1951 — Feb 6, Speeding commuter train derails at temporary trestle, Woodbridge, NJ– 85

–85  Blanchard estimate.[1]

–85  Bianculli, Anthony J. Iron Rails in the Garden State. 2008, p. 145

–85  Faith, Nicholas. Derail: Why Trains Crash. London:  Channel 4 Books. 2000, p. 131.

–85  Haine, Edgar A.  Railroad Wrecks. 1993, p. 32.

–85  Historical Marker Database.  “Great Woodbridge Train Wreck of 1951.”

–85  Newspaper.com.  The Daily Perspective.  “1951:  Commuter Train Derails in NJ.”

–85  Surhone, Lambert. M., M.T. Tennoe, S.F. Henssonow. Woodbridge Train Wreck. 2010.

–85  Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (1950-1999).”

–85  Wikipedia.  “Woodbridge train wreck.” 8-8-2011 modification.

–84  Drabek, Thomas E.  The Human Side of Disaster. Boca Raton, FL:  CRC Press, 2010, 33.

–84  Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “7 Investigations Started in Wreck…Killed 84.” 2-8-1951, 1

–84  Nash. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters…. 1977, p. 740.

–84  Reed, R.C. Train Wrecks: A Pictorial History of Accidents on The Main Line. 1968, 52.

 

Narrative Information

 

Bianculli: “The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) holds the dubious distinction of involvement in four of the six railroad accidents with the highest death tolls in the state of New Jersey….

 

“But the worst railroad accident in the history of New Jersey occurred in 1951 on the Pennsylvania Railroad near Woodbridge, New Jersey. Eighty-five people died, and hundreds were injured in that accident….

 

“The wreck of the commuter train at Woodbridge was precipitated, and its effects were compounded, by a number of factors. The Broker, so named because it typically carried Wall Street employees, was particularly crowded on 6 February 1951 because the road’s competitor, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, had been hit by a strike. The 11-car PRR train departed Jersey City at 5:10 PM after receiving passengers from a connecting Hudson Tubes train. It stopped at Newark and then accelerated toward its next stop at Perth Amboy. About a third of a mile beyond the Woodbridge station and close to the business district, the steam locomotive swung through a sharp curve and entered a temporary timber trestle that had been erected to carry the tracks over Legion Place and around some improvements that were being made while the New Jersey Turnpike was under construction nearby. Recognizing the hazards involved in passing over the temporary rails, railroad management had notified all engineers eight days earlier that, effective at 1:01 PM on 6 February, train speeds could not exceed 25 mph through that area. (Normal operating speed was 60 mph.) No signal lights had been installed at the bypass.

 

“Despite the speed order, the Broker thundered onto the trestle at 50-60 mph. Early reports indicated that the engine and the first five car passed safely over the trestle, but then ‘something appeared to give way’ below the sixth car, which fell but came to rest on the concrete abutments. When the sixth car dropped, it precipitated a whiplash effect….

 

“A large crowd of onlookers quickly gathered at the crash site and impeded the efforts of the emergency personnel.  Since police officers and firemen from a dozen nearby communities were aiding in the rescue operation, the mayor of Woodbridge requested troops to clear the area.  Soldiers from nearby Camp Kilmer and local National Guardsmen moved the spectators away from the immediate scene. Firemen erected ladders against the upset coaches to remove the injured, who were brought to nearby houses for first aid treatment or, in the case of the more seriously wounded, to hospitals. The emergency personnel were hampered further by the mix of ice and mud on the embankment and the streets below. Rescue efforts continued throughout the night, and temporary morgues were established in Middlesex County. It was alter determined that 345 persons had received treatment for injuries at medical facilities in New Brunswick, Rahway, and the Amboys.

 

“Despite the early protestations of the Broker’s engineer, James Fitzsimmons, who claimed he was not speeding when the train entered the trestle, he later admitted that he was doing about 50 mph.  The conductor, John Bishop, testified that ‘the train’s speed was so excessive that he was just about to pull the emergency cord for a slow-up when the train leaped the rails.’  Bishop also mentioned that he had discussed the speed restriction at Woodbridge with Fitzsimmons before the train left Jersey City. Fitzsimmons told investigators that there was no signal at the trestle and inferred that this was the cause of the accident because he would have reduced speed accordingly if he had been warned by a signal. The railroad’s division superintendent admitted that the trestle was not tested before it went into operation that day. It was designed with a safety factor of six, meaning that it was expected to support up to six times the maximum load that it would be subjected to. All agreed, however, that the structure appeared to be sound and that six trains had crossed it earlier in the day. One disturbing note that a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission thought ‘might have some significance’ was that the railroad ties on the temporary bridge were never fastened down.

 

“The Middlesex County prosecutor, Alex Eber, the chief investigator, castigated the railroad for its ‘complete and indifferent disregard for human life.’  He attributed the wreck to the lack of a signal at the trestle and to the railroad’s alleged failure to ensure that the speed restriction order had been delivered to, and acknowledged by, the engineer. The high speed passage over the trestle was fixed officially as the cause of the accident.  Eber brought charges before a Middlesex County grand jury, which on 20 February 1951 delivered a verdict that the Pennsylvania Railroad ‘did feloniously kill and slay’ 84 individuals and then returned 84 manslaughter indictments against the road. Upon appeal, a New Jersey superior court dismissed the charges.  The railroad did, however, become the defendant in numerous civil suits and was required to provide substantial monetary settlements. One positive action resulting from this tragedy was the adoption of recommendations made by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the N.J. Public Utility Commission. New rules were sighed into law that provided much stronger safety measures and more frequent medical examinations for railroad crew members….” (Bianculli, Anthony J.  Iron Rails in the Garden State: Tales of New Jersey Railroading. Chapter 29, “Calamity at Woodbridge (1951).” 2008, pp. 145-148.)

