Custer Creek train wreck
| Date | June 19, 1938 |
|---|---|
| Time | 12.35 a.m. |
| Location | Prairie County, near Saugus, Montana |
| Country | United States |
| Operator | Milwaukee Road |
| Type of incident | Bridge collapse |
| Cause | Cloudburst |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | 155 |
| Deaths | 47 |
| Injuries | 75 |
The Custer Creek train wreck (sometimes called the Saugus train wreck) is the worst rail disaster in Montana history. It occurred on June 19, 1938 when a bridge, its foundations washed away by a flash flood, collapsed beneath Milwaukee Road's Olympian as it crossed Custer Creek, near Saugus, Montana, south-west of Terry, killing at least 47 people.
The bridge, number AA-438, was 180 feet long and had been constructed 25 years earlier. It consisted of two 50-foot plate girder spans and five reinforced concrete trestle slab spans carrying the single track across the creek resting on concrete piers. An inspection of the bridge earlier that year had concluded the bridge was in good condition with sufficient rip-rap in place to prevent scouring.
Custer Creek itself normally runs dry for nine months of the year and had never been known to rise to a depth of more than five feet. But on the night in question a cloudburst deposited an estimated 4 to 7 inches of rain on the area drained by the creek. The previous train had crossed the bridge at 10:15 p.m. at which point the engineer estimated the water to be about three of four feet deep. Twenty minutes later, in view of the heavy rainfall experienced the section foreman performed an inspection of the track and estimated the depth of water to be six or seven feet beneath the level of the girders of the bridge (i.e. around six feet deep), giving no indication of the trouble to come.
The westbound Olympian that night was hauled by Class S-2 4-8-4 No.220 and comprised eleven cars. It was traveling from Chicago to Tacoma and carrying 155 passengers when it neared Custer Creek at a speed of 50 mph. There was no water on the track to warn the engineer that beneath was a torrent of water 30 feet high, battering at the bridge foundations, and no brake application was made.
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