1933 – Aug 29, heavy rain, weakened bridge collapses under train near Tucumcari, NM–11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 12-27-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–11  Interstate Commerce Commission. Report…Accident…Southern Pacific…Hargis, N. Mex.

–11  Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” 

Narrative Information

Interstate Commerce Commission: “On August 29, 1933, there was a derailment of a passenger

train on the line of the Southern Pacific Company near Hargis, N. Mex., which resulted in the death of 8 passengers and 3 employees, and the injury of 39 passengers, 1 mail clerk, 4 employees and 2 Pullman porters. The investigation of this accident was made in conjunction with representatives of the New Mexico State Corporation Commission.

Location and method of operation

“This accident occurred on the Santa Rosa Sub-division of the Rio Grande Division, which extends between Carrizozo and Tucumcari, N. Mex., a distance of 187.5 miles. In the vicinity of the point of accident this is a single-track line over which trains are operated by time table, train orders, and an automatic block-signal system. The accident occurred at the eastern end of bridge 1623.27, which is located approximately 1.37 miles east of Hargis or 4.1 miles west of Tucumcari; approaching this point from the west, there is a 1 31′ curve to the left 1,250 feet in length, followed by 573 feet of tangent to the point of accident, this tangent continuing for some distance beyond that point. The grade is 0.92 percent descending. The track is laid with 90-pound rails, 33 feet in length, with 20 ties to the rail length, tie-plated, and ballasted with limestone to a depth of about 12 inches.

“Bridge 1623.27 spans a normally dry creek bed known as Blue Water Creek and is a single-track, 3-span, deck plate-girder bridge, 210 feet in length, built in 1914, replacing a pile trestle of about the same length. The track on either side of the bridge is on a high fill; the filled approach at the east end of the bridge is 400 feet long, 37 feet high at the east abutment sloping to 50 feet high at a point 150 feet east of the east abutment while the filled approach at the west end of the bridge is 600 feet long, 35 feet high at the west abutment and sloping to 30 feet high at a point 150 feet west of the west abutment. The bridge consisted of a 90-foot channel span with a 60-foot span on each side of it, and was supported by two mass concrete piers resting on bed rock and by U-type concrete abutments with reinforced concrete wing walls, the abutments resting T L earth embankments and reinforced concrete piling, there being 15 concrete piles under each abutment, while there were creosoted pile bents under the wing walls. The toe of the earth fill at the east end of the bridge sloped downward to the east pier, the ratio of the slope being 1 l/3 to 1. The as-built plan indicated that the stream bed. was level with the point at which the toe of the slope contacted the east pier, but earth marks on the end of the pier showed that the stream bed had been lowered several feet since the bridge was built. Blue Water Creek is dry practically all the time except in rainy weather…. [pp. 1-3]

“….at some time during the storm there was a maximum depth of water passing under the highway bridge of 26.16 feet…. [p.3.]

“On the night of this accident there had been an unusually heavy rainfall in this vicinity; at the time of the accident, which occurred about 4:30 a. m., it was dark and a light rain was falling.

Description

“East-bound passenger train no. 4 consisted of 1 mail car, I baggage car, 1 chair car, 1 Pullman tourist sleeping car, 1 club car, 5 Pullman standard sleeping cars, and 1 observation sleeping car, in the order named, and all of steel construction, hauled by engine 4388, and was in charge of Conductor DePew and Engineman Croft. This train left Santa Rosa, the last open office, 53.6 miles west of Hargis, at 3:37 a. m., 11 minutes late, and was derailed at bridge 1623.37 while traveling at a speed estimated to have been about 20 miles per hour.

