While trains are convenient for travel and for transporting goods, they have become a greater danger over the years as their speed has increased. Sometimes railroad accidents are caused by human error, but other causes include derailment, explosions on board, and bridge collapses.

NOTE: Very few passengers were killed in a single U.S. train wreck up until 1853. The early trains ran slowly and made short trips, night travel was rare, and there were not many of them in operation.

1831

June 17, nr. Charleston, S.C.: boiler exploded on America’s first passenger locomotive, The Best Friend of Charleston, injuring the fireman and the engineer.

1833

Nov. 8, nr. Heightstown, N.J.: world’s first train wreck and first passenger fatalities recorded. A 24-passenger Camden & Amboy train derailed due to a broken axle, killing 2 passengers and injuring all others. Former president John Quincy Adams and Cornelius Vanderbilt, who later made a fortune in railroads, were aboard.

1853

May 6, Norwalk, Conn.: New Haven Railroad train ran through an open drawbridge and plunged into the Norwalk River. 46 passengers were crushed to death or drowned. This was the first major drawbridge accident.

1856

July 17, Camp Hill, nr. Ft. Washington, Pa.: 2 Northern Penn trains crashed head-on. Approximately 50–60 people died, mostly children on their way to a Sunday school picnic.

1876

Dec. 29, Ashtabula, Ohio: Lake Shore train fell into the Ashtabula River when the bridge it was crossing collapsedduring a snowstorm; 92 people were killed.

1887

Aug. 10, nr. Chatsworth, Ill.: a burning railroad trestle collapsed while a Toledo, Peoria & Western train was crossing, killing 81 and injuring 372.

1904

Aug. 7, Eden, Colo.: train derailed on bridge during flash flood; 96 killed.

1910

March 1, Wellington, Wash.: 2 trains swept into canyon by avalanche; 96 dead.

1915

May 22, Quintinshill, Scotland: 2 passenger trains and troop train collided at Quintinshill near Gretna Green; 227 killed.

1917

Dec. 12, Modane, France: nearly 550 killed in derailment of troop train near mouth of Mt. Cenis tunnel.

1918

July 9, Nashville, Tenn.: 101 killed in a 2-train collision near Nashville.

Nov. 1, New York City: derailment of subway train in Malbone St. tunnel in Brooklyn left 92 dead.

1926

March 14, Virilla River Canyon, Costa Rica: an overcrowded train carrying pilgrims derailed while crossing the Colima Bridge, killing over 300 people and injuring hundreds more.

1939

Dec. 22, nr. Magdeburg, Germany: more than 125 killed in collision; 99 killed in another wreck near Friedrichshafen.

1943

Dec. 16, nr. Rennert, N.C.: 72 killed in derailment and collision of 2 Atlantic Coast Line trains.

1944

March 2, nr. Salerno, Italy: 521 suffocated when Italian train stalled in tunnel.

1949

Oct. 22, nr. Nowy Dwor, Poland: more than 200 reported killed in derailment of Danzig-Warsaw express.

1950

Nov. 22, Richmond Hill, N.Y.: 79 died when one Long Island Railroad commuter train crashed into rear of another.

1951

Feb. 6, Woodbridge, N.J.: 85 died when Pennsylvania Railroad commuter train plunged through temporary overpass.

1952

Oct. 8, Harrow-Wealdstone, England: 2 express trains crashed into commuter train; 112 dead.

1957

Sept. 1, nr. Kendal, Jamaica: about 175 killed when train plunged into ravine.

Sept. 29, nr. Montgomery, West Pakistan: express train crashed into standing oil train; nearly 300 killed.

Dec. 4, St. John’s, England: 92 killed and 187 injured as one commuter train crashed into another in fog.

1960

Nov. 14, Pardubice, Czechoslovakia: 2 trains collided; 110 dead, 106 injured.

1962

May 3, nr. Tokyo: 163 killed and 400 injured when train crashed into wreckage of collision between inbound freight train and outbound commuter train.

