1943 — Dec 16, Tamiami Champion train derails, 2nd Champion train hits it ~Rennert, NC–72-74

–72-74 Blanchard estimated death toll range.*

— 80 UP. “Train Crash Death Toll Rises To 80.” Arizona Republic, Phoenix. 12-18-1943, p.1.
–51 servicemen
–21 civilians
— 8 (Apparently this was the number of bodies thought still to be in the wreckage.)
–50-75 UP. “50 to 75 People Die in N. Carolina Train Wreck.” Statesville Daily Record, NC, 12-16-1943, p. 1.
–72-74 Fayetteville Observer, NC. “Live Wire: Robeson County train wreck in 1943…” 1-24-2018.
— 74 Fry. “Wreck of the ‘Tamiami Champion’ Rennert, North Carolina, USA,” Danger Ahead!
–72-74 Jacobs. “Remembering the deadliest train accident in N.C. history.” Fayetteville Observer, 12-17-2013.
— 74 Star News, Wilmington, NC. “This Date in History, Dec. 16…rail crash kills 74.” 12-16-2017.
— 74 Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”
— 74 Wikipedia. “Rennert Railroad Accident.”
— 73 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 439.
— 73 Haine. Railroad Wrecks. 1993, 32.
— 72 Cohn, Scotti. Disasters and Heroic Rescues of North Carolina. 2005, p. 119.
–51 servicemen and women
–21 civilians
— 72 Futch/AP. “Town remembers…tragic train wreck.” Star News, Wilmington, NC, 1-31-2004.
— 72 Gerard. “Decades Series. The 1950s: Elegy For an Iron Horse.” Our State, 4-29-2019.
— 72 Leonard. “Worst train collision…” News & Observer, Raleigh, NC, 12-13-2013.
— 72 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 740. (Has location as Buie, NC.)
— 72 Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents…, 1961, pp. 227 & 484.
— 72 U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission Report 2751, 1944, p. 2.
— 70 Assoc. Press. “70 Known Dead In Rail Wreck.” Salisbury Times, MD. 12-17-1943, p. 1.
–49 servicemen
–21 civilians
— >70 New York Times. “Warned Too Late, Engineer Asserts.” 12-19-1943, p. 8.
— 69 Lockhart Post-Register, TX. “The Year in Review…Disasters,” Jan 6, 1944, p. 6.

*Blanchard: We have looked fairly broadly for a definitive statement of the death toll, though without success. If we had to choose one number we would accept the Interstate Commerce Commission report of seventy-two fatalities. Given the number of sources, however, which note 73, 74, or 72-74 fatalities, we choose to use the range of 72-74. We do not view as credible reporting of 75 or up to 80 fatalities, and thus exclude those two sources from our range. Similarly, we exclude the Lockhart Post-Register, TX, report of sixty-nine deaths.

Narrative Information:

Fry: “Despite the wartime conditions, the “Tamiami Champion” southbound was making good progress as it approached Rennert. It was a bitterly cold morning and there was some snow on the ground from an earlier fall. Without warning, the eighteen car train came to halt as the brakes began to leak on. The conductor and other members of the crew set about finding the cause and soon discovered a broken coupling and brake pipe between the second and third cars.

“What they were not aware of was the cause of the breakage. Towards the rear of the train almost half a mile away, the last three cars were derailed. A broken rail was the cause. The cars were deflected towards the opposite, northbound line which they now fouled. The first of the derailed cars was leaning over at angle of about 45 [degrees]. The rear brakeman immediately began evacuating the passengers from these cars. When this was complete, he showed a light to the men working at the front of the train, but failed to inform them of what had transpired at his end.

“While they started to repair the broken coupling, the conductor sent the fireman forward to “flag” oncoming trains to warn them of the problem. The fireman had with him a fusee, but he did not take any detonators which he could have placed on the track as a warning. As he walked along the track, he slipped in the snow and fell, damaging the fusee so that it would not work.

