The Wayland, NY Train Wreck of 1943
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
- On August 30, 1943, the Delaware Lackawanna's passenger train called the "Lackawanna Limited" side-swiped an extra train working on a sidetrack that had fouled the main. 27 people unfortunately died as a result. Nickel Plate Road 62, the passenger coach where most people died in, still exists to this day in preservation. It is nicknamed the "Death Car." In this video we analyze the events leading up to the accident, and why the extra train fouled the mainline.
Works Cited/Further Reading
Interstate Commerce Commission Investigation No. 2725
Shepherd, Peter K. “Not Just Another Pretty Face!” Nickel Plate Road Magazine, vol. 17, no. 1, 1983, pp. 4-7.
“Lackawanna Limited Accident Reported.” Railway Age, vol. 115, 1943, pp. 662-63, books.google.com/books?id=JaglAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA2&lpg=RA3-PA2&dq=destination+america+wayland+train+wreck&source=bl&ots=HdtCfU3xX5&sig=ACfU3U3df_00isTlYDQQRX3y4NAT7QKLMw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwietLfWour4AhXBj2oFHbGBBUsQ6AF6BAgVEAM#v=onepage&q=destination%20america%20wayland%20train%20wreck&f=false.
“Accident on D.L. at Wayland, N.Y.” Railway Age, vol. 115, 1943, pp. 388-89, archive.org/details/sim_railway-age_1943-09-04_115_10/page/388/mode/2up.
Support Railroad Street on Patreon: / railroadstreet
Tip Jar: ko-fi.com/railroadstreetmedia
#LackawannaLimited #NKP62 #TheDeathCar
Thank you for making this. My Grandmother died in that wreck so it's part of my family's history. My mom had to identify her body by the dress she was wearing.
@v.johnson8538 my sincere condolences...
😢
😢
Fascinating history about a corner of western NY I visited often as a child in the early 1950s -- the DL&W mainline just west of Wayland (about halfway to Dansville) runs thru a Steuben County hamlet called Perkinsville, where my grandmother's siblings lived. My parents would take Nana from her/our house in Buffalo for visits, with us grandkids along of course. We played with our country cousins there while the old folks visited, and all of us kids often went down to the road bridge over the tracks to watch the trains pass. Steam locos were long gone by then, but I do recall a few diesel-pulled passenger trains among the more frequent freights. So I am enthralled with your footage of the locomotives and varnish of that line that I'd missed seeing by a mere decade! And I seem to vaguely recall one of the older cousins mentioning this wreck, mostly as a caution to take seriously their safety precautions for being so close to such big, dangerous machines! Many thanks for a comprehensive and interesting report on this terrible event, and for the pertinent and meaningful film footage (including accurate maps and diagrams). I'm in my 70s now, but you've helped fill me in on a facet of my childhood that I knew nothing about -- what some of my relatives surely heard happen just a mile or two up the tracks from their home.
I always find things of this nature interesting. Where conversations that otherwise would have been memory holed and forgotten are recalled thanks to some outside force. In this case, a short documentary
I have family who lives in Perkinsville across the street from where the DL&W Mainline ran. I have visited that railroad bed many times (since the tracks were dismantled after the DL&W abandoned it) and is really beautiful to see the foliage in the fall when your on there. The DL&W abandoned that part of the line in 1963 after merging with the Erie Railroad. The amazing part I have seen when I have been down there is the remains of a few railroad ties that are still there after many years.
Well done on your explanation! The company had a wrong procedure, but I am surprised that Engineer Driscoll didn’t get blamed for ignoring his brakeman.
Imagine if the inferior train had infact managed to backup 10 or 20 feet. This would be in the near miss channel... or we'd never know about it.
I got the impression the investigators felt the company's failure to follow their own policies caused the locomotive that pulled out from the siding to be in a position where the engineer could make such a mistake.
He never would have went near the mainline and the brakeman never would have signaled him, if they had allowed the time for the locomotive to pass on the mainline, as required by policy to avoid this type of mistake.
I am sure the brakeman could have lied. Plus this was then, it was not the modern railroad of today that blamed the crew 100% per cent of the time.
Several years ago when the 62 was being used on the CVSR for runbys, I was in it, by myself. As we went by the crowds at Boston mill, several of the windows opened and some others closed on their own. Trainman that day also had the trap mysterious open 1/2 way on its own. Tis the last time I went by myself into the 62
Uh huh. How did I know this thing would turn out to be haunted?
