Woodbridge train wreck
Encyclopedia
The Woodbridge train wreck occurred on February 6, 1951 in Woodbridge, New Jersey when a train derailed crossing a temporary wooden trestle, killing 85 people. It is the third worst train disaster in American history, and the deadliest since 1918.
train number 733 (called 'The Broker' as many of its passengers were stockbrokers on Wall Street
) began its journey from Exchange Place
in Jersey City. It provided an express service to Bay Head
via the North Jersey Coast Line
and was especially crowded that day due to a strike on the nearby Jersey Central Railroad and carried 1100 passengers in eleven cars hauled by PRR K4s
4-6-2 steam locomotive 2445.
could work on the main line. Eight days previously train engineers had been told to slow to 25 mph through Woodbridge rather than the normal 60 mph from 1:01 pm on Feb 6. However it appears that despite being reminded of the restriction by his conductor prior to leaving Jersey City the engineer Joseph Fitzsimmons failed to slow the train and the subsequent enquiry found that it had been travelling at over 50 mph when it hit the curve approaching the trestle. About a mile before Woodbridge the conductor, alarmed at the train's speed had tried to pull the emergency cord but the crush of passengers made it impossible.
jack-knifed into each other as they hurtled down a 26 foot high embankment. It was in these two cars that most of the 85 fatalities occurred. The fifth and sixth cars were left hanging in mid-air over a street which was shiny from rain, and many who survived the crash jumped to their deaths believing they would land in water.
The accident happened at 5:43 pm in a densely populated area and help soon arrived in response to the town's emergency whistle; neighbors opening their houses to those in need. The seriously injured were taken to hospital in nearby Perth Amboy and a makeshift morgue set up in the Woodbridge firehouse. Among the dead was George W. C. McCarter, a partner in Newark law firm McCarter and English. Survivors included William Gordon Pagdin, a chemical engineer for Ballantine Beer Company and founder of the Monmouth Civic Chorus, Red Bank, New Jersey
.
Train 733
At 5.10 pm on a cold drizzly evening, Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
train number 733 (called 'The Broker' as many of its passengers were stockbrokers on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
) began its journey from Exchange Place
Exchange Place (PRR station)
The Pennsylvania Railroad Station was the intermodal passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad's vast holdings on the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey. By the 1920s the station was called Exchange Place in response to local nomenclature...
in Jersey City. It provided an express service to Bay Head
Bay Head (NJT station)
Bay Head is a railway station in Bay Head, New Jersey. This station is served by trains on New Jersey Transit's North Jersey Coast Line, and it is the southern terminus for the line. The rail yard contains of wetland inside the loop formed by the tracks used to turn around the trains. The rail...
via the North Jersey Coast Line
North Jersey Coast Line
The North Jersey Coast Line is a New Jersey Transit commuter rail service operating between New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal and Bay Head, New Jersey...
and was especially crowded that day due to a strike on the nearby Jersey Central Railroad and carried 1100 passengers in eleven cars hauled by PRR K4s
PRR K4s
The Pennsylvania Railroad's K4s 4-6-2 "Pacific" was their premier passenger-hauling steam locomotive from 1914 through the end of steam on the PRR in 1957....
4-6-2 steam locomotive 2445.
Speed restriction
A temporary wooden trestle and a shoofly adjacent to Fulton Street in Woodbridge had come into use that very afternoon so that labourers building the New Jersey TurnpikeNew Jersey Turnpike
The New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey, maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Turnpike is the nation's sixth-busiest toll road and is among one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United...
could work on the main line. Eight days previously train engineers had been told to slow to 25 mph through Woodbridge rather than the normal 60 mph from 1:01 pm on Feb 6. However it appears that despite being reminded of the restriction by his conductor prior to leaving Jersey City the engineer Joseph Fitzsimmons failed to slow the train and the subsequent enquiry found that it had been travelling at over 50 mph when it hit the curve approaching the trestle. About a mile before Woodbridge the conductor, alarmed at the train's speed had tried to pull the emergency cord but the crush of passengers made it impossible.
Derailment
The weight of the locomotive shifted the tracks, causing the derailment; and eight of the eleven cars derailed; the first two cars just fell on their side but the third and fourth carsjack-knifed into each other as they hurtled down a 26 foot high embankment. It was in these two cars that most of the 85 fatalities occurred. The fifth and sixth cars were left hanging in mid-air over a street which was shiny from rain, and many who survived the crash jumped to their deaths believing they would land in water.
The accident happened at 5:43 pm in a densely populated area and help soon arrived in response to the town's emergency whistle; neighbors opening their houses to those in need. The seriously injured were taken to hospital in nearby Perth Amboy and a makeshift morgue set up in the Woodbridge firehouse. Among the dead was George W. C. McCarter, a partner in Newark law firm McCarter and English. Survivors included William Gordon Pagdin, a chemical engineer for Ballantine Beer Company and founder of the Monmouth Civic Chorus, Red Bank, New Jersey
Monmouth Civic Chorus
The Monmouth Civic Chorus is an independent community chorus performing high quality music since 1949, recognized by national and community awards, drawing its members primarily from the Monmouth County, New Jersey community...
.
Enquiry
Despites protestations by the engineer that he had been travelling at only 25 mph, the enquiry cited the cause as "excessive speed on a curve of a temporary track", estimating the speed at between 50 and 60 mph. Fitzsimmons continued working for the railroad though he never drove a train again. A raft of lawsuits were brought against the railroad but were all settled out of court.External links
- It's 50 years since rail crash but it seems like only yesterday
- 1951 train wreck recalled in tears
- I never saw anything like it...it was like a war scene
- Color photo of the scene the day after the accident
- Worst Train Disaster in New Jersey History
- The Woodbridge Train Wreck
- ICC Report, Transcription available via DOT library
- List of accidents includes aerial photograph of scene