend .
The 14 car train, en route from Waycross
, Georgia, to Montgomery, Alabama
, was traveling westbound on a single track line through Stockton at a speed of 65 mph, when a broken rail beneath the 9th car derailed the 10th-14th cars into a siding where they collided with a freight train which had been standing there to let the passenger train pass. All the fatalities occurred in the 10th car which was "sheared practically its entire length diagonally from the floor on the right hand side to the juncture of the roof and side sheets on the left hand side". The rescue operation was hampered initially by lack of light before Army trucks from Moody Field at Valdosta arrived with searchlights.
The resulting investigation "found that this accident was caused by a broken rail, as a result of the presence of transverse fissures". It noted also that this railroad had reported 61 accidents during the previous 4½ years caused either directly or indirectly by broken rails.
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...
at Stockton, Georgia
Stockton, Georgia
Stockton is an unincorporated community in Lanier County, Georgia, United States. In 2007, it had an estimated population of 1,680. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of 6.10 percent....
and killed 47 people, mostly black labourers returning home to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
for the weekend .
The 14 car train, en route from Waycross
Waycross, Georgia
Waycross is the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Ware County in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 14,725 at the 2010 Census. A small portion of the city extends into Pierce County. According the U.S...
, Georgia, to Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, was traveling westbound on a single track line through Stockton at a speed of 65 mph, when a broken rail beneath the 9th car derailed the 10th-14th cars into a siding where they collided with a freight train which had been standing there to let the passenger train pass. All the fatalities occurred in the 10th car which was "sheared practically its entire length diagonally from the floor on the right hand side to the juncture of the roof and side sheets on the left hand side". The rescue operation was hampered initially by lack of light before Army trucks from Moody Field at Valdosta arrived with searchlights.
The resulting investigation "found that this accident was caused by a broken rail, as a result of the presence of transverse fissures". It noted also that this railroad had reported 61 accidents during the previous 4½ years caused either directly or indirectly by broken rails.
External links
- Stockton, GA Terrible Train Collision, Aug 1944
- ICCInterstate Commerce CommissionThe 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...
Investigation No. 2813