 

Haine: “On 6 February 1951, there occurred the nation’s worst railroad wreck since 115 persons were killed at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1918.  A rail disaster at Woodbridge, New Jersey resulted in the deaths of 85 people, with 400 injured….On 15 September 1951 the eighty-fifth victim of the Woodbridge rail disaster died….”  (Haine, Edgar A.  Railroad Wrecks. 1993, pp. 127-129.)

 

Historical Marker Database: “Inscription. In memory of the 85 people who perished on February 6, 1951, when a Pennsylvania Railroad Commuter Train derailed ¼ of a mile (1300 feet) south of this station, and in recognition of the Woodbridge residents and those of the surrounding communities who came to the aid of the injured.”  [Location – intersection of Main Street and Eleanor Place.] (Historical Marker Database.  “Great Woodbridge Train Wreck of 1951.”)

 

Nash: “1951, Feb 6. Woodbridge, N.J…Pennsylvania train derailed, excessive speed on temporary rail.” (Darkest hours, p. 740.)

 

Wikipedia: “February 6, 1951 – Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States: The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train, derails, killing 85 people and injuring over 500.” (Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (1950-1999)”; cites Haine 1993, 127.)

 

Newspaper

 

Feb 8: “Woodbridge, N. J., Feb. 8. — Seven investigations sought to learn today whether excessive speed and the absence of warning signals caused the nation’s worst train wreck in 33 years.

 

“It was estimated $75,000,000 in claims may be filed against the Pennsylvania Railroad in the Tuesday night wreck in which 84 rush hour passengers were killed and 500 injured when the “Broker” Express toppled off a temporary trestle in this small town.

 

“Engineer Joseph H. Fitzsimmons, 57, admitted to state authorities he was going 50 miles an hour at the time of the accident.  Fitzsimmons also told authorities he had read an order authorizing him to approach the trestle at 25-mile-hour speed but neglected to do so because there were no amber signals warning him to slow down.

 

“The conductor of the train, John H. Bishop, said he had noticed that the express was travelling at an excessive rate of speed and [word or line missing] emergency cord to signal a slow-down when the crash occurred.

 

“The 84th identified victim was Henrietta Bernhard, 22, a bride of only eight months who was returning to Long Branch, N. J., on the Broker’s New York-Bay Head Junction, N. J., run.  Her body was identified last night by her grief-stricken mother, Mrs. Anna Wolfe of Newark at the end of a daylong tour of morgues and hospitals.

 

“There was a possibility the death toll would mount even higher with 15 of the 121 hospitalized

survivors in critical condition.

 

“The Interstate Commerce Commission planned to open a hearing into the wreck at 2 p. m. EST in New York.  Other agencies participating in the hydra-headed inquiry were the State of New Jersey, Middlesex County, Pennsylvania Railroad, the Public Utility Commission, Woodbridge police and the FBI, which was studying the possibilities of sabotage.

 

“State and county Officials fixed speed as the “indicated and apparent” factor in the tragedy.  Attorney General Theodore Parsons and Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Alex Eber issued a joint statement indicating they might ask for a grand jury investigation “when we compile all the evidence”.”  (Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “7 Investigations Started in Wreck Which Killed 84.” 2-8-1951, 1)

 

Newspaperarchive.com: “Pennsylvania Railroad’s commuter train, The Broker, plummeted off a temporary trestle and slid down an embankment in Woodbridge, New Jersey, today. 85 people died in the crash and hundreds more were injured.

 

“More than 600 persons in the rush hour-crowded train – nick-named ‘Billion Dollar Special,’ named for the many Wall Street men who use it regularly for travel from New York to suburban areas on the New Jersey shore – were injured,” the New Castle News reported on February 7, 1951. “All hospitals within a radius of 25 miles from the streets of Woodbridge were crowded with victims.”

 

“NOTE: The Broker typically carried about 900 passengers, but due to a strike on the competing Jersey Central railroad, it was jammed with many more commuters. It is estimated that 1,100 people were on the train at the time of the tragedy.”  (Newspaperarchive.com. The Daily Perspective.  “1951:  Commuter Train Derails in NJ.”)

 

Sources

 

Bianculli, Anthony J.  Iron Rails in the Garden State: Tales of New Jersey Railroading. Bloomington, IN:  Indiana University Press, 2008. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=oif8ddRyYMcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “7 Investigations Started in Wreck Which Killed 84.” 2-8-1951, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=102268565

 

Drabek, Thomas E. The Human Side of Disaster. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2010.

 

Faith, Nicholas. Derail: Why Trains Crash. London:  Channel 4 Books. 2000.

 

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

 

Historical Marker Database. “Great Woodbridge Train Wreck of 1951.” Accessed 5-29-2012 at: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6678

 

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.

 

Newspaperarchive.com. The Daily Perspective. Today In History – 2-6-2009. “1951:  Commuter Train Derails in NJ.” Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com:80/DailyPerspectiveHome.aspx

 

Reed, Robert C. Train Wrecks: A Pictorial History of Accidents on The Main Line. New York: Bonanza Books, 1968.

 

Surhone, Lambert. M., Mariam T. Tennoe, Susan F. Henssonow. Woodbridge Train Wreck. Verlag Dr. Mueller AG & Co. Kg. 2010.

 

Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (1950-1999).” Accessed 7-18-2018 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1950-1999_rail_accidents

 

Wikipedia. “Woodbridge train wreck.” 8-8-2011 modification. Accessed 5-29-2012 at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodbridge_train_wreck

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Eighty four people died that day. Edgar Haine, in Railroad Wrecks, notes 85^th death from injuries was on Sep 15.