1963

Nov. 9, nr. Yokohama, Japan: 2 passenger trains crashed into derailed freight train, killing 162.

1964

July 26, Custoias, Portugal: passenger train derailed; 94 dead.

1970

Feb. 4, nr. Buenos Aires: 236 killed when express train crashed into standing commuter train.

1972

July 21, Seville, Spain: head-on crash of two passenger trains killed 76.

1972

Oct. 6, nr. Saltillo, Mexico: train carrying religious pilgrims derailed and caught fire, killing 204 and injuring over 1,000.

Oct. 30, Chicago: 2 Illinois Central commuter trains collided during morning rush hour; 45 dead and over 200 injured.

1974

Aug. 30, Zagreb, Yugoslavia: train entering station derailed, killing 153 and injuring over 60.

1981

June 6, nr. Mansi, India: driver of train carrying over 500 passengers braked to avoid hitting a cow, causing train to plunge off a bridge into the Baghmati River; 268 passengers were reported killed, but at least 300 more were missing.

1982

July 11, Tepic, Mexico: Nogales-Guadalajara train plunged down mountain gorge, killing 120.

1989

Jan. 15, Maizdi Khan, Bangladesh: train carrying Muslim pilgrims crashed head-on with a mail train, killing at least 110 people and injuring as many as 1,000. Many people were riding on the
roof of the trains and between the cars.

June 3, Ural Mountains: gas exploded beneath 2 trains, killing 575.

Aug. 10, nr. Los Mochis, Mexico: a passenger train traveling from Mazatlán to Mexicali plunged off a bridge at Puente del Rio Bamoa, killing an estimated 85 people and injuring 107.

1990

Jan. 4, Sangi village, Sindh province, Pakistan: overcrowded 16-car passenger train rammed into a standing freight train. At least 210 people were killed and 700 were believed injured in what is said to be Pakistan’s worst train disaster.

1993

Sept. 22, nr. Mobile, Ala.: Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, en route to Miami, jumped rails on weakened bridge and plunged into Big Bayou Canot, killing 47 people.

1995

Aug. 20, Firozabad, northern India: a speeding passenger train rammed another train that was stalled, killing 358.

1997

March 3, Punjab province, Pakistan: passenger train crashed due to failed brakes, killing 119 and injuring at least 80 people.

1998

June 3, nr. Eschede, Germany: Inter City Express passenger train traveling at 125 mph crashed into support pier of overpass, killing 98. It is nation’s worst train accident since WWII.Crash may have been caused by a defective wheel.

1999

Aug. 2, Calcutta, India: 2 trains collided north of Calcutta, killing at least 285.

Oct. 5, London: outbound Thames commuter train passed a red signal near Paddington Station and collided with London-bound Great Western express, killing 31 people and injuring 245.

2002

Feb. 20, nr. Ayyat, Egypt: 361 killed in fire after gas cylinder used for cooking exploded aboard crowded passenger train. Egypt’s worst train disaster.

May 25, Muamba, Mozambique: 192 died and dozens more injured when passenger cars rolled for several miles at top speed into freight cars from which they had been disconnected because of mechanical problems.

June 24, nr. Msagali, central Tanzania: runaway passenger train collided with freight train on same track, leaving 200 dead.

2004

Feb. 18, Neishabour, Iran: runaway rail cars, loaded with fertilizer, petrol, and sulfur products, rolled 31 mi down the rails, caught fire, and exploded, killing more than 320 and devastating 5 villages.

Mar, 11, Madrid, Spain: Spain’s most horrific terrorist attack: 191 people were killed and 1,400 were injured in bombings at Madrid’s railway station. A Moroccan affiliate of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

April 22, Ryongchon, North Korea: 2 trains carrying flammable liquids collided, causing a huge explosion near the Chinese border, killing at least 161 and injuring more than 1,300.

