— 101 Blanchard estimate. (Based on Interstate Commerce Commission report, Aug 16, 1918.)

— 115 Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1919. 1918, p. 788.

— 107 AP. “Death Toll 107 as a Result of Wreck in South.” Orange County Times Press, 7-12-1918, 5.

— 101 Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database.

— 101 Collins. Tragedies of American History. 2003, p. 65.^[1]

— 101 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 437.

— 101 History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, July 9, 1918.

— 101 Interstate Commerce Commission. Report of…an accident…at Nashville Tenn, on July 9, 1918.

— 101 Nash. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters. 1977, p. 384.

–87 civilians (African-American)

–14 crewmembers

— >100 Georgetown Herald, SC. “Horrible Wreck – 100 Dead.” 7-12-1918, p. 1.

— >100 Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents. 1961, p. 156.

— 100 Tyrone Daily Herald. “100 Lives Lost in Train Wreck.” 7-10-1918, p. 1.

— 99 Heinemann, E. B. “America’s Greatest Rail Disaster.” Railroad Stories, Apr 1935, p16.

— 99 Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5^th printing). 1959, p. 276.

— 99 Railroad Stories. “July in Railroad History,” July 1935, p. 29.

— 90 Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Conductor of Wrecked Train Makes Admission.” 7-13-1918, 2.

–80-90 North Mississippi Herald, Winter Valley, MS. “89 Killed in Railroad Wreck.” 7-12-1918, p. 1.

— 90 Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents. 1961, p. 483.

— 89 Haine. Railroad Wrecks. 1993, 31.

— 89 Jacksonville Daily Journal, IL. “Place Number of Dead at 89.” 7-11-1918, p. 1.

— 89 Morning Republican, Mitchell, SD. “89 Dead is New Wreck Figure.” 7-11-1918, p. 8.

–55 black

–34 white

*Blanchard: We choose to use 101 as the death toll based on the Collins attribution of this number to the Interstate Commerce Commission, in charge of rail commerce at the time. We have been unable to locate a digital copy of an investigative report or of the ICC Annual Report.

Narrative Information

Cornell: “….At 7:15 a.m. a local train of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad ran through a stop signal 5 miles outside the city and entered the same track as an outbound express traveling at over 60 mph. The head-on collision destroyed both locomotives, three baggage cars, and six passenger carriages, with the lighter cars of the local train telescoping into themselves.

“Many of the dead and injured were either soldiers or men engaged in war-related industries. At the time of the accident the railroad was under the control and operation of the U.S. government. However, when suits were later brought against the railroad, the government attempted to pay off claims for as little as $100 a person.” (Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 437.)

Heinemann: “During the summer of 1918 the newspapers had little space for anything

except war material, and every issue was crammed with casualty lists, war dispatches, and

propaganda. Those printed on July 9th and l0th were no exception. It would have taken

a careful reader to discover in most of them news of what was—and still is—America’s greatest

railroad disaster.

“It happened sixteen days after the horrible rear-end collision on the Michigan Central at

Ivanhoe, Ind., which was probably the world’s greatest circus wreck…

“America’s greatest railroad accident, from the standpoint of casualties, occurred on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Mo. at Nashville, Tenn., early on the morning of July 9th, 1918. It killed 99 and injured 171 people….

“The trains…were passenger trains Nos. 1 and 4. The latter was scheduled to leave Nashville at 7 A.M., whereas No. 4 was due to arrive ten minutes later. Ordinarily they met on the double track between the Nashville Station and Shops, two and a half miles out. The double track ended at Shops. Thus, if No. 1 was somewhat late in arriving at Nashville, it was up to No. 4 to wait at Shops until No. 1 arrived. No. 1 was the superior train.

“No. 1 consisted of 4-6-0 type engine No. 281, hauling one baggage car, five wooden coaches, a steel Pullman, and a steel under-frame Pullman. She was on the way from Memphis to Nashville, and she passed Bellevue, Tenn., 12.6 miles from Nashville, at 7.09 a.m., 30 minutes late.

