The Texas Railroad: 6 Worst Accidents in Our State’s History

Rail accidents do not happen often, but when they do, they can have catastrophic consequences. Train cars overturn and twist, tossing passengers around like rag dolls. Cargo containers and products can fly off the train and cause injury and industrial messes. When railroad accidents occur, they are often tragic and costly. Here are the six worst railroad accidents in Texas :

Fifteen miles outside of Waco, William G. Crush created a false small town named, “Crush” in which he staged a train crash for the public. He proposed his idea for the staging to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, the “Katy” line, which was ultimately accepted. On the day of the steam locomotive crash exhibition, between 30,000 and 40,000 spectators arrived.

Engineers assured Crush that the boilers would not explode, and the event moved forward on Sept. 15. When the two trains hit going roughly 45 mph each, there was a double explosion. Both train boilers exploded simultaneously. Three spectators were killed and six more were injured by flying shrapnel.

In this accident, four Abilene State Hospital runaways died after a train derailed roughly 60 miles to the west of Abilene. The runaways who had boarded the Texas & Pacific freight train were fatally pinned under heavy debris and badly burned. Out of 57 cars on the tracks, 27 derailed.

The Union Pacific train failed to stop at a light and collided with a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train. Four died and another 50 were injured. The collision caused one of the cars to release deadly chlorine gas, which was largely responsible for the injuries and deaths. Sadly, this railroad incident was one of eight that occurred in 2004.

The 18 year old was struck by the snowplow on a Union Pacific car as she was walking very close to the tracks. She was texting her parents and did not see the approach of the train. Tragically, the 65-car train tried to signal the girl to move, but the conductor’s attempts to stop the engine did not work in time. The snow plow reached 16 inches away from the sides of the tracks, creating the hazard that killed the young adult.

Four veterans died and 16 others were injured in this parade float accident. The float was carrying heroes to a banquet in their honor when the incident occurred. It was hit with full impact at the crossing, and only a few managed to jump out of the way. The truck carrying the float could not move out of the way because of the vehicle in front of it.

A total of 10 people, eight inmates and two officers, died in this wreck when a prison bus slid on ice , down a hill, and into a passing train. None of the train cars derailed, but the bus did strike two containers on the last cars of the train.

Rumor has it that a train hit a school bus filled with kids at a railroad crossing sometime in the 1930s or 1940s. The legend is that 10 children tragically lost their lives that day and continue to haunt the area, inexplicably moving stalled cars out of harm’s way. Some drivers claim to feel movement if they pause on the tracks at the crossing, but we wouldn’t advise trying it.

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