2005

April 25, Osaka, Japan: commuter train derailed and hit an apartment building near Osaka, killing at least 107 and injuring 460. It was the worst Japanese train accident since 1963. The accident was allegedly caused by the driver trying to get the train back on schedule.

July 13, Ghotki, Pakistan: 3 trains collided near Ghotki as the Karachi Express driver misread a signal and rammed the Quetta Express. Derailed carriages were then hit by a third train. At least 133 are killed.

2006

Jan. 23, Bioce, Montenegro: a train derailed and plunged into the Moraca canyon, killing 46 and injuring 19.

July 11, Mumbai, India: a series of bombs exploded on commuter trains in Mumbai during the evening rush hour, killing at least 200 people.

2007

Aug. 1, Benaleka, Congo: a passenger train running between Ilebo and Kananga derailed after the brakes failed, killing about 100 people.

Here are pictures of some historical train wrecks in black and white. These are from the turn of the century and look pretty sick

Some more Black and white old time train wrecks, this one took out the bridge

1889 train accident on a bridge

Marlborough Junc Mass on the New Haven dated Feb 4th 1898. The collision happened on the Clinton and Fitchborough branch. A milk train hauled by 4-4-0 #234 hit head on with a snowplough pushed by two locos (one of which was 823). The 4-4-0 rode up the sloping snowplough blade and perched on the boiler of 823

Northern Pacific rotary February 11, 1903

On February 10, 1903, betwen Saltese, Montana, and Wallace, Idaho, one Northern Pacific rotary met the full onslaught of the winter snows. A breakdown had trapped them in the deep snow and the crew worked by hand to dig

out the train. Inching their way along the tracks in the middle of the night, they halted the train at the “S” Bridge, an 839 foot sinuous trestle on the Coeur d’ Alene branch about 7 miles from Mullan ID, that offered them respite while the snow accumulated in the gulch. A pusher engine and a caboose were left in the open while the remainder rested on solid ground. At seven in the morning a massive snowslide raced down the gulch and ripped out a portion of the bridge. The rear engine and the caboose plunged into the gorge, burying the engine in the deep snow while the caboose and its seven sleeping occupants lay shattered on top. A passenger car, with eight aboard, hung off the end of the broken trestle, dangling from the coupler. Although no-one was killed, it took doctors eleven hours to get the shocked and dazed survivors to the hospital at Wallace.

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This turn of the century train derailment happened when the train got snowed in, stopped along a bridge, and the bridge got washed away by snow as the train was on it… talk about bad luck

Marlborough train wreck, another pick of the train accident from above

1903 train derails, this looks like one sick accident

to see the rest of the old time train wreck and derailment pictures… just click here

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• Ride on the Auto Train (of course)
• Visit to Disney World, Universal Studios and other Orlando area attractions
• Trips to the East Coast Beaches and Cape Canaveral 
• Great golfing in Florida 

If you are staying in the area or get there early, you may wish to visit the Historic Stanford Welcome Center on 1st Street in downtown Sanford just minutes from the Amtrak station.  Sanford is the county seat of Seminole County and with its location on Lake Monroe, it has a rich railroad and marine history.  There is a Riverwalk along the lake shore and historical buildings close by where you will find restaurants, art galleries, antique stores, gift shops and much more.  The city of Sanford provides complimentary shuttle service from the train station to historic downtown Sanford between noon and 2:40 pm to coincide with the Auto Train schedule.

If you decide to stay in the Sanford area before or after your Auto Train trip, I recommend the Holiday Inn Express Sanford/Lake Mary, located about five miles southeast of the station.  The hotel is located just off of I-4 so it is easy to get to.  The hotel provides complimentary breakfast and is close to restaurants such as the International House of Pancakes, Ker's Winghouse and a Colorado Steakhouse.  An outdoor pool and business center are available for hotel guests.  Guest rooms includes triple sheeted beds, complimentary high-speed internet access, refrigerators and microwaves.