“Meanwhile, Train No. 4 had left Nashville at 7.07 a.m., seven minutes late. Before leaving, Conductor Eubank and Engineer Kennedy had received orders about a meet with another train farther out. Added to this order was a notation from Dispatcher Phillips to the effect that No. 281 was pulling Train No. 1. This was to help the enginemen and trainmen to identify No. 1.

“Eubank read the order and the notation to Kennedy, and both commented on it. Kennedy’s words were that “Number One was some late this morning.” Both men, then, knew that they probably would have to stop and wait for No. 1 at Shops, where the double track ended. As we have pointed out, usually the two trains met between Shops and Nashville, on double track. This morning, of course, the chances were that No. 1 would be too late to get to Shops before the opposing train arrived.

“No. 4 consisted of Engine No. 282, sister of the 281, a mail-baggage car, a baggage car, and six coaches, all wooden.

“While his train was on the double track Eubank was busy collecting tickets. He had showed the order with the information about No. 1 to his porter and flagman, and had told them to watch out for No. 1. Naturally, with engineer, fireman, porter and flagman looking for the opposing train, he felt he was safe in devoting his entire time to collecting tickets.

“However, Flagman St. Clair hardly knew what it was all about. He was making his first trip as passenger flagman. Before this he had made only two trips on freight, and although Conductor Eubank handed him the orders, he didn’t understand, and saw nothing in them about which to give a second thought. He later testified that Eubank had not spoken about No. 1.

“While they were running between Shops and Nashville, a switch engine hauling about 10 cars in the opposite direction passed them. St. Clair saw them, but paid no attention to them. Eubank, busy collecting tickets, also caught a flash of them as they went by. He thought they were No. 1, and went back to work. It was now up to the men in the engine cab to stop and wait for the other train.

“But the men in the engine cab, for some never-to-be-determined reason, did not. They kept on going, and accelerating No. 282 in her flight, raced onto the single track.

“An interlocking plant was located at Shops. Operator Johnson looked out the window at 7.15 a.m. and saw No. 4 pass by, running about 25 m.p.h. Puzzled, he looked at the train sheet to see whether or not. No. 1 had arrived yet. It had not.

“Immediately the towerman called Dispatcher Phillips. Horror-stricken, Phillips ordered him to try to stop No. 4. The towerman sounded an emergency air whistle in a desperate effort to attract the train crew’s attention. But they did not hear it, or if they did, they did not heed it.

“The two trains were rushing at each other with nothing to stop them. On account of curves, a slight grade, rather dense woodland and an overhead bridge, it was impossible for the engineers to see each other’s trains until it was too late. There was nothing left except to call out the wrecker and phone for ambulances.

“Both trains were traveling between 50 and 60 miles an hour. They met at 7.20 A.M., on a curve two miles out of Shops and they came upon each other so suddenly that Engineer Lloyd, of Train No. 1. did not have time to make a brake application. At any rate, that was the impression of Conductor Tucker of No. 1, who lived to tell about the crash. Kennedy barely managed to flip over his brake lever, but there wasn’t time for the air to act.

“No. is engine, the 281, was tossed off the track, her boiler stripped as clean as if she had been through a back shop. The baggage car behind her was crushed. When it was finally jacked up by the wrecking crew, thirty persons, only one of them alive, were taken from underneath. The next three cars were gouged out, shattered and tossed aside in a terrible fashion, while the last four cars remained on the rails.

“As for No. 4, its engine, the 282, was also totally demolished. The next five cars were ripped and torn and tossed aside, but the last three were not derailed, and were only slightly damaged.

“Who was to blame for this, America’s greatest rail disaster. Obviously, you say, Engineer Kennedy and Conductor Eubank, as well as other members of No. 4’s crew. That is true, for the two men in charge of the train were primarily responsible.

