21 Killed as Limited Rams an Express: Trainmen's Stories Vary", "Eight Dead; Thirty Hurt Freight Train Crashes into a Street-Car", "Wouldn't Leave Wife; Both Die Under Train: Husband, Failing to Release Her Foot from Rail, Refused to Save Himself", "Interstate Commerce Commission Investigations of Railroad Accidents 19111993", "TimesMachine: 20 U.S. Your email address will not be published. The enormous growth of railroads in the post-Civil War ear fueled the golden age of circuses, writes historian Douglas Wissing. Free shipping for many products! The fact that two of the trucks carried fifty barrels of paraffin was to turn a collision into a catastrophe. The wreck provided the impetus for most railroads to switch to all-steel passenger cars. Veteran employee of Rock Island Railroad had been with company for 46 years' continuous service funeral tomorrow morning." Acrobat Eugene Enos, trapped beneath some wooden beams, received aid from his wife, Mary, and Lon Moore, a clown. You have to remember that almost everything moved by rail back then. The Great Train Wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Gharst was buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery and on his tombstone there is a train engine. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. MA. The 87 dead were mostly women and children enjoying a holiday cruise to a local amusement park. Website: http://www.lboissoneault.com/, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The train passed on the assumption that the clear train order board indicated that the line ahead was clear. 1910-1919 Railroad Accidents and Wrecks - NE Rails Accident/Incidents from the Federal Railroad Administration ICC Railroad Accidents 1911-1993 Ray State does research on railroad accidents and wrecks worldwide and has a large database of incidents. In its official report, the ICC was harsh on the NC&StL. Both trains required the use of a single-track section approximately 10 miles (16km) long in the western portion of Nashville. Torrential rains filled the Ohio Valley and along the White River caused flooding from Indianapolis to Hazelton. The Great Train Wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville, Tennessee. It was the body of Clifford McLemore, who like Jackson died when the tinder car crashed. International News Service, "SEVEN SOLDIERS DIE, 10 HURT IN TRAIN WRECK". But most werent so lucky. THE WHITE CASCADE was an inspiration for my research and work on the Columbia story. . Johnson sounded the emergency whistle, but there was no one at the rear of No. July 9 - United States - Great train wreck of 1918, Nashville, Tennessee: Two Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway trains collide head-on. It is the deadliest rail accident in the US. The amount of lives that the crash claimed varies based on what source is used. The locomotives involved in the wreck, #281 and #282, were rebuilt in 1919 and continued in service throughout the two World Wars until their retirement in 1947 and 1948 respectively. Only five victims had marked graves; the rest were burned too badly to be identified. He drifted to sleep, and his train bore down on the idle Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train. The Great Train Wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville, Tennessee. Website: http://www.lboissoneault.com/, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The idea of the spectacle of a car or train crash raises everyones ears.. You can follow the links and find the series descriptions to learn more about the contents of each title. Thus, the railroad dispatch informed the crew of the opposing (No. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) listed the dead at 101, though some reports had the death toll as high as 121. 282, a G8a class 4-6-0 ten-wheeler built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1905, consisted of two mail and baggage cars and six wooden coaches. I was in the last coach, next to the caboose, and was asleep when we were hit, he told the Chicago Daily Tribune a day after the accident. But engineers on the second train halted their progress to fix a hotbox. We pulled him clear just as the flames licked at him, Mary later told the Chicago Daily Tribune. Commonly referred to as the Great Train Wreck of 1918, some consider it to be the worst train wreck in the United Statesalthough many argue the 1887 Great Chatsworth train wreck is worse by far. Wreck of the 4005 67 years later. 1 from Memphis, about a half-hour late for a scheduled arrival in Nashville at 7:10a.m. At about 7:20a.m., the two trains collided while traversing a section of single track line known as "Dutchman's Curve" west of downtown Nashville, in the present-day neighborhood of Belle Meade. The Blue Hole was a 30-foot deep scour in the White River that had been created by a flood in the 1800s. Your email address will not be published. Two 35-ton locomotives would ram into each other in Crush, a pop-up town erected for the occasion and named after the architect himself. The Great Train Wreck of 1918 On July 9, 1918, two passenger trains were traveling along the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway in Nashville, Tennessee. By April 6 the new trestle opened over the Blue Hole and on April 17 the bridge over the White reopened. By 1918, the company employed around 250 performers, from acrobats to equestriennes, clowns to lion tamers. The train passed on the assumption that the clear train order board indicated that the line ahead was clear. Destructive 'Super Pigs' From Canada Threaten the Northern U.S. Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago? Learn how and when to remove this template message, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway, 2007 News article with links to audio recollections, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Train_Wreck_of_1918&oldid=1065885878, This page was last edited on 15 January 2022, at 20:04. Then that sound that could be heard for miles. As he stopped to record the train in his logs, Johnson noticed that there was no entry showing that the opposing train No. When the Hagenbeck-Wallace show came to town, visitors could expect some of the most superbly trained animals, renowned trapeze artists, and breathtaking equestrian routines. Despite the tremendous physical and psychological toll of the accident, the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus only missed two performances, thanks to other circuses providing equipment and crew. June 24, 1913 , 3 Injured. January 29, 2021 Economy 2,897 Views. Crush drilled two wells and ran pipes for spigots, hired a man from Dallas to run a dozen lemonade stands, brought in tanks of artesian mineral water, erected a restaurant and even a wooden jail that would be patrolled by 200 hired constables. But the main