413:, it was decided to make temporary repairs to accommodate the expected crowds. Working round the clock, the derailed cars were removed, the engine lowered into the basement, and Steiner Construction erected a temporary wooden floor over the hole in the concourse and covered it with quick-drying asphalt in just two days. The workers also built a temporary station master's office and newsstand in time for the crowds coming in to DC. PRR #4876 was later cut up on site, with the pieces hauled up the baggage ramp into gondola cars to be shipped back to the Pennsylvania Railroad's main shop complex in
278:
car's own reservoir to flow into the car's brake cylinder which applies brake shoes against the wheels and slows down the train. If the cars separate or the air pressure is "dumped" by the engineer in an emergency, the pressure immediately drops to zero and all cars in the train will brake to an emergency stop as a fail safe. Closing an angle cock at any point along the system disables this fail-safe and prevents the reduction in air pressure from being able to apply any brakes behind the closed angle cock.
319:, engineer Henry W. Brower tried to slow the train for its approach into the stub-ended tracks of Washington but the train slowed to just 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Brower activated the emergency brakes, but the train only slowed to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). Brower put the engine into reverse, but the electric engine began malfunctioning due to the stress placed on it. Sparks began flying from the wheels of the engine and first three coaches as they alone tried to slow the train.
989:
984:
358:(the steel barrier at the end of the track). The train crashed through the buffer stop, then through the stationmaster's office, and then demolished a newsstand. The locomotive began skidding to its right. It also destroyed a steel pillar in the concourse, and tore through the concourse's concrete floor (which was 6 inches (15 cm) higher than the tracks outside).
285:, inspectors later said, found the angle cock in the correct, open position. But an after-accident investigation by the ICC revealed that the handle of the angle cock at the rear of the third coach was not in the correct position, as a design flaw on New Haven coach #8665 allowed the handle of the angle cock valve to come into contact with the
397:
378:
Amazingly, no one died during the accident. Only 43 people were injured, six seriously enough to require overnight hospitalization. Most of the workers in the basement had just departed for their coffee break, which spared their lives. Four Union
Station workers were briefly trapped in the wreckage,
334:
onto Track 16. When the train raced past him at high speed, he telephoned the stationmaster's office. Clerk Ray Klopp picked up the phone. Feeney shouted, "Runaway on Track 16!" Klopp looked up to see the train racing directly toward his office. He shouted, "Run for your lives!" Then he and the other
277:
Air brakes on trains are powered by a compressed air reservoir aboard each car. The engine supplies air pressure that is supposed to flow through the airbrake system along the entire length of the train. When this pressure is reduced by the engineer, valves on each car cause air pressure from the
365:
Two coaches came loose from the engine and the rest of the train. One of them slid onto the concourse to the right of the engine, coming to rest almost abreast of it. The other nosed downward behind the engine into the gigantic hole in the concourse floor. Six more coach cars jumped the tracks
404:
Despite the extensive damage to Union
Station, train service to and from D.C. was delayed but not canceled. The railroad called in a local contractor, Steiner Construction Co. of Baltimore to assess the damage and make temporary repairs. As the incident occurred just five days before the
335:
clerks ran out of the office as fast as they could. (They had just 20 seconds to get out of harm's way.) Aboard the train, conductor Thomas J. Murphy ran through the train from end to end, shouting at the passengers to get down as low as they could on the floor or on their seats.
417:. After new frames were ordered and a replacement superstructure fabricated, any components that were able to be reused went towards what was essentially a new 4876 that remained in service for another 30 years. Having been retired in 1983, 4876 is currently in storage at the
273:
system aboard the rail cars had angle cocks at both ends of each car. Both valves had to be open for the air brake system to operate properly. The only closed angle cocks should have been on the front of the locomotive and at the rear of the final car.
269:, Rhode Island, about 70 miles (110 km) south of Boston. Its brakes were sticking, and a 45-minute inspection occurred. Conductors discovered a closed "angle cock" (an air shutoff valve) at the rear of the third car. The
326:
now began descending a 5,500-foot (1,700 m) long section of track on a relatively steep 0.73 percent grade. This caused the train to accelerate. Brower began sounding a distress signal on the engine's air horn.