“But there were other factors in the wreck. While they do not lessen the responsibility of these two men, they tell why they acted as most human beings would under the circumstances.

“First of all, granted that Conductor Eubank should have made sure his train did not run onto the single track until No. 1 had passed, you must admit he thought he was doing so. For a long time he had been taking the word of his porter or flagman for it, and did not see anything wrong in the practice. Not only that, but Conductor Riggle, who alternated with Eubank on the run, was in the habit of doing the same thing; and although (he himself stated) he “never permitted his train to pass Shops before No. 1 arrived,” he did “depend upon the flagman, porter, and engine crew to identify No.1.

“Thus the accident might have happened with any other N. C. & St. L. conductor on No. 4. It was only Eubank’s bad luck that put him where he was….

“In the opinion of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the accident could have been prevented if rules…had been enforced, or if there had been a manual block system on the single- track line north of Shops. It also pointed out that the loss of life would have been far less if steel equipment had been used.

“Both engineers and firemen went to their death at the time of the crash. So did two other railroad men and 86 passengers. Exactly 18o were injured, but nine of them died later. A large percentage of the-victims were men on their way to work in a nearby powder plant supplying world war munitions….” (Heinemann, E. B. “America’s Greatest Rail Disaster.” Railroad Stories, April, 1935, pp. 16-19.)

History.com: “Two trains collide outside Nashville, Tennessee, killing 101 people, on this day in 1918. Despite the high death toll, the story was mainly ignored by the national press.

“It was just after 7 a.m. when the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis line’s Train No. 1 arrived at the Shops station. It was carrying a large contingent of workers heading for their jobs at the munitions plant in Harding, Tennessee, the next stop on the line. The train’s engineer was supposed to wait for an express train to pass through the Shops station in the opposite direction before heading to Harding.

“Instead, the engineer headed out after a freight train passed by, a terrible mistake. Train No. 1 had reached about 50 miles per hour when the express train appeared before it suddenly, traveling even faster. There was no time to brake. Both trains’ engines exploded on impact. The first two cars on each train were thrown forward and collapsed on each other. Everything and everyone in these cars were destroyed.

“In addition to the 101 people killed, another 100 people were seriously injured. Despite the magnitude of the disaster, many newspapers across the country did not even cover the story, most likely because the vast majority of the casualties were African Americans.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, July 9, 1918. “Trains Collide Outside Nashville.”)

Interstate Commerce Commission: “To the Commission:

“On July 9, 1918, there was a head-end collision between two passenger trains on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway at Nashville, Tenn., which resulted in the death of 87 passengers and 14 employees. and the injury of 87 passengers and 14 employees. After investigation the following report is submitted:

“That part of the Nashville division of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway upon which this accident occurred is a single-track line over which trains are operated by time table and train orders, there being no block system in use. Between Nashville and Shops, a distance of 2.5 miles, it is a double-track line, and at Shops there is an interlocking plant which controls all main line switches there. The accident occurred about half way between Shops and Harding, located 2.5 and 6.8 mils, respectively, from the station at Nashville, and within the city limits of Nashville.

“The trains involved in this accident are shown on the time table as southbound passenger train No. 1 and northbound passenger train No. 4, but in the vicinity of the point of accident, southbound trains run practically north and northbound trains practically south. Southbound trains are superior to northbound trains. Train No. 4 is scheduled to leave Nashville at 7 a.m., and train No. 1 is scheduled to arrive at Nashville at 7.10 a.m.