“In the distance the northbound “Tamiami Champion” approached at a speed in excess of 85 mph. The fireman tried to light his fusee, but on finding it useless he had nothing except his waving to warn the train. The diesel-hauled train passed him without the crew becoming aware of the danger that lay ahead of them. Indeed, the first the engineer new of the predicament of the southbound train was as he passed its locomotive and saw a light being shown. A passenger had taken it from one of the cars and was frantically waving it towards the speeding train. But this warning came too late and an accident was inevitable. Although the brakes were applied, the train struck the stricken cars with hardly any slackening of pace. Seventy-four people died in the crash, most of them servicemen traveling in the northbound train. Only one traveler on the southbound was killed. The casualty list also included 54 injured.” (Fry. “Wreck of the ‘Tamiami Champion’ Rennert, North Carolina, USA,” Danger Ahead!)

Haine: “More than half the dead and injured were military personnel homeward bound on holiday leaves….

“The southbound Tamiami West Coast Champion…encountered a broken rail, whereupon two rear Pullman sleepers and a diner derailed and thrown over on the parallel northbound tracks….

“The weather was extremely cold and a driving snowstorm was in progress…. Despite the warning signals, in about thirty-five minutes, the northbound Tamiami East Coast Champion lunged at full speed into the three southbound cars…. The collision cast the speeding locomotive and eight of its sixteen cars off the tracks; the terrible impact was so forceful it converted most of the all-steel coaches into a mass of twisted wreckage. The first three coaches of the northbound train telescoped, throwing hundreds of passengers into the tangled debris. Scores of dead and injured were strewn all about the site, and many cried for help from within the demolished cars.”
(Haine 1993, pp. 112-114)

ICC: “On December 16, 1943, there was a side collision between derailed cars of a passenger train and a passenger train on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad near Rennert, N.C., which resulted in the death of 72 passengers, and the injury of 160 passengers, [and 27 crew]…. [p.3]

“This accident occurred on that part of the Richmond District extending between South Rocky Mount, N.C., and Florence, S.C., 172.3 miles. This was a double-track line over which trains moving with the current of traffic were operated by timetable, train orders, and an automatic block-signal and automatic train-stop system. The trains involved were being operated with the current of traffic, and he accident occurred about 2.89 miles south of Rennert…. [p.5]

Description of Accident

“No. 91, a south-bound first-class passenger train, consisted of [3] Diesel-electric units…and [18 cars]… The cars were of steel construction. This train departed from Fayetteville, 20.5 miles north of Rennert…at 12:25 a.m., 1 hour 5 minutes late, passed Rennert, passed signal 2329, which displayed proceed, and while it was moving at a speed of about 85 miles per hour the rear three cars…were derailed…. The derailed cars remained upright, but became separated from the front portion of the train…with the rear two cars fouling the northward main track.

“No. 8, a north-bound first-class passenger train, consisted of [3] Diesel-electric units…and [16] cars…. This train passed Pembroke, 11.2 miles south of Rennert…at 1:20 a.m. 1 hour 40 minutes late, passed signal 2338, which displayed proceed, and about 1:30 a.m. while moving at a speed of about 80 miles per hour it struck the derailed cars of No. 91. [p.8]

“The sixteenth car of No. 91 was slightly damaged, the seventeenth car was considerably damaged, and the front portion of the left side of the rear car was crushed inward approximately 3 feet throughout a distance of about 30 feet. The Diesel-electric unites and the first eight cars of No. 8 were derailed to the right and stopped east of the track, with the front end of unit 506 about 590 feet north of the point of collision. The Diesel-electric units remained coupled, the front portion of the left side of unit 506 was considerably damaged, and units 503 and 500 were slightly damaged. The first car stopped upright behind unit 500, and was considerably damaged. The second car became separated from the first car and stopped upright against the left sides of unit 500 and the first car. The third car stopped on top of the second car, and these cars were demolished. The fourth car stopped upright with the front end against the left sides of the second and third cars, and the rear end of the track. The fifth car stopped upright with the front end against the rear end of the fourth car, and the rear end about 40 feet east of the track. The sixth car stopped upright with the front end against the left side of the fifth car, and the rear end on the track. The seventh and eighth cars stopped upright on the roadbed and in line with the track. The fourth to the eighth cars, inclusive, were considerably damaged. One fatality occurred in the rear of car on No. 91 as a result of the collision, and most of the other fatalities occurred in the second and third cars of No. 8…. [pp. 8-9]

“It was clear at the time of the accident, which occurred about 1:30 a.m. …. [p.9]

“It is found that this accident was caused by failure to provide adequate protection for derailed cars which fouled an adjacent track.” [p.13] (U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission Report 2751, 1944.)

