Overview
Louisville & Nashville passenger train No. 102 plunged through an open drawbridge into the Cumberland River near Clarksville. The locomotive, baggage car, mail car, and part of a passenger coach fell into the river. Engineer Frank Porter and Express Messenger W.D. Wood were killed, while several other railroad employees escaped from the wreckage through what newspapers described as a series of heroic rescues. The accident became one of the most notable railroad disasters in Clarksville history.
Quick Facts
- Date
- 6:00 p.m., Sept. 30, 1906
Associated Organizations
Associated Places
Place
Cumberland River Bridge
Completed in 1860 by the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad, the Cumberland River Bridge was the engineering centerpiece of Clarksville’s first railroad.