1966 — Dec 28, Train hits stalled Oil Truck at Railroad crossing, Fire, Everett, MA — 13
— 13 Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Truck-Train Death Toll Up.” 2-6-1967, p. 14.
— 13 Greenfield Recorder, MA. “Toll Now 13.” 2-6-1967, p. 10, col. 8.
— 13 NFPA (National Fire Protection Association). Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 13 NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1966.” Fire Journal, May 1967, p. 38.
–11 train passengers.
— 2 train crewmembers.
— 13 NTSB. Railroad/Highway Accident Report: Boston and Maine Corporation…
— 12 Celebrate Boston (website). “Everett Oil Tanker Crash, 1966.” 12-28-2011 update.
Narrative Information
NFPA: “At about 12:05 am on December 28 a diesel tractor and tank semitrailer combination loaded with 7,000 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil started across a four-track railroad crossing in Everett, Massachusetts, when the brakes froze. The driver attempted to drive the truck off the crossing, but the motor stalled. He flagged an approaching train, consisting of a single self-propelled car, but the train could not be stopped before it crashed into the truck, smashing open the cargo tank. The train came to a stop almost at once with the truck beside it, and spilled fuel oil ignited. Eleven passengers and two crewmen lost their lives.
“Since the double-pane windows in the air conditioned train would not open, the only means of escape was the inward-opening door at the rear of the car. About ten of the 26 people on the train went out the door before someone fell and blocked the door shut, causing a pile-up of passengers. Policemen nearby radioed the alarm and attempted, unsuccessfully, to break the train windows with their sticks. Firemen responding with four engines and two ladder trucks quickly controlled the fire in the train with a preconnected hose line while others broke out the windows, climbed inside, and started handing passengers out through the windows. After a fireman managed to open the blocked door, other injured passengers and bodies were removed that way.” (NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1966.” Fire Journal, May 1967, p. 38.)
NTSB Abstract: “At 12:10 AM, on December 28, 1966, eastbound first-class passenger train No. 563, consisting of a single car diesel-powered passenger unit operated by the Boston and Maine Corporation collided with a northbound motor tank truck owned and operated by the Oxbow Transport Corporation stopped across the Second Street grade crossing at Everett, Mass. The collision resulted in the death of 11 of a total of 28 passengers and 2 of the 3 train crew members and other injuries and damage to property. The semi-trailer of the tank truck containing 8,200 gallons of fuel oil ruptured on impact, covering the forward end of the passenger car with the oil. A spread of flames immediately covered the forward section of the car. The fatalities were due to thermal burns and smoke inhalation. There was a lack of emergency exits in the car, in addition to an inward opening rear door which became jammed in a closed position while people were attempting to escape. The truck driver had left the vehicle prior to impact and was not injured. The probable cause of the accident was the loss of air pressure in the brake systems of the tractor-trailer which resulted in an automatic application of the brakes that could not be released from the cab of the tractor and therefore held the tractor-trailer directly across the Boston and Maine track at the collision point.” (NTSB. Railroad/Highway Accident Report: Boston and Maine Corporation Single Diesel-Powered Passenger Car 563 Collision with Oxbow Transport Company Tank Truck at Second Street Railroad-Highway Grade Crossing Everett, Massachusetts, December 28, 1966. 2-29-1968. Abstract accessed website of Trans. Research Board of the National Academies.)
Newspapers
Dec 28: “Everett – A Boston and Maine railroad conductor from Billerica and 11 other persons were killed, while another Billerica man, a truck driver, escaped a similar fate by seconds, when a B and M Buddliner plowed into a stalled heating oil tanker truck at a railroad grade crossing here early today. Killed in the holocaust as flames ignited the oil spewing from the ruptured tank truck and engulfed both train and truck, was Edwin P. Hunt, 53, of Hurlburt Road, in the River Pines section of Billerica.