Wikipedia: “December 16, 1943 – Rennert railroad accident, North Carolina; 74 people were killed on the Atlantic Coast Line when the northbound Tamiami Champion struck the derailed rear three carriages of the southbound Tamiami Champion.” (Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”)

Wikipedia: “In the Rennert railroad accident in Rennert, North Carolina on 16 December 1943, 74 people were killed on the Atlantic Coast Line when the northbound Tamiami Champion struck the derailed rear three carriages of the southbound Tamiami Champion. The southbound train had been halted by the automatic brakes, but the crew failed to lay warning signals on the other track in time. There was only one fatality on the northbound train, and most of the deaths were servicemen on the halted southbound train. Other sources have a total of 72 killed.”
(Wikipedia. “Rennert Railroad Accident.”)

Shaw: “Very early on the morning of December 16, 1943, Engineer William Myers of No. 91, the southbound Atlantic Coast Line Tamiami Champion, felt his train grind to an unexpected halt near Buie, N.C. It was said to have been the coldest night in that part of the country for sixty years; the temperature stood at a mere ten degrees above zero, and a five-inch blanket of snow covered the ground. Accordingly, it was with no sense of pleasure that the conductor and trainmen trudged back to find what was wrong with their long, eighteen-car train. But they did not have far to look. A broken coupler Knuckle and disconnected air hose were discovered between the second and third cars, and the small group of trainmen, their hands shivering in the cold, immediately set about repairing this.

“The conductor, as he admitted later, gave little thought to flag protection. As he was looking for the break in the train he saw a member of the crew proceeding south with a lantern and ‘assumed’ that adequate protection was being provided in that direction. He relied on the rear brakeman to protect the train from the rear. As the site of the breakdown was along a double-track main line, protected both by automatic signals and automatic train stops, flag protection seemed to be a merely supplementary precaution.

“But unknown to the forward trainmen, the cause of the emergency stop was not merely a broken coupler, but the derailment and separation of the last three cars – two Pullman sleepers and a diner. After this derailment, later found to have been caused by a transverse fissure, the forward part of the train continued six-tenths of a mile further down the track, while the three detached cars jolted along the ties for about 1300 feet, coming to rest still on their own track, but tilted sharply toward the adjoining track. No one was seriously injured in this rough ride, but as it was clear that the derailed cars were in danger of collision with trains coming from either direction, most of the passengers hastily scrambled out, despite the bitter cold, and climbed through the snow to the top of the adjacent embankment. The rear brakeman immediately placed a lighted fusee on the northbound track in front of the foremost derailed car and then started north to protect against following trains. As he was doing this one passenger asked him about protection on the northbound track; he replied that some member of the crew at the front end of the train would take care of that.

“As we have seen, the crew at the front end of the train were quite unconscious of the dangerous condition at the rear. The engineer did instruct his fireman to go forward to protect the northbound track ‘soon after’ the train stopped, but in the bitter cold weather the fireman was reluctant to perform this seemingly unnecessary precaution, and he carried with him only a red and whit lantern and a single fusee, although both fusees and torpedoes were available on the engine. When he did finally see a train coming he was standing a mere 100 feet in front of his own engine; then he ran forward, trying to light his one fusee, but slipped on the snow on the shoulder of the ballast and broke it. Getting up again he attempted to give signals with his red lantern, but the oncoming train passed him at 85 m.p.h. without any acknowledgment of this warning.

“The northbound train was No. 8, the New York-bound East Coast Tamiami Champion. As this section of track comprised a long straightaway, Engineer Frank Belknap of No. 8 had been able to see No. 91’s headlight from four miles away, but observed no warning signals at all until after he had passed the front end of No. 91, when his first sign of danger was a stop signal given by a passenger with one of the marker lights removed from the last car. This tardy warning barely allowed Belknap to check his speed, and his train sideswiped the three derailed cars at nearly 80 m.p.h. The three-unit Diesel engine somehow escaped major damage, but the second and third cars of he northbound train were demolished, with a resultant death toll of no less than seventy-one passengers, about two-thirds of whom were soldiers. In the rear cars of No. 91, which had been prudently vacated by most of the passengers, only a single death occurred.

