1953 New York Central Railroad accident


The 1953 New York Central Railroad accident occurred on the four-track mainline 2.4 miles east of Conneaut, Ohio at 10:02 P.M. on March 27, 1953. The accident sequence began when an improperly secured load of large pipes broke loose from a gondola car on an eastbound freight train. The loose pipe, dragged by the moving train, damaged the eastbound passenger track. A passing westbound freight train crew notified the first train and stopped to assess what had happened. A fast westbound passenger train could not stop and derailed from the damaged track, colliding with the westbound freight on the adjacent track. Finally, an eastbound fast passenger train struck the derailed equipment from the first two trains. There were 21 deaths and 49 people were injured. This accident is the current world record for the most trains involved in a single accident.

Site

The accident occurred on the mainline of the Erie Division at a point 2.4 miles east of Conneaut and 1861 feet from the Ohio - Pennsylvania state line. This was on the famous "Water Level Route," a four-track mainline where fast passenger trains from the Midwest ran on an almost gradeless route to New York. The main tracks here, from south to north, were designated as No. 4, eastward freight; No. 2, eastward passenger; No. 1, westward passenger; and No. 3, westward freight. It was raining at the time of the accident. The distance between the center-lines of adjacent tracks was 13 feet.

Accident

Trains involved

The accident site was isolated from any main road. Only a muddy dirt lane led from the crash site to a major road two miles south, and it soon became blocked by vehicles mired in the mud. The injured were either carried on stretchers or moved by hand car to the nearest road. Some waited up to four hours for help. About 100 persons were treated on the scene and 62 were transported to hospitals.

Investigation

The Interstate Commerce Commission investigated the accident. Their findings indicated that the lading of Baltimore and Ohio car 254645 on Train Extra 1871 East was not properly secured for movement when loaded because the high tension bands were not properly sealed. Because the load was not properly secured, nine sections of pipe fell from the car while in transit. When the pipes fell from the car in question, one piece wedged between the track structure of track No. 1 and the next car, a boxcar. As the train proceeded at a speed of 36 miles per hour the resultant thrust transmitted by the pipe to track No. 1 moved track No. 1 northward a distance of about 18 inches before the pipe fell clear of the cars. The damaged condition of the track was not observed before passenger train No. 5 arrived at the point of the accident. The track was sufficiently damaged to cause the derailment of train No. 5 which in turn caused the derailment of Extra 1736 West. Passenger train No. 12 struck the derailed equipment of passenger train No. 5 before protection could be provided.