361:
The floor, not designed to hold the weight of a train, gave way beneath the 475,000 lb (215.5-tonne) locomotive, and the rear of the engine plunged into the baggage and mail rooms in the basement below.
1026:
83:
1011:
354:
was still moving at about 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) when it was 1,000 feet (300 m) from the terminal. It had slowed to just 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) when it struck the
1036:
393:
was able to broadcast live from Union
Station just 67 minutes after the wreck occurred. This was, for the time, one of the fastest live nationwide broadcasts ever made.
885:
731:
406:
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but quickly extricated. The engineer had no injuries, and the fireman received only scratches. Both men climbed out of the engine under their own power.
474:
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531:
878:
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29:
847:
418:
1021:
211:, Washington, jumping the platform and plunging through the floor of the concourse. There were no deaths, but 43 people were injured.
1016:
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67:
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266:
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410:
315:. After leaving Baltimore, the train accelerated to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), its normal speed. As the train neared
662:
reported its weight in 1953 as 200 tons (or 181.5 metric tonnes). See: Rasmussen, "Runaway Train
Crashed in D.C. Accident"
289:, causing the valve to close. This meant that the engine could only activate the braking power of the first three coaches.
343:
Passengers aboard the train knew something was wrong. The train would normally be moving very slowly as it passed beneath
519:
967:
235:
214:
The cause of the accident was a design flaw that allowed an air brake valve to close without human intervention.
126:
482:
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231:
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330:
In the train yard at Union
Station, tower operator John Feeney in K Tower set the switches to route the
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234:, a New Haven electric locomotive replaced the diesel along with adding several passenger cars from
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The stationmaster's clock, which was found in the wreckage, showed the time frozen at 8:38 a.m.
201:
occurred on
January 15, 1953, when a passenger and mail train from Boston to Washington DC (the
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The engine was just inches from smashing into the crowded waiting room beyond the concourse. A
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magazine photo showed the nose of the engine just pushing open the doors to the waiting room.
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230:-to-Washington, D.C., overnight train carrying mail and passengers. When the train arrived in
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71:
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308:. No braking trouble was reported at these stops. It departed Baltimore at 7:50 a.m.
1005:
282:
28:
863:
666:
January 26, 1997; Loftus, "Runaway Train Rams
Station in Washington, Injuring 41,"
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355:
763:
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departed New York City at 4:38 a.m. It made its regularly scheduled stops at
98:
85:
305:
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Baltimore was the train's last stop before arriving at Union
Station, its
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departed Boston at 11:00 p.m. After making two stops, the train halted at
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243:
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said in 1997 that it weighed 150 tons (or 136 metric tonnes), while the
239:
652:
News media often report the weight of the locomotive incorrectly. The
227:
396:
395:
867:
843:
Ex Parte No. 184, Accident at Union
Station, Washington D.C.
799:. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Archived from
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later inspired a similar scene in the 1976 motion picture
526:. The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 225, 227.
1027:
612:"Runaway Train Rams Station In Washington, Injuring 41"
421:
in Baltimore with no current plans for restoration.
794:"Pennsylvania Railroad Electric Locomotive GG1 4800"
1012:
Railway accidents and incidents in Washington, D.C.
906:
187:
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114:
77:
63:
43:
38:
21:
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207:) failed to brake sufficiently on its approach to
281:A routine inspection during the train's stop in
400:PRR 4876 preserved at Baltimore Railroad Museum
513:
511:
509:
507:
505:
503:
501:
499:
879:
238:for the run to New York's Penn Station where
8:
850:Repository & Open Science Access Portal.
823:. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
821:Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters
524:Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters
468:
466:
792:Abendschein, Frederic H. (April 23, 1983).
464:
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458:
456:
454:
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347:. But this time it rushed past the bridge.
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18:
552:Interstate Commerce Commission, p. 13-14.
1037:January 1953 events in the United States
630:
628:
626:
604:
602:
600:
598:
596:
594:
592:
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475:"Runaway Train Crashed in D.C. Accident"
832:. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing.
442:
564:
562:
560:
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199:1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck
22:1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck
736:. MBI Publishing Company. p. 7.
