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Harmon, Joseph Raoul Losson Hurst, Louisa B. Hurst, Mrs. Catharine "Kate" A. Ice, W. C. Johnson, Silas "Sil" C. Lawrence, David
Maraman, Emily Haycraft Mashburn, Miss Elizabeth McElroy, Amelia Miller, Lillian Miller, Mabel Brown Miller, W. McMakin Miller, Garnette McKay Moore, Lucas Moore, James Hartwell Morrison, Cora May Muir, George Shadburne Muir, Nathaniel Wickliffe Muir, Frank L. Nunn, Estella B. Nutt, Forrest L. Overall, Maggie Mae Overall, Bettie Phillips, David Phillips, John T. Phillips, Alice May Pulliam, Emory Samuels, Thomas Schaffer, Carrie May Simmons, Miss Mary Alethaire Simms, Thomas Spalding, J. W. Stansbury, Ben Talbott, James Thompson, N. H. Thompson.
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Miss Lena
Hatfield, Thomas W. Hoagland, Charles Jenkins, Charles Jessie, John Keyer, Howard Maraman, Ezekiel Masden, John McClure, George Moore, Claude Lee Nutt, Daniel Nutt, C. H. Perkins, Miss Ella Phillips, J. Frank Ratcliff, Annie Reed, Leonard Riney, Lee Roby, Harry Samuels, Susie Sheckles, C. William Shelton, Charles Showalter, John Showalter, Susan S. Simmons, J. E. Smith, Michael Smith (Bullitt County), Michael Smith (Louisville), Ethel Thornton, Roscoe Tucker, Elizabeth Ward, Henry Wilhite, Marvin Williams.
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engineer immediately applied the emergency brakes but it was too late. It struck the rear of the wooden framed local at a speed of 25 mph. The engine continued to the entire length of the rear car, "shattering it completely" and continued through half the length of the smoker, though itself was
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reported later that half a mile from
Shepherdsville, "I blew four blasts for orders. I could see the signal only dimly, and it was green, our signal to proceed if we had seen it change from red to green. I did not see it change, I believed it had already changed from red to green, meaning for me to
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Henry Bowman, James
Bradbury, Margaret Bradbury, Arthur Cahoe, James Carrico, Walter Carter, Benjamin Chapeze, Ed Clarkson, Miss Anna Cravens, Eliza M. Cravens, Frank Daugherty, Dr. D. S. Dodds, Mrs. George C. Duke, John Ford, Jeff D. Gregory, Judge Nat Halstead, Natalie Halstead, Edith Hatfield,
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A contributing factor was the failure of the express engineman to properly observe the train order signal at
Shepherdsville. However the system (in which all signals were held in the stop position until an approaching train, within 600 yards of the signal sounded four short blasts to request the
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report of the accident assigned responsibility for the accident to the conductor and flagman of the local train, for failing to protect their train with fusees and torpedoes: "the action of these two experienced employees in failing to protect their train is inexcusable" (both were killed by the
299:
Father Eugene A. Bertello, Joshua Bethel Bowles, Hollis
Bridges, Miss Josie Bridges, Mahlon H. Campbell, Carrie B. Cherry, Redford Columbus Cherry Sr., Redford Columbus Cherry Jr., Raymond Thomas Cravens, George C. Duke, Virginia Frances Duke, Lawrence C. Greenwell, Henry Z. Hardaway, Mattie E.
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The report also stated that the line, with 44 trains scheduled in each direction daily, could not be operated safely by the time-interval and dispatching system and recommended the railroad should "take immediate steps to implement an adequate
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on
December 20, 1917. It was the deadliest train wreck in Kentucky's history. Blame was chiefly attributed to negligence by the driver and flagman of the local train, though the standard signalling routines were also found to be inadequate.
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A relief train arrived before 7 p.m. with 11 Louisville doctors and several surgeons, but it was nearly midnight before the last of the mangled bodies was removed from the splintered wreckage; some were unrecognisable.
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signal be cleared) was unworkable since, if the engineman fails to see the clearing of the signal, then he is required to stop at the signal; but high-speed trains such as the
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passed Brooks, giving four short whistle blasts to request right of way; this was granted, the signal being changed from red to green. The depot informed the
Campbell that the
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position before deciding whether to go back into the siding. Unfortunately when it arrived at the station at 5:24 the station operator had no news about the
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proceed". As the local threw the switch to allow it to go back into the siding the signal automatically changed the signal to red. The
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The local train's conductor decided to stop normally at
Shepherdsville (rather than go straight into the siding) then confirm the
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had left
Louisville at 4:53 pm, nearly two hours late; it had nine steel cars and was intending to make up time on the run south.
232:, 14 miles from Louisville at 5:12 pm, some six minutes late, and its conductor was told by the dispatcher to let the approaching
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killed 49 people (some sources say 51), and left a similar number seriously injured. It is the worst and deadliest train wreck of
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was a fatal rail accident that killed at least 49 people when an express collided with a local train at
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These people have been identified as having sustained injuries as a result of the wreck.
