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Shortly before 6 pm, the outer rail and a portion of the track between the
Bardwell's Ferry and West Deerfield stations gave way due to a washout. The locomotive was wrecked and cars were thrown 100 feet down an embankment. Three of the cars caught fire almost immediately. All of the cars except for
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The
Massachusetts Railroad Commission found that the slide in the embankment was due to three faults in construction. The first fault was that wooden crib-work had been buried by dirt and rock, which led to the wood rotting away in moist earth. The second fault occurred when plans to build a culvert
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to drain water from a ditch on the north side of the track to the river were scrapped due to lack of funding. Lastly, the weakened southern slope of the embankment had been weighed down by broken rock that had been dumped there during the addition of a second track.
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Around 4:45 pm
Passenger Train No. 35, made up of an engine, tender, two baggage cars (one express car and one post office car), a smoking car (belonging to the
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the Troy and Boston coach were destroyed. 47 of the 48 passengers were injured and 11 were killed instantly or died from their injuries.
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A special train containing physicians, reporters, and others who could assist was dispatched from
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line, which was owned and maintained by the state and operated by the
Fitchburg Railroad.
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caused
Passenger Train No. 35 to fall 100 feet down an embankment.
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with 48 passengers on board. The train was traveling on the
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Annual Report of the Board of
Railroad Commissioners 1887
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Massachusetts Board of
Railroad Commissioners (1887).
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Accidents and incidents involving
Fitchburg Railroad
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291:Railway accidents and incidents in Massachusetts
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244:"Ten Killed In the Deerfield Disaster".
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16:1886 railroad accident in Massachusetts
120:occurred on April 7, 1886, outside of
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171:and the deceased to Greenfield.
124:. 11 people were killed after a
169:Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts
144:), and a parlor car, departed
118:The Deerfield railway accident
1:
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146:North Adams, Massachusetts
20:Deerfield railway accident
286:Railway accidents in 1886
165:Greenfield, Massachusetts
281:Deerfield, Massachusetts
229:"Wrecked in a washout".
142:Troy and Boston Railroad
122:Deerfield, Massachusetts
45:Deerfield, Massachusetts
246:The Boston Daily Globe
266:1886 in Massachusetts
74:42.54028°N 72.65500°W
79:42.54028; -72.65500
70: /
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231:The New York Times
138:Fitchburg Railroad
108:Non-fatal injuries
276:April 1886 events
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248:. April 9, 1886.
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233:. April 8, 1886.
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210:. pp. 64–68
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175:Investigation
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28:April 7, 1886
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212:. Retrieved
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214:18 February
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52:Coordinates
260:Categories
184:References
65:72°39′18″W
62:42°32′25″N
132:Accident
41:Location
126:washout
94:Washout
150:Boston
100:Deaths
90:Cause
216:2022
148:for
36:6 pm
33:Time
25:Date
262::
192:^
111:36
103:11
218:.
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