“Missing death when he leaped from his truck, stalled on the tracks by frozen brakes, and trying vainly to flag down the approaching train, was 29-year-old Raymond F. Bouley, of…Billerica. The truck he was operating belonged to the Oxbow Trucking Co., of Lexington, police said.
“Also killed in the blazing crash was the engineer of the train, identified as Thomas Bagley, 59, of…Woburn.
“Other, victims of the flames which burst from the tangled and twisted mess of steel of both the train and truck were:
Joseph R. Mondello, Buffalo, N.Y.
Lois A. Whooley no address;
John H. Moore, Beverly Farms;
Graham A. Atkinson, Rome, N.Y.;
John Mahan, Swampscott,
John R. Malcolm, Lexington;
Bruce Amaral, 19, Gloucester;
Paul Amero, 19, of 13 Riverdale Park, Gloucester;
Patricia Hubbard…Beverly.
Louis A. Houle, no home address but believed to be a merchant marine seaman.
“An estimated 35 persons, most of them en route home after attending the Boston Bruins-Detroit Red Wings hockey game, were on the train which left the North Station at 12:01 a. m.
“Bouley told police he was driving the tank truck, loaded with 7000 gallons of heating oil, across
the Second Street crossing when the brakes froze and the vehicle stalled. As he tried to restart the truck Bouley said, the gates came down on both sides of the crossing and he heard a train approaching. Whipping off his jacket, Bouley leaped from the cab of the truck and attempted to flag down the self-propelled train. Apparently the train crew failed to see Bouley’s frantic efforts to avoid a collision and as Bouley jumped aside, the train continued on and plowed into the vehicle.
“Instantly, there was a tremendous explosion, police said, a ball of fire erupting high into the sky and both truck and train were engulfed in roaring flames. Police Officers George Stewart and Ralph DeVito, on patrol a few hundred yards from the crash site, reported, ‘All of a sudden a big fireball, about 100 feet high and 50 feet across, whooshed up from behind a warehouse on our left. We were on Second Street, so we radioed for help and drove as close as we could to the wreckage, and ran the rest of the way to try to get the people out.’ The officers succeeded in getting some of the trapped victims out but one man fell, wedged inside the door and a pileup resulted. Intense heat, flames and smoke prevented any further rescue efforts by police until fire fighters arrived.
“Chelsea Fire Chief Herbert Fothergill said most of the victims were trapped in the train for about 20 minutes, until fire fighters snuffed out the flames. Breaking windows and forcing open the doors, fire, police, ambulance crews and volunteer rescuers worked with their bare hands to extricate the trapped passengers….
“Massachusetts General Hospital said it had received nine dead and four injured persons; Whidden Hospital, Everett, received two dead and 10 injured; Chelsea Naval Hospital reported one dead and three injured; and Chelsea Memorial Hospital, one injured.
“Everett Fire Lieut. Frederick Scott said, ‘We had to take them out through windows. We couldn’t get the door open because there was a body lying on the other side. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. All I could hear was people screaming. There was lots of smoke and fire.’
“Authorities said that 120 fire fighters, manning 14 pieces of equipment battled the flames and tried desperately to force their way into the still burning train to rescue the helpless victims.
“A passenger, Martin F. Marnik, 18, of Lynn, said a trainman came into the car from the engineer’s cab and shouted ‘Lean forward, we are going to crash!’ Marnik said, ‘Then I was thrown forward, and later followed a man out of the train through the rear door and off the platform after the collision.’
“Catherine O’Keefe, 57, of Brookline, another passenger, said, ‘All of a sudden there was a blinding flash and I was thrown into the aisle. One minute it was clear and the next minute the car was full of smoke. People were walking all over me. Then some man, God bless him, gave me a pull on the arm and I was able to get halfway up. I followed him and somehow I got out.’…” (Lowell Sun, MA (Fred W. Dudley). “12 Die in Train-Truck Crash.” 12-28-1966, p. 1.)