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not derailed. The force of the collision drove the local forward a distance of 800 feet.
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was approaching fast so the local pulled forward in order to "back in" at the switch.
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224:. It consisted of an engine pulling a baggage car, a combination smoker/
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the corner of 2nd and Walnut Streets in Shepherdsville, Bullitt County
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required considerably more distance than 600 yards to come to a halt.
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Accidents and incidents involving Louisville and Nashville Railroad
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The following people are known to have died in this train wreck.
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381:. Vol. 2000. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 144–.
446:"Vintage Post Cards from Louisville - Union Station, ca. 1910"
478:"Bullitt County History - 1917 Shepherdsville Train Wreck"
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St. Croix, New Brunswick, Canada / Vanceboro, Maine, US
428:"The Bullitt County History Museum - Train Wreck Book"
244:, pass at Shepherdsville unless he could make it to
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540:"Shepherdsville, KY Rear End Collision, Dec 1917"
192:The collision at Shepherdsville, Kentucky on the
503:. Ancestral Trails Historical Society, Kentucky
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336:for the protection of trains on this line".
980:Railway accidents and incidents in Kentucky
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545:1917 Shepherdsville Train Wreck Diorama
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208:A local train No.41, known as the
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851:Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, France
194:Louisville and Nashville Railroad
123:Louisville and Nashville Railroad
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476:Hartley, Charles (20 May 2010).
717:Ais Gill, Westmoreland, England
480:. Bullitt County History Museum
874:Little Salkeld, United Kingdom
580:Railway accidents in the 1910s
530:Interstate Commerce Commission
378:The encyclopedia of Louisville
317:Interstate Commerce Commission
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857:Shepherdsville, Kentucky, US
33:Wreckage of a demolished car
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787:St Bedes Junction, England
612:Wellington, Washington, US
177:Shepherdsville train wreck
22:Shepherdsville train wreck
975:Railway accidents in 1917
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804:Boston, Massachusetts, US
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990:Bullitt County, Kentucky
682:Ditton Junction, England
432:bullittcountyhistory.org
375:Kleber, John E. (2001).
181:Shepherdsville, Kentucky
140:Failure to protect train
68:Shepherdsville, Kentucky
886:Nashville, Tennessee US
839:Houten, the Netherlands
659:Indianola, Nebraska, US
292:Those killed or injured
49:; 106 years ago
904:Brooklyn, New York, US
775:Quintinshill, Scotland
630:Novato, California, US
624:Spring Creek, Iowa, US
606:Nairn, Ontario, Canada
220:at 4:35 pm, bound for
47:December 20, 1917
676:Corning, New York, US
501:"A Christmas Tragedy"
450:www.oldlouisville.com
95:37.98694°N 85.71472°W
16:Rail accident in 1917
1000:December 1917 events
880:Hammond, Indiana, US
810:Herceghalom, Hungary
740:Carrbridge, Scotland
499:Morris, Gertrude V.
274:The engineer on the
827:Edinburgh, Scotland
763:Guadalajara, Mexico
100:37.98694; -85.71472
91: /
921:Vigerslev, Denmark
892:Weesp, Netherlands
653:Hopkinstown, Wales
412:Train Wreck Marker
132:Rear-end collision
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711:Bramming, Denmark
705:Chumhill, England
586:Location and date
388:978-0-8131-2100-0
365:ICC Investigation
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898:Getå, Sweden
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505:. Retrieved
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482:. Retrieved
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334:block system
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200:'s history.
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900:(1 October)
829:(3 January)
783:(14 August)
759:(1 January)
701:(1 January)
602:(1 January)
320:disaster).
238:New Orleans
226:colored car
222:Springfield
212:, departed
98: /
74:Coordinates
969:Categories
736:(13 March)
632:(8 August)
626:(21 March)
526:ICC Report
340:References
234:Cincinnati
218:Louisville
145:Statistics
86:85°42′53″W
83:37°59′13″N
54:1917-12-20
882:(22 June)
742:(18 June)
713:(26 July)
620:(4 March)
614:(1 March)
246:Bardstown
59:5:30 p.m.
888:(9 July)
841:(7 June)
777:(22 May)
678:(4 July)
661:(29 May)
204:Incident
198:Kentucky
64:Location
507:10 July
484:10 July
394:10 July
281:Flyer's
257:Flyer's
166:Injured
111:Country
52: (
39:Details
385:
230:Brooks
158:Deaths
150:Trains
956:1920s
943:1900s
326:Flyer
276:Flyer
269:Flyer
265:Flyer
261:Flyer
250:Flyer
242:Flyer
137:Cause
914:1919
867:1918
820:1917
797:1916
750:1915
727:1914
692:1913
669:1912
646:1911
593:1910
509:2010
486:2010
396:2010
383:ISBN
315:The
236:-to-
175:The
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44:Date
216:in
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348:^
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153:2
56:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