“Between the time of the derailment of No. 91 and the collision a period of forty minutes had elapsed – surely adequate for providing complete protection in both directions. Although it was perhaps natural for the conductor to assume that the broken coupler discovered between the second and third cars was the only cause of the application of brakes, the rules firmly advise:

102. When a train is disabled or stopped by an emergency application of the air brakes or other causes, adjacent tracks that are liable to be obstructed must at once be protected until it is ascertained they are safe and clear for the movement of trains.

“It is clear that this rule was disregarded, and responsibility for the tragedy must be shared primarily by the conductor for his failure to inspect his train and to give adequate attention to flagging, and by the fireman for neglecting to provide any true protection at the head end.

“It could also be argued that the rear brakeman, although complying strictly with the rules, exhibited an error in judgment. He was the only member of the crew who knew that the northbound track was fouled. Since the automatic signals would provide substantial protection against southbound trains, he might have reasoned that the more urgent danger arose from opposing trains, and accordingly have gone forward to alert head-end members of the crew, despite the rules for his own conduct which instructed him to go out ‘immediately’ to flag at the rear.” (Shaw. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices in the United States. 1961, pp. 225-227.)

Newspapers

Dec 16: “Rennert, N.C. (UP) – A serious railroad accident on the Atlantic Coast Line railway has caused a tragic toll of dead and injured. At least 50 persons are reported to have been killed. It is feared the death toll may reach 75. There are many injured persons – about 150 in all are believed to have been hurt. It is impossible at the moment to give an accurate casualty figure, because some persons still are buried in the wreckage.

“The accident happened early today in near-zero weather near Rennert, North Carolina, when three cars of the Tamiami Champion, Florida bound from New York, jumped the track. The Northbound East Coast Champion, running from Miami to New York, smashed into the derailed trains.

“Many of the bodies are being taken to a funeral home at Red Springs, North Carolina. A woman in charge of the place said that about 50 bodies had been brought in with more still coming. Atlantic Coastline officials at Rocky Point said reports to them indicated the death toll would reach 75.

“Most of the dead and many injured were in two cars of the north-bound East Coast Champion. The second and third coaches behind its engine were telescoped and jammed the three derailed cars of the Tamiami Champion.

“The impact scattered wreckage over several hundred yards of track. Scores of injured were trapped in cars or thrown out into the near zero cold and snow four-inches deep.

“Doctors rushed to the scene and rescue crews started digging through the twisted mass of steel for the injured. Dr. S. W. Fleming from Highsmith Hospital at nearby Fayetteville reached the scene soon after the crash. He says it was horrible.

“Dr. Fleming says both trains appeared to have carried many soldiers. However, neither express was a troop train. Between 50 and 60 of the injured were servicemen. They were treated at hospitals at Lumberton five miles away and then taken in Army ambulances to the hospital at Fort Bragg.

“Other soldiers and civilians were treated at Fayetteville and Lumberton. Ambulances took the dead to other surrounding towns near the crash.

“Red Cross workers have been sent to the disaster scene from Washington, Atlanta and towns in North Carolina.

“In Wilmington, North Carolina, C. G. Sibley, general manager of the Atlantic Coastline issued a statement, saying both of the trains were classed as streamliners although both were carrying a number of old-style cars.” (United Press. “50 to 75 People Die in N. Carolina Train Wreck.” Statesville Daily Record, NC, 12-16-1943, p. 1.)

Dec 17: “Lumberton, N.C., Dec. 17 – (AP) – Twenty-four hours after a train disaster near here took a known toll of 70 dead and more than 50 injured, the search for more bodies went forward early today in the blue light of acetylene torches.

“Red Cross and railroad officials here reported eight more bodies were believed locked in a section of a passenger car which had not been entered. Workers toiled at the wreck scene all night in sub-freezing weather.

