Railfanning.org > Railroad History > U.S. Rail Fatalities

Dec. 14, 2005: A truck driver was killed Dec. 14 after an Amtrak train struck the truck he was driving, according to various published reports. The truck, according to an Associated Press report, tried to cross the tracks in front of the approaching California Zephyr. It took one-half mile for the train to stop. The crossing does not have gates. Five of the train’s 119 passengers were injured in the crash. None of the injuries, according to published reports, appeared to be life threatening. The lead engine’s front wheel derailed in the wreck. The Federal Railroad Administration will investigate the wreck.

Oct. 15, 2005: One person was killed and two homes destroyed Oct. 15 when eight cars — including one carrying propane gas — derailed in Texarkana, Ark. According to an Associated Press report, a Union Pacific freight train rear-ended another train in a rail yard, leading to the derailment. After the wreck, the propane gas ignited and a fire burned for some time. Thinking the gas was something other than propane, authorities went to nearby residents asking them to leave the area, according to the report. At least a half-dozen people were sent to a nearby emergency rooms. A lawsuit filed days after the wreck alleges the train’s engineer fell asleep before the wreck, according to an Associated Press report.

Sept. 28, 2005: A woman and her 8-year-old grandson were killed Sept. 28 when an Amtrak Acela train plowed into their car, which was parked on the tracks at a grade crossing in Waterford, Conn., according to media reports. After the wreck, the train pushed the vehicle at least 100 yards before coming to a stop, according to reports. No one aboard the train, which was traveling between Boston and Washington, was hurt in the wreck. A second child was also seriously injured in the wreck, The Associated Press reported. Amtrak closed the corridor for hours after the wreck, causing delays for Amtrak trains operating between New York and Boston. Though Acela does travel as fast as 150 mph, the train was only traveling about 60 mph at the time of the wreck.

Aug. 2, 2005: Two people in a dump truck are killed when Amtrak’s northbound Carolinian crashes into their truck near Raleigh, N.C. According to authorities, the men drove around a gate at the grade crossing. Fifteen people on board the train are also injured in the wreck.

Jan. 26, 2004: Eleven people are killed when a man contemplating suicide parks his SUV on commuter railroad tracks, causing the derailment of two Metrolink trains in Glendale, Calif.

Jan. 6, 2005: Nine people are killed and scores more injured in Graniteville, S.C., when a Norfolk Southern freight train drives into a parked train, leading to the rupture of a tank car, which spilled chlorine gas.

Nov. 10, 2004: Five people are killed at a grade crossing in Graniteville, S.C., after trying to beat a Norfolk Southern freight train. The train, consisting of a locomotive and two cars was traveling 45 mph in a 49 mph zone, when it strikes a Buick at the Ascauga Lake Road grade crossing in Graniteville at 8:15 a.m.

April 6, 2004: One person was killed and dozens injured when an Amtrak train derailed near in Mississippi. Amtrak’s northbound City of New Orleans derailed around 6:33 p.m. on Canadian National Railway Co. railroad tracks near Flora, Miss. The entire train – including one locomotive, one baggage car and eight passenger cars – derails near milepost 196.5 while traveling about 78 mph. The train is carrying 61 passengers and 12 Amtrak employees. Along with the fatality, three serious injuries and 43 minor injuries are reported. Damages from the wreck total about $7 million.

April 18, 2002: Four people die and more than 150 are hurt when an Amtrak train derails in Crescent City, Fla. At 5:08 p.m., 21 of 40 cars of Amtrak’s northbound Auto Train derailed. The train – carrying 413 passengers and 33 Amtrak employees – derails in a left-hand curve while traveling about 56 mph. In addition to the four fatalities, 36 serious injuries and 106 minor injuries are reported. The equipment and track costs associated with the accident total about $8.3 million. The National Transportation Safety Board later determines the probable cause of derailment of the train was, in part, a heat-induced track.

July 26, 2000: The engineer of a Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad is killed after the train strikes a truck at a grade crossing near Port Hudson, La. The train’s brakeman and the truck’s driver are injured in the 10:42 a.m. wreck at the intersection of U.S. Highway 61 and the CN/IC Zee Industry Lead track. The driver and four occupants of a car left the highway to avoid colliding with the train also suffer minor injuries.