Dec 29: “Everett — Officials were at odds today on whether the Boston & Maine Railroad was at fault in the fiery crash of one of’ its self-propelled railroad cars and an oil truck. Conflicting opinions were heard as six federal, state and local agencies probed the accident at an unguarded crossing early Wednesday in which 12 persons died and 22 were injured. In a preliminary report Wednesday, Chairman Roy O. Pappalia of the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) said, ‘I am satisfied at this time that no railroad fault, either human or mechanical, was responsible.’
“The Massachusetts Legislature was not sure of the railroad’s blamelessness. The lawmakers adopted an order calling for a special seven-man legislative inquiry, to concentrate on the ‘adequacy of safety devices’ used by B&M at railroad crossings and ‘railroad provisions for proper maintenance of safety equipment on Buddliners.’ Sen. Harry A. Delia Russo, D-Revere, author of the order, said: “Many bills have been filed calling for protection [at railroad crossings] railroad’s excuse is that they can’t afford to hire tenders. Because of this, we have lost 12 lives.’ Sen. Francis X. McCann, D-Cambridge, said, ‘To leave the public unprotected at these crossings is nothing short of murder or suicide.’
“Investigating the accident along with the legislature were the Interstate Commerce Commission,
the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Public Utilities and the Everett police and fire departments.
“Regardless of any blame, it appeared that the two principals involved — the truck driver and the engineer — did their best to avert the crash. Investigators discovered that the railroad tracks bore gleaming skid marks beginning 200 yards from where the Buddliner car slammed into the truck,
spilling and igniting the vehicle’s cargo of 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel oil. The marks evidently were imprinted when engineer Thomas Bagley, 60, slammed his brakes into the ‘hole,’ or emergency position, in a desperate attempt to keep from hitting the truck. Bagley, among those killed, ironically was the son of a Canadian Pacific engineer who died 47 years ago in a train crash at Onana, Maine.
“The 29-year-old truck driver, Raymond Bouley of Billerica, also engaged in a frantic attempt to prevent the crash. When his truck halted on the tracks because of what he said was a malfunctioning brake, the truck driver hailed a motorist behind him, Carmen Addonizio, 58, of Everett. Bouley asked Addonizio to notify police of the dangerous situation. But before Addonizio could leave, the automatic signal bells rang and the guard gates dropped. Both men ran up the tracks toward the approaching Boston-Rockport train, which was hidden behind a bend. The Buddliner flashed by the frantically-waving men, who were about 200 yards from the crossing. Moments later the train crashed.
“Addonizio, who said he had never met Bouley before, praised the truck driver’s rescue efforts. ‘When it happened, that kid was all over the place,’ Addonizio said. ‘He helped me to get 10 or 12 of those people out…He did everything in his power and when there was nothing else we, could do, he sat down in a snow bank, cried like a baby and hit his head with his hands.’
“The Registry of Motor Vehicles impounded the truck, owned by Oxbow Transport Co. of Lexington, and will attempt to find out why it stopped on the tracks.
“Attorney Julian Soshnick, counsel for the company, said the brake system ‘had been bled of condensation a few hours before the accident to guard against freezing. We know when it was done and who did it.’….” (Lowell Sun, MA. “Conflicting Opinion on Cause of Train-Truck Crash.” 12-29-1966, p. 1.)
Dec 30: “Twelve persons perished in the ghastly wreck of a Buddliner in Everett earlier this week — because the rear door of the train, which opened INWARD, became blocked as passengers pressed toward it to escape. It seems incredible that in this day and age such a thing could happen. After the Coconut Grove disaster in 1942, when so many were trapped in the inferno as bodies piled against the inward-opening door, it has become mandatory that all exit doors in public buildings open outward. But the Buddliner, without that safety precaution, and with double-thick windows that passengers were unable to break, became a fiery furnace and consumed 12 persons, most of them young men and women enjoying the Christmas school holidays.
“In the last moments of the special session of the legislature, shocked lawmakers established a seven-man legislative committee to investigate the control devices along the Boston & Maine Railroad lines. They will, undoubtedly, look into the remaining grade crossings as well the need for proper safety exits on the trains themselves.