“The toll of dead – 48 servicemen and 21 civilians – was announced by Atlantic Coast Line railroad headquarters at Wilmington. Upwards of 50 persons were injured, many s4riously.

“Enough of the mass of telescoped cars and twisted rails was expected to be moved today to permit resumption of normal traffic.

“Some civilian dead were still unidentified. Witnesses said a few victims were so dismembered it would be difficult to establish identity….

“A broken rail, A.C.L. officials said, caused the first wreck – the derailment of three coaches of the Florida-bound Tamiami Champion.

“One person, 1st Lt. Roy A. Griffin, a student chaplain at Harvard University, was killed in this wreck.

“This was at 2:10 a.m. Five minutes later the northbound Tamiami Champion ploughed into the derailed coaches of the first train.

“The disaster occurred on the coldest day of the winter, in 10-degree weather, and it was two hours before some of the injured and dying could be tended.

“Magazine publisher William Wood, a passenger on the first train and eye-witness of the second wreck, said five cars of the north train ‘leaped the track and folded together like an accordion.’

“First arrivals at the scene told of the injured crying ‘Shoot me!,’ ‘Kill me!’ and begging for help and water.

“The trains were crowded with holiday travelers. Scattered about the wreck scene were packages in Christmas wrappings, and broken Christmas toys.

“After the first derailment, some of the passengers built bonfires of newspapers to stop two south-bound freight trains. They frantically endeavored by the same means to warn the northbound engineer, without succeeding.” (Associated Press. “70 Known Dead In Rail Wreck.” Salisbury Times, MD. 12-17-1943, p. 1.)

Dec 17: “Rennert, N.C., Dec. 17 – (UP) The double wreck of two luxury passenger trains of the Atlantic Coast Line which killed at least 80 persons and injured more than 100, still had not given up all its dead tonight and rescue workers, handicapped by subfreezing weather, strove to reach the remaining bodies buried in a mass of twisted steel and wood.

“At the same time, railway authorities were investigating why one of the trains – the northbound East coast Tamiami Champion in which most of the fatalities occurred – was not given warning in time to prevent its plowing into three derailed cars of the southbound…Tamiami Champion.

“The trains, laden with holiday travelers, including many soldiers and sailors, were traveling on parallel tracks. A broken rail caused the southbound train to derail near Abuies, N.C., and three of its coaches partly blocked the northbound tracks, along which the northbound train thundered 40 minutes later – regarded as ample time in which to flag down the East coast Champion.

“Tonight, nearly 48 hours after the accident, many bodies still had not been identified. The Red Cross said its latest breakdown from the scene of the wreck showed that 51 of the dead were service personnel, 21 were civilians and that additional bodies were still in two of the wrecked cars.” (UP. “Train Crash Death Toll Rises To 80.” Arizona Republic, Phoenix. 12-18-1943, p.1.)

Dec 18: “Rennert, N.C., Dec. 18 (U.P.) – The engineer of the Atlantic Coast Line’s Tamiami East Coast Champion, who declares he was ill with influenza when his train crashed into a sister train and killed at least seventy service men and civilians, said today that he did not have a ‘Chinaman’s chance’ to avert the wreck. Frank Belknap, 67, veteran of forty-six years of railroading, said there were no warning signals set up to notify him of the earlier derailment of the southbound West Coast Champion, three cars of which sprawled across the paralleling tracks of his speeding northbound train.

“Mr. Belknap, who gave his version of the accident at his home in Rocky Mount, N.C., where he is still ill with the flu, said he was unable to see the three derailed cars because of the other engine’s headlight. ‘I did not know that part of No. 91 (the southbound train) had been derailed,’ he said. ‘But when we passed the engine and got past the glare of the headlights, I suddenly saw a man near the tracks trying to flag me. Then I saw a second man waving something. By that time I saw the obstruction and applied the emergency brake but it didn’t take effect.

He Stresses Train’s Speed

“ ‘I don’t know why they didn’t come down the tracks and put a flag out to warn me. We have a ninety-mile speed limit and I didn’t have a Chinaman’s chance to stop.’ Mr. Belknap said he did not feel that he was in any way responsible for the crash.

