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indicate that neither documentation nor estimates are correct, and historian
Vicente Fernandez indicates 101 mortal victims and 116 wounded. Also in the documentary, it is stated the train designated as RENFE 151-3101 located at the Catalonia Museum is actually the "Santa-Fe" Norte 5100 that was in the locomotive train wreck.
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In 2019, the
Spanish TV station RTVE produced a documentary called "El tren de los desaparecidos", with witnesses and relatives of the victims. The Guinness Book of Rail Facts and Feats, published in 1971 by John Marshall, claims it is the third worst railway disaster with 500-800 killed. Studies
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and three carriages were travelling through the tunnel away from the station having been warned by the station master about the runaway mail train. The last two carriages were still in the tunnel when they were struck by the mail train, with the mail train's first six carriages beginning to burn,
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Unaware of the first collision, a coal train was approaching the tunnel from the opposite direction with 27 loaded wagons. As the crash had destroyed the signaling cables, the signals were set at clear when the coal train left tunnel No. 21. The unharmed driver of the shunting engine desperately
177:. The train was now three hours late, and despite serious problems with its brakes during the steep descent through Branuelas, the decision was made to continue. The train was scheduled to stop at Albares but failed to do so, despite all hand-brakes on the carriages and
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being applied. The
Albares station master immediately telephoned Torre del Bierzo to say that the train had lost its brakes on the steep descent. At Torre del Bierzo the station master ran for his office and attempts were made to put
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file on the disaster was lost. Many people travelled without tickets so it was difficult to estimate the true number of passengers aboard, but survivors state that the train was packed, many travelling to the
Christmas fair in
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on the line to slow the runaway train, but these efforts were to no avail and the train ran through with its whistle blowing and its brake shoes applied, heading for tunnel No. 20, located just beyond the station.
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when three trains collided and caught fire inside a tunnel. Although the official death toll was 78, and at the time it was estimated to be 200–250, the most recent study has estimated it at no more than 100.
222:. It was only many years later that the scale of the accident was revealed; the actual death toll remains disputed. A recent and very detailed book on the disaster amounts the death toll to no more than 100.
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tried to warn the oncoming coal train which managed to slow, but it still ploughed into the shunting locomotive's train, killing the shunting engine driver and four railwaymen on the coal train.
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and was having problems with its brakes; nine minutes were spent at
Astorga checking them. Later, one of the locomotives was removed due to a
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The fire burned for two days, delaying any rescue effort and making the identification of most of the victims impossible.
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Tunnel No. 20, the scene of the accident, was closed in 1985 due to geological problems.
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meant that the accident received little publicity at the time, and the official
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La verdad sobre el accidente ferroviario de Torre del Bierzo (1944)
315:"European Outline 0 Gauge Trains: An Introduction to PAYÁ of Spain"
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La verdad sobre el accidente ferroviario de Torre del Bierzo (1944)
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their wood construction being ignited by the train's gas lighting.
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mail express, consisting of 12 carriages hauled by two
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169:. It was running two hours late when it arrived at
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132:occurred on 3 January 1944 near the village of
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236:in 2002 for best short documentary film.
331:(In Spanish) Vicente Fernandez Vazquez:
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205:Strict censorship under the regime of
358:List of train accidents by death toll
299:Cronicas-El tren de los desaparecidos
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363:Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailment
282:Fernandez Vazquez, Vicente (2019).
228:A film about the accident entitled
161:‘Mastodon’ steam locomotives, left
286:. INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS BERCIANOS.
153:At 20:30 the previous evening the
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255:¿Qué pasó en el túnel número 20?
250:El accidente de Torre del Bierzo
582:History of the province of León
353:List of Spanish rail accidents
130:Torre del Bierzo rail disaster
22:Torre del Bierzo rail disaster
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577:January 1944 events in Europe
557:Transport in Castile and León
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431:Catterick Bridge explosion
122:100 (most recent estimate)
542:Railway accidents in 1944
537:Train collisions in Spain
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399:Railway accidents in 1944
572:Railway tunnel disasters
547:1944 disasters in Europe
567:Runaway train disasters
419:Torre del Bierzo, Spain
260:Las victimas fueron 100
455:Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
425:London, United Kingdom
313:Booth, Bryant (2012).
449:Stockton, Georgia, US
443:Soham, United Kingdom
513:42.59000°N 6.36639°W
244:Sources (in Spanish)
509: /
335:, Ponferrada 2019,
302:(in Spanish). 2019.
209:in the wake of the
91:Collision in tunnel
518:42.59000; -6.36639
463:(31 December)
433:(4 February)
140:region of Spain's
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427:(16 January)
412:Location and date
341:978-84-15535-49-2
211:Spanish Civil War
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175:hot axle box
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16:Train wreck
531:Categories
501:42°35′24″N
266:References
234:Goya Award
165:bound for
104:Statistics
552:El Bierzo
504:6°21′59″W
138:El Bierzo
43:UTC+01:00
347:See also
220:Bembibre
184:sleepers
167:A Coruña
149:Overview
78:Operator
72:A Coruña
50:Location
401: (
171:Astorga
155:Galicia
136:in the
27:Details
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232:won a
163:Madrid
117:Deaths
109:Trains
68:Madrid
37:13:20
215:RENFE
159:4-8-0
96:Cause
82:RENFE
58:Spain
486:1945
473:1943
403:1944
337:ISBN
179:sand
128:The
64:Line
32:Date
70:to
39:CET
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274:^
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112:3
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