“Train No. 1 consisted of locomotive 281, one baggage car and five coached of wooden construction, one Pullman sleeping car of steel construction and one Pullman sleeping car with steel underframe and ends, in the order named, and was in charge of Conductor Tucker and Engineman Lloyd. It was enroute from Memphis to Nashville, being operated over the Louisville & Nashville Railroad from Memphis to McKenzie, and the remainder of the distance over the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. It left McKenzie at 3 a.m., passed Bellevue, 12.6 miles from Nashville, at 7.09 a.m., 30 minutes late, and at about 7.20 a.m. collided head on with train No. 4 at a point about 4.5 miles from Nashville, while running at a speed estimated at about 50 miles an hour…

“Train No. 4 consisted of locomotive 282, one combination mail and baggage car, one baggage car and 6 coaches, in the order named and all of wooden construction, and was in charge of Conductor Eubank and Engineman Kennedy. At Nashville the crew received train order No. 29 reading as follows:

“No. 4 engine 282, hold main track, meet No. 7, Eng. 215, at Harding. No. 1 has engine 281.

“This train left Nashville at 7.07 a.m. 7 minutes late, passed Shops at 7.15 a.m., and collided with train No. 1 at a point about 2 miles beyond Shops while running at a speed estimated to have been about 50 miles an hour.

“The engineman and firemen of both trains were killed. Locomotive 281 was derailed on the west side of the track, the boiler being stripped of cab, machinery and appurtenances, and came to rest in an upright position at an angle of about 45 degrees with the track… Its frame and all machinery were practically demolished. The baggage car was completely demolished. The first coach lay crosswise the track, the combination car of train No. 4 being driven into its side near the center and its rear end torn completely end to a depth of 12 or 15 feet. The second coach was derailed and its forward end went down the bank and rested on the front end of boiler of locomotive 281 and its rear and rested on the roadbed on top of the frame and other parts of locomotive 281, its forward end being badly broken and damaged. The third coach remained on the roadbed with its forward end jammed against the rear of the second coach; the rear trucks of this car and the four following cars were not derailed. All of this equipment was on train No. 1 Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are views of the destroyed equipment.

“Locomotive 282 was derailed to the east side of the track, the boiler thrown from the frame and entirely stripped of all machinery and appurtenances and stopped about parallel with the track, the entire locomotive except the boiler being demolished… The forward half of the combination car was demolished by coming in contact with the first coach of train No. 1. The baggage car was completely telescoped with the first coach to its rear, both cars remaining upright, but were practically destroyed… The end of the second coach was demolished for a distance of 6 or 8 feet and partially telescoped with the rear end of the coach ahead of it. The three rear cars of train No. 4 were not derailed and only slightly damaged….

“This accident was caused by train No. 4 occupying the main track on the time of a superior train, for which Engineman Kennedy and Conductor Eubank were responsible….

“This accident would have been prevented, beyond question of doubt, by a properly operated manual block system on the single-track line north of Shops, for which all necessary appliances and facilities were already available. The time table indicates that between Nashville and Hickman, Ky., a distance of approximately 172 miles, there are 27 train-order offices, of which 14 are continuously operated. On this line there are 4 schedules passenger train in each direction, and a total of 12 schedules freight trains. With this volume of traffic, and in view of the universally recognized features of increased safety afforded by the block system, there can be no valid excuse for the failure or neglect on the part of the railroad company to utilize existing facilities for the purpose of operating a block system on that line.

“It is to be noted that all the cars of both trains, except the two sleeping cars on train No. 1, were of wooden construction, and six of these wooden cars were entirely destroyed. This accident presents a more appalling record of deaths and injuries than any other accident investigated by the Commission since the ancient-investigation work was begun in 1912. Had steel cars been used in these trains, the toll of human lives taken in this accident would undoubtedly have been very much less….” (Interstate Commerce Commission. Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Safety Covering the Investigation of an Accident Which Occurred on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway at Nashville Tenn., on July 9, 1918. 8-16-1948.)

Railroad Stories — July 9, 1918: “N.C. & St. L. head-on collision at Nashville, Tenn; 99 killed, 171 injured, heaviest casualty list of any U.S. rail disaster.” (Railroad Stories. “July in Railroad History,” July 1935, p. 29.)