@@donreinke5863 trust me it is. I've had first hand experience aboard 62. Spirits from a sudden traumatic event often stay where they died because their death happened so fast, they don't realize they have crossed over. The spirits who are aboard 62 are in limbo. Not understanding they have crossed over, they continue to stay where they died because they can't or won't move on.
@Wasatch don't like it don't watch. You don't believe ok but there are people who do
Traps are spring loaded so that’s not surprising
@@jdgator95 🙄🙄🙄
Thank you for your video. I was born in Dansville, New York. As a child, my grandparents would talk about this wreck, but as a child I never knew more about it. I am very familiar with is area of the wreck...the old Wayland station and Gunlock factory is still there. DL&W railroad was a big part of the local history. You provided many missing details. Keep up the good work.
Awesome work here young man. Enjoyed it, unfortunately I’m saddened to hear that one of my most favorite railroads was involved in such poor judgement. I live in Pennsylvania near the DL&W road.
Thanks again.
As much as we love them, Many were dirty companies like the oil and auto industry today
The part about how the women at the back were trapped and unable to get out reminded me about the SS Atlantic sinking. It was supposed to be safer at the back hence why they were placed there but in both accidents the circumstances worked against them.
Wonderful job! Thank you for all your hard work on this project.
Bravo, nicely done! The presentation, narration, and use of visuals were all excellent and thorough. 5 stars, and I would recommend this to anyone. Thanks for putting in the time and hard work to get it right.
This is a WONDERFUL video. Thank you for supporting Steuben County, NY history!
This is absolutely amazing and sad of course but thank u for bringing this story to life excellent job👍🏼✌🏼
Wow I'm sitting in Wayland NY as I write this. Awesome piece of history.
Nice presentation. There is a steam train ride that is still operating out of Scranton on the old DL&W. The scenery is stunning and the viaducts are impressive.
Yes the Steamtown NHS
Great video. Thank you. Eager to see more.
Beautiful seats in that coach! Bet they were/are super comfortable.
Good job, really interesting. Keep it up.Thanks for the video
Just discovered your channel, and it was interesting to find out that this crash happened in Steuben County, where I just moved. Looks like my regional history research has begun!
Nice video really enjoyed it. This crash took place 10 miles from a town I used to live in, this is the first time hearing the story.
Pretty good! Excellent report. I have visited the car of death! I was a regular rider on the Erie Lackawanna until they lost the mail and express that bankrupted the service and knocked the trains off.
Great video, Matt!
First time I’ve come across your channel. Enjoyed the video very much.
Great video! I have spent some time poking around that area, I didn't know there was a train wreck there. I hope to get back there this fall and with this knowledge from your video I will appreciate it even more. Thank You.
Just discovered you, just subbed. Great job! Looking forward to seeing more of your videos.
Love your content man.. Newest sub! keep it up
Great video, cheers
Excellent video!
Excellent presentation. Great research - Bravo!
Great video mate
Nice video on a sad circumstance.
As usual, someone was not following the rules, and it bit hard that day.
Excellent job
You did a great job on this video.
I'm not a train guy, but you explained it, and used graphics, so I could understand what happened.
I didn't understand how he could side swipe the locomotive untill you showed the graphic of the siding.
MrYfrank14 I actually know a lot about railroad history as well. The tracks that ran between Dansville and Wayland in a town called Perkinsville were dismantled in 1963 after the Lackawanna merged with the Erie Railroad. The Erie Lackawanna Railroad would then be bought by Conrail (Only running freight due to the formation of Amtrak in 1971). Conrail would then be a non independent later on bringing the Erie Lackawanna with them to become a heritage unit of Norfolk Southern Railroad (Erie Lackawanna heritage unit only) and CSX Transportation (only Conrail).
Very well done video. Just subscribed
Well done article, my grandfather, who was an Eire Railroad (Rochester -Corning)Branch track foreman from neighboring Cohocton NY, brought his track gang to assist in the accident. He said it gave him nightmares for years. The accident being not near a metropolitan area, it did not have the infrastructure for that magnitude of a disaster, causing another layer of issues to the disaster. As a college student, I worked for the Erie Lackawanna in the summer (1963) tearing up the Lackawanna mainline in Wayland in favor of utilizing (Railroads merging) the Erie mainline to Buffalo, NY. In our gang were some long time Lackawanna employees ( including Ed Schavi, our foreman) who had 59 years in with Lackawanna), that were instantly brought to the scene of accident for body removals and move the injured passengers to ambulances and volunteer driver's vehicles assisting in shuttling people to medical facilities.