“It is too bad that such a frightful accident had to occur before steps are taken to require the same safety exits be provided on trains as are already installed on buses and airplanes, as well as in public buildings. While safety exits will not eliminate all accidental deaths in train wrecks, certainly no safety precautions should be overlooked, and proper exits are an obvious necessity.” (Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Tragedy in Everett.” 12-30-1966, p. 6.)
Jan 9, 1967: “Boston (UPI) – The average railroad grade crossing in Massachusetts is unsafe and trains pass the crossings too fast, according to Sen. Francis X. McCann, D-Cambridge. He will offer numerous safety proposals to the special legislative committee investigating the Dec. 28 truck-train crash in Everett that killed 12, he said Sunday night. ‘The average railroad crossing offers very little protection to either the pedestrian or motorist using it or the train passengers for that matter,’ said McCann in a radio interview (WEEI).
“The Everett disaster occurred when a one-car Boston & Maine Railroad train smashed into an oil truck that had stalled on the tracks. The crossing was not manned by an attendant but was protected by automatic gates, which witnesses said were functioning normally at the time of the crash.
“McCann’s proposals include:
—Better lighting at crossings.
—A study of a possible warning system, similar to a fire alarm by which a passing citizen
could signal approaching trains of danger.
—An invitation to Massachusetts Institute of Technology or any other qualified institution to design a photoelectric system to warn engineers of obstacles blocking crossings.
—A demand for airline-type emergency door systems on passenger trains to provide for quicker passenger emergency exit and easier rescue operations. Passenger exit doors of the train that crashed opened inward. A survivor said that one of the doors jammed twice.
—A comparison of the braking systems of standard locomotives and those of Buddliner cars, the type that crashed.
—A demand for ‘more reasonable speed’ at crossings especially those in heavily populated areas.”
(Lowell Sun, MA. “Legislator to Act on Railroad Crossing Safety.” 1-9-1967, p. 15.)
Jan 12, 1967: “Everett, Mass. (AP) – Faults were found in the brakes of a stalled oil tanker which was struck by a railroad diesel car in a crash which claimed 12 lives, an Interstate Commerce Commission expert has stated. Donald W. Morrison, chief of the engineering branch of the ICC motor vehicles division, testified Wednesday at an ICC hearing on the fiery Dec. 28 collision….Morrison testified he discovered a front wheel brake tubing limiting valve had a leak potential. He also said there was a broken fitting in the left brake chamber….Morrison did not say why the truck stalled.
“The state Department of Public Utilities has said a malfunction of the truck’s brakes was the apparent cause of the collision….” (Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Faulty Truck Brake in Train Collision.” 1-12-1967, p. 7.)
Jan 19, 1967: “Everett (AP) — Police Sgt. William Doyle testified Wednesday there have been four major accidents — and many minor ones — at a grade crossing where 12 were killed in a train-tank truck collision Dec. 28. Doyle was testifying at a hearing before the Interstate Commerce Commission and the State Public Utilities Commission, which are investigating the accident. A single self-propelled diesel….
“Deputy Fire Chief Robert E. Melvin testified firemen were unable to enter through the inward opening rail car doors because bodies were piled up against them. He said firemen raised ladders and smashed windows to get into the car.” (Lowell Sun, MA. “Many Accidents at Death Crossing.” 1-19-1967, p. 14.)
Jan 21, 1967: “The Registry of Motor Vehicles has started a special enforcement drive on the law requiring all school buses or vehicles carrying explosives or inflammables to make a full stop at railroad grade crossings. Registrar Richard E. Mc-Laughlin said more than 25 violations have been booked in two days of the drive, and said violations may include suspension or revocation of the drivers’ licenses. Last month, a truck loaded with fuel oil stalled at an Everett crossing and a commuter diesel car struck it. The crash and resulting fire claimed a dozen lives.” (Greenfield Recorder, MA. “Full Stop Drive.” 1-21-1967, p. 2.)