March 28, 2000: Three children are killed when a freight train crashes into a school bus at a grade crossing in Polk County, Tenn. The CSX train is traveling 51 mph when it strikes the Murray County (Ga.) School District school bus at the grade crossing near Conasauga, Tenn., at 6:40 a.m. In the wreck, the driver and three children are ejected – one dies. Four passengers remain in the bus after the crash and two are killed. The National Transportation Safety Board later blames the wreck on the school bus driver’s failure to stop at the grade crossing.

March 15, 1999: Eleven people are killed and about 100 people injured when an Amtrak train hits a truck and derails near Bourbonnais, Ill. Two Amtrak train locomotives and 11 of the train’s 14 cars derail around 9:47 p.m. The derailed Amtrak cars struck 2 of 10 freight cars that are standing on an adjacent siding. In addition to the 11 fatalities, 122 people are taken to local hospitals. Total Amtrak equipment damages were estimated at $14 million, and damages to track and associated structures were estimated to be about $295,000. The truck driver is blamed for the wreck.

Feb. 16, 1996: Eleven people are killed when an Amtrak train and a commuter train collide in Silver Spring, Md.

Sept. 22, 1993: Forty-seven people are killed when an Amtrak train crosses a damaged bridge near Mobile, Ala. Just before the wreck, a river barge hit a railroad bridge causing its misalignment.

Jan. 18, 1993: A Chicago South Shore & South Bend train runs a red signal and is struck by a westbound train and seven people are killed.

July 31, 1991: Eight people are killed and 78 people injured when an Amtrak train hits a freight car on a siding near Camden, S.C.

Jan. 4, 1987: An Amtrak passenger train and a Conrail freight train collide near Chevy, Md., killing 16 people.

Aug. 22, 1955: Eleven school children are killed when a freight train crashes into a school bus in Spring City, Tenn. The school bus ignores warning signals that a train is approaching. Another 39 people are injured in the wreck.

July 6, 1944: Thirty-five people – United States soldiers deploying – are killed and 99 injured when a troop train crashes near Jellico, Tenn.

Nov. 1, 1918: A Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co. train crashes after taking a curve too fast underneath the intersection of Malbone Street and Flathbush and Ocean avenues. In all, 97 people are killed in the wreck known as the Malbone Street Wreck. Instead of taking the curve at 6 mph, the train is traveling between 30 mph and 40 mph.

July 9, 1918: In the deadliest train wreck in the United States, 101 people are killed when two Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway trains crash head-on near Nashville, Tenn. Another 171 people are injured in the crash.

June 22, 1918: An empty troop train crashes into a parked circus train near Hammond, Ind., killing 86 people and injuring 127 others.

Sept. 15, 1907: Near Canaan, N.H., 25 people are killed in a wreck.

Sept. 27, 1903: Eleven people are killed when a Southern Railway train derails on Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Va. The wreck is popularized in the song Wreck of the Old ‘97.

April 19, 1891: Eight people are killed near Kipton, Ohio, after a passenger train collides with a freight train. Blamed on an engineer’s watch that had stopped as was four minutes behind, the wreck is also credited with bringing about quality control standards on United States railroads.

Dec. 29, 1876: A bridge over the Ashtabula River collapses as The Pacific Express passes over, killing 92 people and injuring 64 others. Eleven cars fall into the Ashtabula River and stoves in the train’s cars start fires after the bridge collapse.

Nov. 1, 1855: More than 30 people are killed when 12 of 13 cars from an excursion train plunges into the Gasconade River near St. Louis after a bridge over the waterway collapses. More than 600 people are on board the train to celebrate the Pacific Railroad’s opening. Hundreds of other passengers are injured in the wreck.

July 17, 1831: The locomotive Best Friend of Charleston explodes after a fireman annoyed by the hissing of steam escaping from the engine, tied down an exhaust valve. Though not a wreck, the explosion marks the first railroad-related fatality in the United States.

Compiled by Todd DeFeo. Contributing: Press releases and government reports.