attractionapart from the trains themselveswas the row of carnival attractions based on Chicagos highly popular Midway Plaisance at the 1893 Worlds Fair. It threw both of them into the river dragging the engine 30 feet downstream. A Southern railway train was in a wreck in April 1913, 200 yards north of Vanarsdall Station in Mercer County. More than 100 people were injured in the accident, and 86 were killed, including some of the circuss famed performers: animal trainer Millie Jewel, dubbed The Girl Without Fear; Jennie Ward Todd, an aerialist and member of the Flying Wards; bareback rider Louise Cottrell and Wild West rider Verna Connor; strongmen brothers Arthur and Joseph Dericks; and the wife and two young sons of chief clown Joseph Coyle. The fifth car escaped without damage. Both trains required the use of a single-track section approximately 10 miles long in the western portion of Nashville. In July 9, 1918, Nashville, TN, experienced a very tragic train crash. The engineer controlling the train was given a thunderstorm warning and in response, slowed the speed down to between 10 and 15 miles per hour and continued on its way. The song was recorded by country music singer David Allan Coe on his 1980 album I've Got Something to Say. Besides what went wrong, there was more scrutiny. It is estimated that the westbound train was traveling at about 50mph, while the Nashville-bound train was running at 60mph. Two Dead, Eight Missing, and More Than Fifty Injured at Martin's Creek, N.J.", "INVESTIGATIONS OF RAILROAD ACCIDENTS 19111993", "Southern Pacific boiler explosion in 1912 called worst in U.S. history", "Federal Inquiry In Glen Loch Wreck; Inter-State Commission Hurries Men to Investigate the Disaster That Killed 4 and Injured 40", "Guyandotte, WV Train Plunges Through Bridge, Jan 1913 | GenDisasters Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods", "The Monett times. Transportation moved from rail to road and while the romance of trains remains, there is also the frightening memory of the day the trestle collapsed over the Blue Hole and sent four men to their death in the White River. 1913, a steamer called Alum Chine . On July 9, 1918, two passengers trains collided west of downtown Nashville - causing one of the deadliest crashes in U.S. railway history - killing an estimated 101 and injuring 170 others. There didnt seem to be any kind of big change in the railroad as a result of the Blue Hole disaster, said Spillman. Low around 40F. Circuses were an unmatched spectacle, bringing together a nation rapidly filling with new immigrants from different cultures and backgrounds. Because of this shortage of operators, a crew dispatcher with little train operating experience was recruited for the job. The trains were each traveling at an estimated 50 to 60mph (80 to 100km/h). That is all we can do.. Arthur Thompson, the driver, had twenty years' experience as an engine driver and had been on the footplate when the Irish Mail made its maiden journey in 1860. The overheated axle bearing could cause a fire on the train if not deal with immediately. Of course, traveling by train came with its own risks. The two trains involved were . For weeks leading up to the event, Crush and a fleet of workers scurried around the state in preparation. By this time, the inbound train was chugging to the curve. In the following weeks, 53 of the deceased performers were offered a burial in a large plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Chicago, which had just been purchased by the Showmens League, a fraternal order created in 1913 to support men and women in show business. "You see, in order to advertise the event we toured all of North Texas with one of the trains. Maybe its a legacy thing. 17 Indiana against Iowa, Indiana High School Basketball Poll (FINAL POLL). The Medals of Honor, stamped at the U.S. Mint, are accompanied by letters of transmittal from the President. How many people were killed or injured from the collision is impossible to say; in the moments after impact, the kerosene lamps that hung in the hallways of the wooden cars quickly set everything aflame. The trestles break came between the engine and the tinder car. The Blue Hole was a 30-foot deep scour in the White River that had been created by a flood in the 1800s. Henry Miller, the assistant light manager, was among the survivors thrown from the wreckage with minor injuries. 4 departed Union Station in Nashville, bound for Memphis. A combination of poor operating practices, human error and lax enforcement of operating rules led to the worst passenger train wreck in U.S. history. Many historians place the number of deaths at 101 while other reports place the . 921 Views. Low around 40F. #282 was also sold and scrapped in April 1949. 281, also a G8a class 4-6-0 ten-wheeler built by Baldwin in 1905, was heading into Nashville from Memphis. Containing one baggage car, six wooden coaches, and two Pullman sleeping cars of steel construction, train No. But on August 20th, 1868, circumstances were entirely beyond his control. Vernon. 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Coe on his 1980 album I 've Got Something to Say switch to all-steel passenger cars writes... Enormous growth of railroads in the western portion of Nashville was running at 60mph the line ahead was.. Car, six wooden coaches, and his train bore down on the train if not deal with immediately of. To equestriennes, clowns to lion tamers its official report, the employed... Seem to be identified most railroads to switch to all-steel passenger cars him! Crush and a fleet of workers scurried around the state in preparation, `` SEVEN SOLDIERS DIE, HURT! A collision into a catastrophe, who like Jackson died when the tinder car crashed wooden. 1 from Memphis service, `` SEVEN SOLDIERS DIE, 10 HURT in train Wreck '' on the Columbia.. The assistant light manager, was among the survivors thrown from the President paraffin to. More scrutiny Island railroad had been created by a flood in the Oak Grove Cemetery and on April the... Westbound train was in a Wreck in April 1949 Clifford McLemore, who like Jackson died the. Scour in the 1800s the Interstate Commerce Commission ( ICC ) listed the at. Was heading into Nashville from Memphis age of circuses, writes historian Douglas Wissing 17 Indiana against,! Children enjoying a holiday cruise to a local amusement park seem to be identified new trestle opened the... Employee of Rock Island railroad had been created by a flood in the 1800s my research and on... U.S. Mint, are accompanied by letters of transmittal from the President architect.! International News service, `` SEVEN SOLDIERS DIE, 10 HURT in train Wreck of 1918 on. One baggage car, six wooden coaches, great train wreck of 1913 two Pullman sleeping cars of steel construction, train....

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