7:
768:Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum
419:Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum
407:inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower
848:Bureau of Transportation Statistics
250:, was coupled on; the train had 16
859:. St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing.
14:
987:
982:
830:Union Station in Washington, D.C
609:Loftus, Joseph A. (1953-01-16).
27:
16:Train wreck in Washington, D. C.
838:Interstate Commerce Commission
520:"More Runaways: Brake Failure"
473:Rasmussen, Fred (1997-01-26).
411:President of the United States
1:
226:(No. 173), was a southbound,
576:. 1953-01-26. pp. 42–43
920:Cdoro. Rivadavia, Argentina
570:"A Train Runs Out of Track"
218:Description of the accident
1053:
1022:Railway accidents in 1953
977:
894:Railway accidents in 1953
681:"NBC's $ 62,000 Cadillac"
518:Bibel, George D. (2012).
127:Washington Union Terminal
26:
1017:1953 in Washington, D.C.
712:. 1953-01-24. p. 50
706:"TV Preparation Stymied"
1032:Runaway train disasters
968:Šakvice, Czechoslovakia
855:Solomon, Brian (2003).
828:Cooper, Rachel (2011).
730:Solomon, Brian (2003).
938:Weesp, the Netherlands
764:"PRR No. 4876, "GG-1""
401:
49:; 71 years ago
962:Tangiwai, New Zealand
944:Hai Van Pass, Vietnam
840:(February 17, 1953).
415:Altoona, Pennsylvania
399:
256:Pullman sleeping cars
137:Pennsylvania Railroad
47:January 15, 1953
33:Wreckage of the train
914:Washington, D.C., US
857:Electric Locomotives
819:Bibel, G.D. (2012).
733:Electric Locomotives
302:Wilmington, Delaware
956:Sydenham, Australia
950:Manchester, England
248:electric locomotive
99:38.8988°N 77.0061°W
95: /
926:Conneaut, Ohio, US
770:. 21 November 2014
643:Abendschein, p. 5.
402:
366:behind the train.
317:Landover, Maryland
999:
998:
907:Location and date
685:Popular Mechanics
670:January 16, 1953.
533:978-1-4214-0590-2
479:The Baltimore Sun
424:The wreck of the
313:final destination
195:
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104:38.8988; -77.0061
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806:on April 7, 2014
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687:: 103. June 1953
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481:. Archived from
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916:(15 January)
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846:– via
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808:. Retrieved
801:the original
786:Bibliography
772:. Retrieved
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747:. Retrieved
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689:. Retrieved
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619:. p. 1.
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578:. Retrieved
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483:the original
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952:(15 August)
810:October 30,
774:21 November
236:Springfield
102: /
78:Coordinates
1006:Categories
928:(27 March)
749:2019-05-24
716:2019-05-24
691:2019-05-25
580:2019-05-24
539:2019-06-13
489:2019-05-24
438:References
172:Passengers
159:Statistics
90:77°00′22″W
87:38°53′56″N
54:1953-01-15
946:(24 June)
940:(19 June)
934:(8 April)
386:Aftermath
339:The wreck
306:Baltimore
271:air brake
232:New Haven
59:8:38 a.m.
391:NBC News
267:Kingston
133:Operator
64:Location
896: (
426:Federal
352:Federal
332:Federal
324:Federal
294:Federal
287:coupler
263:Federal
252:coaches
240:PRR GG1
224:Federal
204:Federal
188:Injured
146:Overrun
115:Country
52: (
39:Details
740:
530:
356:bumper
304:; and
228:Boston
180:Deaths
164:Trains
804:(PDF)
797:(PDF)
246:, an
151:Cause
993:1954
980:1952
898:1953
812:2012
776:2014
738:ISBN
574:Life
528:ISBN
372:Life
350:The
322:The
292:The
261:The
254:and
244:4876
242:No.
222:The
197:The
123:Line
44:Date
175:400
1008::
766:.
708:.
683:.
625:^
615:.
589:^
572:.
557:^
522:.
498:^
477:.
445:^
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300:;
258:.
191:43
70:,
900:)
887:e
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873:v
814:.
778:.
752:.
719:.
694:.
583:.
542:.
492:.
183:0
167:1
56:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