Feb 2, 1967: “Boston (AP) — Everett Police Sgt. William P. Doyle says charges of overloading will be filed against the owner of a fuel oil truck involved in a collision with a passenger train, that resulted in the loss of 12 lives. Doyle also told a special legislative commission Wednesday that the Oxbow Transportation Co. of Lexington will be charged with failure to have the truck equipped with flares or signaling devices.
“Two inspectors from the Registry of Motor Vehicles told the commission, which is investigating the collision, that the truck was overloaded by ‘approximately 8,100 pounds.’ The two, Gordon C. Little of Newburyport and Andrew A. Donahue of Nahant, also said the trailer tank ‘had not been okayed by the Department of Public Safety.’….
“The two inspectors from the Registry of Motor Vehicles also said they believe the train could not have stopped in time even if the crew knew of the obstruction on the tracks. They submitted a statement by the Boston & Maine Railroad indicating the train was traveling at normal speed at the time – 55 to 60 m.p.h.
“The Interstate Commerce Commission and the state Department of Public Utilities already have conducted a separate inquiry into the crash, but have not yet reported findings.” (Greenfield Recorder, MA. “Fuel Truck Owner Faces Court Action.” 2-2-1967, p. 2.)
Feb 6, 1967: “Boston (AP) – The death toll has risen to 13 from the flaming crash of a one-car diesel passenger train and an oil truck at a grade crossing in Everett last Dec. 28.”[1] (Greenfield Recorder, MA. “Toll Now 13.” 2-6-1967, p. 10, col. 8.)
Sources
Celebrate Boston (website). “Everett Oil Tanker Crash, 1966.” 12-28-2011 update. Accessed 12-21-2014 at: http://www.celebrateboston.com/disasters/everett-oil-tanker-crash-1966.htm
Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Faulty Truck Brake in Train Collision.” 1-12-1967, p. 7. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=50712392&sterm=everett+train
Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Tragedy in Everett.” 12-30-1966, p. 6. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=50735393&sterm=everett+train
Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Truck-Train Death Toll Up.” 2-6-1967, p. 14. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=50712827&sterm=everett+train+truck
Greenfield Recorder, MA. “Fuel Truck Owner Faces Court Action.” 2-2-1967, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=186966753&sterm=everett+train+truck
Greenfield Recorder, MA. “Full Stop Drive.” 1-21-1967, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=186966543&sterm=everett+train+truck
Greenfield Recorder, MA. “Toll Now 13.” 2-6-1967, p. 10, col. 8. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=186966822&sterm=everett+train+truck
Lowell Sun, MA (Fred W. Dudley). “12 Die in Train-Truck Crash.” 12-28-1966, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=57615834&sterm=everett+train
Lowell Sun, MA. “Conflicting Opinion on Cause of Train-Truck Crash.” 12-29-1966, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=57615881&sterm=everett+train
Lowell Sun, MA. “Legislator to Act on Railroad Crossing Safety.” 1-9-1967, p. 15. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=57616345&sterm=everett+train
Lowell Sun, MA. “Many Accidents at Death Crossing.” 1-19-1967, p. 14. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=57616772&sterm=everett+train+truck
National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996, 2010. Accessed at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1
National Fire Protection Association. “The Major Fires of 1966.” Fire Journal, May 1967, pp. 35-41.
National Transportation Safety Board. Railroad/Highway Accident Report: Boston and Maine Corporation Single Diesel-Powered Passenger Car 563 Collision with Oxbow Transport Company Tank Truck at Second Street Railroad-Highway Grade Crossing Everett, Massachusetts, December 28, 1966. Washington, DC: NTSB, 2-29-1968. Abstract accessed 12-21-2014 at: http://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=17789
[1] “…Joseph Campbell, 71, of Danvers, a passenger in the train, dies Sunday night [Feb 5] at Massachusetts General Hospital from severe burns suffered in the accident.” (Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Truck-Train Death Toll Up.” 2-6-1967, p. 14.)