Great job!
Thanks for the well-presented video. I remember going to the DL&W Terminal in Buffalo in the late 50's when we picked up a cousin arriving from NYC. Later it closed and I rode by it everyday going to school. Think part of it will be a Metro transit station in the future.
Human error has been around since time began.RIP too all that perished.
Similar crash happened near Pittsburgh when a B&O express train hit a log laying on the mainline. This cause the locomotive to pole vault over itself and the broken steam dome to land on the end of the Smokers car where most of the people were crowded in with standing room only. This shot a geyser of steam into the smokers car causing everyone in that car to be boiled to death. There were no survivors in that car.
When did it happen must've been ages ago
Cool video. Just subscribed
Well done. I was researching someone that was killed, Anna Heyman, on the train for genealogy and this was great information.
Very good informative study. Having worked out of Hoboken for years I was aware of this wreck but knew little about the details. Thanks to you I do
now. Excellent.
Just 80mph? On the Lackawanna? Late? I rode their trains over 100mph when late on the Jersey cut off! Track was perfect!
Beautiful Video 5 STARS All the way
You should also do a video on the 1925 DL&W wreck that took place in NJ.
I rode onboard Car 62 back in the fall of 2019 on the Ohio Rail Experience behind Clintchfield F7 #800. Was a great trip.
Well done sir. Well done.
As a Jersey Central or CNJ geek somewhat the road actually linked up with the Lackawanna near Scranton and also at Phillipsburg, This wreck happened because of World War 2 which was going on and the Lackawanna RR was under pressure due to wartime and my other fav railroad is the B&O
Now speaking of which shortly after the wreck happened the NYC sent a crew from Corning to help clean the debris and also bring passengers back home.
The point about the local working into the time of the first class train seems to me to be more of a contributing factor than the main factor. I don’t have a DL&W timetable nor rule book. I do however have 25 years experience as a conductor and engineer.
My question is, why wasn’t the local’s flagman protecting the tail end? Was Wayland within yard limits? I have to wonder about crew communication. There should have been a definite understanding of the status of the main track switch. When it is open it would have shunted the previous sign to red. In this case the main track movement would have been preceding at restricted speed. This speed would have allowed the ability to stop short of any obstruction.
If the local had restored the main track switch to normal, then they should not have just opened the main track switch and occupied the main. They should have waited for five minutes. The five minute wait is to allow any movement to clear the switch, which had passed the previous signal on clear indication. The narrator said that the local’s engineer assumed the switch to still have been open. We all know what assume is an acronym for, having to do with making an ass out of you and me.
I conclude that the responsibility was clearly on the local’s crew. If proper flagging and operation of the main track switch had been followed, then the outcome would have been different. The part about being into the time of the passenger train would have been minor. If the rules were followed, then the only outcome would have been a delay of the passenger train.
Going by what is stated, I don't think the switch was opened. The locomotive fouled the main track when it stopped. I think the spur track had signal circuits at least to the clearance point. This would drop the main line signals to warn approaching trains. It does not relieve the local's crew from keeping clear of the main track or those track circuits.
The rule (91) highlighted is not really applicable. First, it begins "Unless some form of block signals is used,..." and a block signal system was in use. The wayside and cab signal mentioned proves that. Second, the rule pertains to keeping following trains 10 minutes apart on unsignalled main tracks.
Interesting history and I like how at the end you are standing on a B.N Waycar.
Thank you. It's former BN #10367, originally a GN caboose.
Great,,informative video. Thank you! Where is 62 today?
It's at the Baltimore & Ohio Roundhouse in Cleveland's flats (2800 W 3rd St, Cleveland, OH 44113). Visit the Midwest Railway Preservation Society's website for more info: midwestrailway.org/
765 Is now moving in The Fort Wayne Railroad.
I’m a new sub, and I live 2 hours away from buffalo ny
“The last mentioned station”. Gonna make me rewind?!?!?!
Zach Bagans of Ghost Adventures also investigated Nickel Plate #62.
I would be uneasy being at the exact spot where 27 people met their death in the worst way possible. Scalding is as bad as being burned by actual fire.
All you can do is assume you ARE being watched and be very respectful for intruding into their place.
Born and raised in wayland
Something about the way that 2-8-2 looks after the crash is kind of disturbing.
good vib man
I guess it's just me, but it seems a little eerie to take a piece of equipment that was involved in so many people dying and not just destroy it and forget about it.
