Shepherdsville train wreck

Shepherdsville train wreck

Wreckage of a demolished car
Date	December 20, 1917
Time	5:30 p.m.
Location	Shepherdsville, Kentucky
Coordinates	37°59′13″N 85°42′53″W / 37.98694°N 85.71472°W / 37.98694; -85.71472Coordinates: 37°59′13″N 85°42′53″W / 37.98694°N 85.71472°W / 37.98694; -85.71472
Country	United States
Rail line	Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Type of incident	Rear-end collision
Cause	Failure to protect train
Statistics
Trains	2
Deaths	49
Injuries	52

The Shepherdsville train wreck was a fatal railway accident that occurred on December 20, 1917 in Shepherdsville, Kentucky on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which killed 49 people (some sources say 51), and left a similar number seriously injured. It is the worst and deadliest train wreck of Kentucky's history.

A local train No.41, known as the Accommodation, departed Union Station in Louisville at 4:35 pm, bound for Springfield. It comprised an engine pulling a baggage car, a combination smoker/colored car, and a first class car. It arrived at Brooks, 14 miles from Louisville at 5:12 pm, some six minutes late, and its conductor was told by the dispatcher to let the approaching Cincinnati-to-New Orleans express train, Flyer, pass at Shepherdsville unless he could make it to Bardstown Junction. The Flyer had left Louisville at 4:53 pm, nearly two hours late; it had nine steel cars and was intending to make up time on the run south.

The local train's conductor decided to stop as normal at Shepherdsville (rather than to go straight into the siding) then confirm the Flyer's position before deciding whether to back into the siding. Unfortunately when it arrived at the station at 5:24 the station operator had no news about the Flyer, so Conductor Campbell hurried to the depot for information. Meanwhile, the Flyer passed Brooks, giving four short whistle blasts to request right of way; this was granted, the signal being changed from red to green. The depot informed the Campbell that the Flyer was approaching fast so the local pulled forward in order to "back in" at the switch.

The engineer on the Flyer reported later that half a mile from Shepherdsville, "I blew four blasts for orders. I could see the signal only dimly, and it was green, our signal to proceed if we had seen it change from red to green. I did not see it change, I believed it had already changed from red to green, meaning for me to proceed". As the local threw the switch to allow it to back into the siding the signal automatically changed the signal to red. The Flyer's engineer immediately applied the emergency brakes but too late. It struck the rear of the wooden framed local at a speed of 25 mph. The engine continued the entire length of the rear car, "shattering it completely" and continued through half the length of the smoker, though itself was not derailed. The force of the collision drove the local forward a distance of 800 feet.