Train Wreck in Brandtsville, PA in 1963

by Ralph Brandt in History, October 15, 2009

The black and white pictures in this collection were taken with a one minute developing Polaroid in 1963. Color shots were taken with a Nikon D-80.

DSC_0086-10.jpg

Picture by author

This is on the siding and is far less important but it sets a tone. The fish plate (the term for the piece under the rail that the spikes go through) has no spikes in it. The wire on the rail is to make electrical continuity through the rail, something the railroad uses for many things including warning of approaching trains. Aa an example, a recent fatal accident in the Washington DC subway system was caused by a voltage being set too high – the train did not short it to low enough to signal it was coming. The plate with the bolts allows for expansion as mentioned above.

The force of the accident can be seen in the following pictures.

Picture by Author

You can see the torn up track under the cars, the newly constructed track with the new ballast and the damaged cars pushed back far enough to clear trains.

Picture by Author

Here is one of the things EMS units fear, the tank car. One of the tanks involved was loaded with Chlorine which escaped. A second was loaded with Propane which escaped and exploded. The crane in the background is working to clear the accident.

Picture by Author

This shows the bottom of one of the tanks. Note that the trucks (the wheels and the holders for them) are missing and framework is bent. The the tank was then on its own and it was breached.

Picture by Author

Here you see another tank and the crane. Note the cars along the road. These are mid 50’s ford and Chevrolet. I believe the one on the left edge is a Buick, possibly 53 or 54. This is York Road. The chimney of the railroad station can be seen just above the Buick.

Picture by Author

Some of the cars were pushed into the creek by the accident. This one still smolders

Picture by Author

This is another view of the two cars in the previous picture. Look under the car to the left you will see bent railroad rails. These are solid steel.

Picture by Author

The trucks of the damaged cars were stacked to later be hauled away. For now the main thrust was to get the traffic flowing. To do that the crane had to clear the area to replace the track and a switch and siding had to be fixed to get the crane out of the main line so it could be used for through traffic.

Picture by Author

Note the wheels of the box car under it, the axle is broken. These axles are 4-6 inch diameter steel.

Although there were three accidents on this small stretch the reason for all three accidents was faulty rolling stock, i.e. one of the trucks or axles on one of the cars failed, not the track. Put another way, these accidents could have happened somewhere else. That somewhere else could have been in a town or populated area not out where there were only two homes close by at the time.

Emergency and Disaster services see a rail line as a disaster waiting to happen.

Other articles and pictures by Ralph Brandt

Episcopal Church: York Springs, PA