Anyone else notice the unrelated headline on the left at 5:23 - 5:27 as the newspaper scrolls up? I know this takes place during WWII, but it makes for an eerie coincidence given current events.
Good catch.
History repeats itself
Sadly theres alot of repeated history on that side of the pond
A sad story, but a good video. A moment's inattention can have terrible consequences.
I enjoyed the contemporary cine footage of the DLW trains, particularly the 4-4-0 at the close. I've never seen a wide, Wooten firebox 4-4-0 of this type before, which makes it a doubly interesting programme. By the way, is this the car which is allegedly haunted, or is that a different one?
62 is the car that is allegedly haunted. It is located at the Midwest Railroad Preservation Society roundhouse in Cleveland Ohio
Locomotives actually not a train
your videos are great!...id like to see you do a story about the lost sidaway bridge in cleveland....under considration for landmark status
Thanks Bill! Great suggestion, that one has been on my list.
I believe the engineer of 1248 retired not to long after the accident and i can not believe all of the crew members survived except the locomotive supervisor who thought jumping was best rest in peace
I would imagine this particular coach is visited by many out of morbid, historical curiosity.
Can you tell me if this track ran through Springwater ny. I found a railroad spike on carney hollow as a child and have a story to go with that find. I'm just curious.
August 30th, 1943
In that first photo it looks like the train is sitting on the tracks by gunlock chair. That's where we used to go tobogganing
So where is this train car that you are sitting in? It would have been nice to tell us the location.
I live near Cleveland and the Nickel Plate RR is pretty well known. I THOUGHT it used the Electric RR tracks to the west but that's probably wrong. After the Electric RR shut down the path was made into regular roadway..."Electric BLVD"
Some say the spirits of the deceased passengers are hostile towards guests and staff.
beautiful job
What happened to the two engines?
My late husband was riding in the Princess Margaret during the war. He said he never forgot the experience of "being in her".
Where is this car #62 kept when not running on excursions? Bellevue, Ft. Wayne or somewhere else?…Interesting story.
It's kept at the former Baltimore & Ohio Roundhouse in Cleveland's flats. The owners of the car (Midwest Railway Preservation Society) hold open houses typically on weekends. They are located at 2800 W 3rd St, Cleveland, OH 44113. Check out their website for more info: midwestrailway.org/
@@RailroadStreet Oh Cool!..I live in a Cleveland Suburb and know where that’s at..Thanks!
I have been in that car it is at the Midwest railroad preservation society in Cleveland Ohio near steelyard Commons shopping center
yes
thats a long boy!
I was in it today
I enjoyed the story but my question is is the car haunted
In short, quite possibly. I posted the longer version of this story under the main comments, but I have been alone in this car and experienced some weirdness and I know I'm not the only one that has been one and windows either open themselves of something else goes on.
@@6777Productions the first time I was ever in 62 at MRPS was during a night shoot at the roundhouse. I knew absolutely nothing about its history prior. I boarded the car, being the only one aboard and as I stepped from the vestibule of the car, the hair on the back of my neck went up. I surmised that there might be spirits aboard ( somehow just knowing by instinct) and simply spoke out " I mean you no harm. " it was after this that I did some research and found out about the accident. I also had opportunity to go aboard 62 during a paranormal event held by MRPS and ORBS (Ohio Researchers of Banded Spirits). I was the last one into the car and there was no one else behind me. The car was not powered and was completely dark except for the flashlights that we had carried. I and the group of people I was with had come aboard with ORBS to see if we could possibly contact any spirits that may have been aboard the car at the time. I sat down on one of the seats and about 10 minutes after I did so, I felt the hair go up on the back of my neck and someone or something bumped the back of my seat. I immediately turned to see if there was anyone behind me and there wasn't. I then checked underneath the seat to see if there were any wires or anything that could have caused the seat to be bumped. I found absolutely nothing. I then spoke out loud "I'm back. I still mean no harm" I truly believe that there are spirits that are aboard 62. I think the spirits made their presence known to me because they knew that I would be receptive. I would love the opportunity to once again be able to board 62 and find out if I have any more events like I have described
I feel like I have a ghost story related to this crash while growing up in springwater
0:51 I did the thing!
The sus car
Awful, people were cooked alive. A series of assumptions, by a crew, conductor not coveying a vital message and an operating culture that had become lax, for convenience. All culminated in this disaster. It is surprising the number of disasters start off like this. Great presentation, Matt.
Lol at the fool jumping at 60mph. You were dead regardless son.
That's an opinion that can't be proved either-way.