Battle Creek Mi Train Wreck Railroad Accident Antique (2024)

FAQs

What was the largest train accident in the United States? ›

The Great Train Wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Two passenger trains, operated by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway ("NC&StL"), collided head-on, costing at least 101 lives and injuring an additional 171.

Illinois, Texas, and Pennsylvania have had more derailments than anywhere else in the nation. Illinois has had the most derailments since 1975, at 12,958. The state has approximately 10,000 railway miles. Texas has the highest railway mileage — over 10,500.

They aren't usually major disasters.

101

Great Train Wreck of 1918 / Number of deaths

America's deadliest railroad: Florida's Brightline passenger service is expanding rapidly as the state booms - but its track fatality rate is THREE TIMES higher than nation's second-worst line.

The Angola Horror train wreck occurred on December 18, 1867, just after 3 p.m. when the last coach of the Buffalo-bound New York Express of the Lake Shore Railway derailed at a bridge in Angola, New York, United States, slid down into a gorge, and caught fire, killing some 49 people.

Driven by the efficiency goals of precision scheduled railroading, companies are forgoing long-held safety precautions, such as assembling trains to distribute weight and risk or taking the proper time to inspect them, ProPublica found.

Compare it to other major forms of transportation – with 0.04 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, train travel is much more dangerous than airplanes' 0.01 deaths per 100 million miles. However, air travel is only as safe as the operator, the equipment, and the training procedures that underlie the flight itself.

According to train accident statistics, broken or cracked rails and welds contribute to more than half of the train derailment accidents in the country.

Though a penny or some other coin is extremely unlikely to derail an entire locomotive, the act of doing so is illegal. In fact, it's illegal to place or throw any small or large object on a railroad track. Small objects that are left on a railroad track can become a “projectile” as the train passes it.

Are trains safer than planes? ›

And the answer depends on how safety is measured. If you look at fatalities per billion miles traveled, airplanes are clearly safer. If you look at fatalities per trip, trains are almost six times safer! But what is clear is that both modes of transportation are extremely safe compared to buses and cars.

Trains cannot reliably exceed 90 mph on track shared with freight trains, and are in most cases limited to 79 mph or less. To exceed 90 mph, passenger tracks should be separated from freight tracks. On a dedicated passenger track (with occasional passing sidings), diesel-powered trains can travel up to 125 mph.

Dutchman's Curve Train Wreck – July 9, 1918

The Dutchman's Curve Train Wreck, also known as “The Great Train Wreck of 1918”, occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville, Tennessee. The accident resulted in over 100 fatalities and more than 170 injured.

1830. 15 September – United Kingdom – William Huskisson becomes the first widely reported passenger train death. During the ceremonial opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, while standing on the track at Parkside, he is struck and fatally injured by the locomotive Rocket.

The worst crash in city subway history happened on Nov. 1, 1918, when a speeding train derailed in a sharply curved tunnel in Brooklyn, killing at least 93 people. More recently, five people died on Aug. 28, 1991, when a 4 train derailed at Manhattan's 14th Street Union Square station.

The Great Train Wreck of 1918. On July 9, 1918, two passenger trains collided head-on in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, it remains the worst railroad accident in United States history.

The 1993 Big Bayou Canot Amtrak train wreck is the deadliest train wreck in U.S. history. NTSB photo. It was 2:45 a.m., Sept. 22, 1993, the fog low and thick on the Mobile River in southwest Alabama.

January 4 – United Kingdom – Marden rail crash, a passenger train rear-ended a parcels train after passing a signal at danger, killing four people and injuring eleven. February 3 – Pakistan – On a level crossing near Lahore, a train and bus collided, killing 29 people and injuring 11.