“The west abutment and both piers of the bridge remained intact but the east abutment, which apparently had been undermined by flood waters in the creek, settled under the weight of the engine, resulting in the collapse of the eastern span of the bridge. The abutment toppled over upon its west face and slid part way down the embankment, the wings extending toward the southwest. The east girder was displaced and lodged between the east embankment and the southeast corner

of the east pier approximately midway between the bridge seat and the bed of the stream, at an angle of approximately 40⁰. The engine overrode the dislodged abutment; the front end of the engine struck the embankment above the abutment and after the accident the rear of the boiler was on top of the abutment. The tender and first five cars were also derailed in the gap in the track caused by the collapse of this span of the bridge and were piled in various positions upon the engine, the bridge girder and the embankment. The sixth car fell over the north side of the bridge into the stream bed practically opposite the middle span of the bridge. The front truck of the seventh car was derailed but the rest of the train remained on the rails and sustained no damage. The derailed equipment was badly damaged and some of the cars were destroyed either by the derailment or in clearing up the wreckage. [p.4.] The employees killed were the engineman, fireman, and a bridge inspector.” [p.5] ….

“Deputy Sheriff White, who had lived along Blue Water Creek for 37 years, said the rainfall on the night of August 28 was the heaviest he had ever seen in that locality and that the water was several feet higher than at any previous time with in his knowledge. There had been nigh water earlier in the month and when passing over the highway bridge on the evening of August 28 he had noticed that 10 or 12 feet of the bank of the creek between the two bridges had been cut away by the water, creating a condition which he thought would be dangerous should there be another storm. He also noticed that water had been running between the east pier and the east abutment; in fact, the conditions were such that when the rain came on the night of August 28 he felt that both

bridges might be washed away and discussed with his family the question of whether he should proceed to the scene and flag trains….” [pp. 6-7]

Conclusions

“This accident was caused by high water from heavy rainfall undermining the earth fill supporting the east abutment of bridge 1633.27, resulting m the collapse of the eastern span of this bridge under the engine of train no. 4.

“There were three principal conditions which contributed to the failure of this bridge, namely, very heavy rains resulting in an extraordinary amount of flood water in Blue Water Creek; the position of the highway bridge which increased the velocity of the current and probably directed it against the railroad embankment, and the fact that the railroad embankment had not been protected against erosion.

“This bridge, built in 1914, was of substantial construction. It had withstood without damage the effects of high water several times since it was built. In 1931 the highway bridge was constructed about 150 feet upstream from the railroad bridge, and the railroad bridge failed under the first high-water conditions which occurred after the highway bridge was built. On the night of August 28, there had been a rain storm of unusual intensity, with the result that the water in Blue Water Creek had reached a flood stage which was perhaps unprecedented. Examination of conditions after the accident indicated that when the flood waters were at their height they were damned up behind this highway bridge sufficiently to cause the water at this point to be about 2½ feet higher than it was at the railroad bridge and more than 6 feet higher than it was at a point 500 feet down-stream from the highway bridge; it was apparent that the force of the current was directed against the embankment under the eastern span of the railroad bridge, cutting away the bank of the stream and undermining the abutment.

“The evidence of engineers who testified in this investigation is convincing that the failure of this bridge could have been guarded against by rip rap, wing walls or other similar protective devices. The need for such measures at this point had existed since the construction of the highway bridge in 1931, and had a comprehensive survey been, made by competent railroad engineers the changed hydraulic conditions at this point, as a result of the construction of the highway bridge, should have been recognized. Furthermore, it was brought out in this investigation that as a result of rains earlier in the month of August the east bank of the stream between the bridges, as well as the toe of the fill near the east pier, had been washed away to an extent clearly indicating the need for protection of the railroad embankment. A number of local residents and users of the highway were aware of this condition and recognized the possibility of danger to the railroad; however, the’ railroad company had not made sufficiently frequent or thorough inspections to discover this condition, and because of this failure to discover and heed the warning given by the partial washing away of the embankment.” [p. 12] (Interstate Commerce Commission. Report of the Director of the Bureau of Safety Concerning an Accident on the Line of the Southern Pacific Company Near Hargis, N. Mex., on August 29, 1933. 11-17-1933.)

Wikipedia: “August 29, 1933: The Golden State Limited, a transcontinental passenger train, went through a storm-weakened bridge into an arroyo near Tucumcari, New Mexico. 11 people were killed and 46 injured.”  (Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”) 

Sources

Interstate Commerce Commission. Report of the Director of the Bureau of Safety Concerning an Accident on the Line of the Southern Pacific Company Near Hargis, N. Mex., on August 29, 1933. 11-17-1933. Accessed 12-27-2024 at: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/46488

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