Newspapers

July 9: “Nashville, Tenn., July 9. – Between 80-90 persons were killed and between 50 and 60 injured when passenger trains No. 1, from Memphis, and No. 4, for Memphis, on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railway collided head-on at 7:15 o’clock this morning at the foot of Dutchman’s grade, five miles from Nashville. Both locomotives, three baggage cars and six passenger coaches were demolished.

“Fire, starting from the engine boilers, consumed two coaches, and a number of persons are reported to have perished in the flames.

“Most of the casualties appear to be among negroes, many of whom were en routed from Memphis and Nashville to work at the DuPont powder plant near here.

“In one car on the train from Memphis everyone was killed. There are said to have been several women passengers in this coach. Their bodies are still in the wreck. The body of a baby was found in this car.

“The trains came together with a terrific crash that reverberated throughout the downtown section of the city, and the enginemen of both trains were almost instantly killed. The trains telescoped so badly that work of removing the dead and injured was made most difficult. Long lines of automobiles plied the roads to the city, taking the injured to hospitals.

“Accounts of the cause of the wreck vary, and are yet meager, but, according to officials in the office of T. M. Wrenn, superintendent of transportation, the engineer of train No. 4 overlooked train No. 1.

“The wreck is the worst disaster in the history of the Nashville, Chattanooga Y St. Louis railway….” (North Mississippi Herald, Winter Valley, MS. “89 Killed in Railroad Wreck.” 7-12-1918, p. 1.)

July 10: “Nashville, Tenn., July 10. – One hundred persons, most of them negroes, are believed to have lost their lives in a head-on collision between two passenger trains on the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis railway, seven miles west of Nashville.

“In one car everyone was killed. There are said to have been several women passengers in this coach. Their bodies are still in the wreck.

“Nashville hospitals are crowded with the injured, who number more than eighty. As the engineers and firemen of both trains were killed, the cause of the collision may never by known. One of the trains is said to have disregarded orders.

“Six passenger coaches in all were demolished and two cars of the through train caught fire and were burned up. Wrecking crews and volunteers worked heroically in the wreckage to rescue the injured. Of forty injured brought to Nashville by the first relief expedition from the wreck, several died almost as soon as they reached hospitals.

“The wreck occurred on the Dutchman’s grade, seven miles from Nashville. Every doctor and nurse available in the city was rushed to the scene with all the ambulances.

“One train was eastbound from Memphis and St. Louis and the other from Nashville to Memphis. Both engines and two baggage cars were completely wrecked. A combination coach on the local, filled with white and negro passengers, was ripped from end to end. Several other coaches were telescoped.

“The railroad rushed relief trains to the scene of the wreck, and in a short time hundreds of men were working like Trojans to rescue the victims. Automobiles by the hundreds sped to the scene.

“The two trains came together with terrific impact. Both engines were demolished. Fire starting from the engine boilers consumed two coaches. Two hundred negroes on the Memphis train were coming here to work at the powder plant. Only 110 of these have been accounted for so far. When the smoker of the local was telescoped by a baggage car, four white men were caught between the walls and their legs crushed. They were visible from the outside. Whisky was handed through to them and they were finally taken out.

“Engineer William F. Lloyd and Fireman Tom Kelly, of the through train, and Engineer Dave C. Kennedy and Fireman Luther E. Meadows, of the local, all of Nashville, were killed….

“In the two day coaches and two sleepers of the through train that remained on the track, all the passengers escaped injury.” (Tyrone Daily Herald. “100 Lives Lost in Train Wreck.” 7-10-1918, p. 1.)

July 10: “Nashville, Tenn., July 10. – Officials of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railway tonight placed the number of dead as the result of a head-on collision between two passenger trains near here yesterday at 89 and the injured at 79. It is believed most of those hurt will recover. Formal investigation has not been started pending arrival of George L. Loyall, assistant to the regional director for the south.

“An inquiry conduced by officials of the road resulted in an announcement today placing blame for the collision on the crew of the accommodation train outbound from Nashville which apparently failed to seek orders as to where it should await the inbound express train from Memphis.” (Jacksonville Daily Journal, IL. “Place Number of Dead at 89.” 7-11-1918, p. 1.)