“He said the weather was perfectly clear at the time, about 1:30 A.M. Thursday, although there had been a heavy snowstorm earlier in the evening. ‘When we struck the other train it derailed my three Diesel-engine units,’ Mr. Belknap said. ‘They didn’t turn over but hit a bank and turned back under the derailed cars of the other train.’

“He said that because he was sick with the flu ‘I didn’t care to go back to the wrecked cars.’ ‘I knew,’ he added, ‘I would just be in the way and that I would be another casualty on their hands.’ Mr. Belknap said that his illness had kept him off the job for a week, but that he was called back to work before he had recovered fully because of the manpower shortage.” (New York Times. “Warned Too Late, Engineer Asserts.” 12-19-1943, p. 8.)

Jan 6, Lockhart Post-Register, TX: “Forty-eight of the dead were servicemen.” (Lockhart Post-Register, TX. “The Year in Review…Disasters,” Jan 6, 1944, p. 6.)

Sources

Associated Press. “70 Known Dead In Rail Wreck.” Salisbury Times, MD. 12-17-1943, p. 1. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salisbury-times-dec-17-1943-p-3/

Cohn, Scotti. Disasters and Heroic Rescues of North Carolina. Globe Pequot Press, 2005.

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

Fayetteville Observer, NC. “Live Wire: Robeson County train wreck in 1943 killed more than 70. Is it the state’s deadliest?” 1-24-2018. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20180124/live-wire-robeson-county-train-wreck-in-1943-killed-more-than-70-is-it-states-deadliest

Futch, Michael (Associated Press). “Town remembers souls lost in tragic train wreck.” Star News, Wilmington, NC, 1-31-2004. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20040131/news/605081649/WM

Fry, David. “Wreck of the ‘Tamiami Champion’ Rennert, North Carolina, USA,” Danger Ahead! – Historic Railway Accidents. Accessed 1-1-2010 at:
http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/accidents/rennert/home.html

Gerard, Philip. “Decades Series. The 1950s: Elegy For an Iron Horse.” Our State, Greensboro, NC. 4-29-2019. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://www.ourstate.com/the-1950s-elegy-for-an-iron-horse-north-carolina-history/

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

Jacobs, Chick. “Remembering the deadliest train accident in N.C. history.” Fayetteville Observer, 12-17-2013.

Leonard, Teresa. “Worst train collision frozen in memory of witnesses.” News & Observer, Raleigh, NC, 12-13-2013. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://www.newsobserver.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/past-times/article10287062.html

Lockhart Post-Register, TX. “The Year in Review…Disasters,” 1-6-1944, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=158478718

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.

New York Times. “Warned Too Late, Engineer Asserts. He Says He Is Not Responsible for North Carolina Crash, Which Killed 70.” 12-19-1943, p. 8. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/12/19/83958528.html?pageNumber=8

Star News Online, Wilmington, NC. “This Date in History, Dec. 16: Atlantic Coast Line rail crash kills 74.” 12-16-2017. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://www.starnewsonline.com/opinion/20171216/this-date-in-history-dec-16-atlantic-coast-line-rail-crash-kills-74

United Press. “50 to 75 People Die in N. Carolina Train Wreck.” Statesville Daily Record, NC, 12-16-1943, p. 1. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/statesville-daily-record-dec-16-1943-p-1/

United Press. “Train Crash Death Toll Rises To 80.” Arizona Republic, Phoenix. 12-18-1943, p.1. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/arizona-independent-republic-dec-18-1943-p-1/

United States Interstate Commerce Commission Investigation No. 2751. “The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company Report in RR Accident Near Rennert, N.C., On December 16, 1943.” Washington, DC: ICC, January 18, 1944, 13 pages. Accessed at: http://www.fremontrescue.com/files/Investigation_No._2751_-_1-18-1944_Atlantic_Coast_Line_RR_Co._Report_RE_Accident_near_Rennert_NC_12-16-1943.pdf
Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://jonroma.net/media/rail/accident/usa/icc/2751.pdf

Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” Accessed 8-3-2020 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pre-1950_rail_accidents

Wikipedia. “Rennert Railroad Accident.” 8-15-2019 edit. Accessed 8-3-2020 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennert_railroad_accident