July 13: “Nashville, Tenn., July 13. – J. P. Eubanks, conductor of the west-bound Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis passenger train, which collided head-on with an eastbound train on that road near her Tuesday, in which 90 persons were killed, admitted late yesterday in his testimony before G. R. Royall, assistant to the regional railroad director for the south, that orders were given his train to meet the eastbound train before proceeding beyond a junction point on the outskirts of Nashville, on to a single track, but had depended on other members of the train crew to see that the train had passed.

“When the junction was passed, Eubanks explained, he was engaged in taking up tickets and told of another train passing his which he though was the train he was to meet.

“Several other witnesses were examined, including the despatcher who delivered the meeting order, and the flagman on Eubanks’ train. The latter declared that he had not been given a copy of the order until the junction had been passed.

“An official report probably will be made next week.” (Daily Ardmoreite, Ardmore, OK. “Conductor of Wrecked Train Makes Admission.” 7-13-1918, p. 2.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Death Toll 107 as a Result of Wreck in South.” Orange County Times Press, Middletown, NY. 7-12-1918, p. 5. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/middletown-orange-county-times-press-jul-12-1918-p-5/

Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database. Louvain, Belgium: Universite Catholique do Louvain. Accessed at: http://www.emdat.be/

Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1919. Chicago: Chicago Daily News Co., 1918. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=f6l-dsvnjhEC&printsec=frontcover&vq=july+9#v=onepage&q=july%209&f=false

Collins, Ace. Tragedies of American History – Thirteen Stories of Human Error and Natural Disaster. New York: Plume Books, 2003.

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Daily Ardmoreite, Ardmore, OK. “Conductor of Wrecked Train Makes Admission.” 7-13-1918, p. 2. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ardmore-daily-ardmoreite-jul-13-1918-p-2/

Georgetown Herald, SC. “Horrible Wreck – 100 Dead.” 7-12-1918, p. 1. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/georgetown-herald-jul-12-1918-p-1/

Haine, Edgar A. Railroad Wrecks. New York: Cornwall Books, 1993.

Heinemann, E. B. “America’s Greatest Rail Disaster.” Railroad Stories, April, 1935, pp. 16-19.

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, July 9, 1918. “Trains Collide Outside Nashville.” Accessed 12-7-2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=07/09&categoryId=disaster

Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5^th printing). New York: Crown Publishers, 1959.

Interstate Commerce Commission. Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Safety [W. P. Borland] Covering the Investigation of an Accident Which Occurred on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway at Nashville Tenn., on July 9, 1918. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 8-16-1948. Accessed 10-26-2023 at: http://www.ncstl.com/dutchman/nashville1918.htm

Also at: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/47905

Jacksonville Daily Journal, IL. “Place Number of Dead at 89.” 7-11-1918, p. 1. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/jacksonville-daily-journal-jul-11-1918-p-1/

Morning Republican, Mitchell, SD. “89 Dead is New Wreck Figure.” 7-11-1918, p. 8. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mitchell-morning-republican-jul-11-1918-p-8/

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

North Mississippi Herald, Winter Valley, MS. “89 Killed in Railroad Wreck.” 7-12-1918, p. 1. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/water-valley-north-mississippi-herald-jul-12-1918-p-1/

Railroad Stories. “July in Railroad History,” July 1935, pp. 27-31.

Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices in the United States. London & Geneva: P.R. MacMillan Limited, 1961.

Tyrone Daily Herald. “100 Lives Lost in Train Wreck.” 7-10-1918, p. 1. Accessed 7-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tyrone-daily-herald-jul-10-1918-p-1/

[1] Cites official number of fatalities according to the Interstate Commerce Commission, “…the investigative body for railroad accidents at the time.”

1918 — July 9, Great Nashville Train Wreck (head-on collision), fire, Nashville, TN — 101