Train Crash Claims 26 Lives

Train Crash Claims 26 Lives. . BRYN ATHYN, Pennsylvania - At this site on Monday morning, December 5, 1921, a horrific head-on collision between two passenger trains of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad occurred, taking the lives of 26 people and injuring 70 others. Most of the casualties came from the communities served by the rail line, especially Churchville and Southampton., The cause of the accident was the failure of the crew on northbound Train 151 (to Newtown) to confirm and obey a written train order issued to them at the Bryn Athyn station. The crew did not realize that they were to take the siding and let not one but two, southbound trains (Numbers 154 and 156) pass before resuming their trip to Newtown. Train 151 left the siding after the first train had cleared the line but while train 156 was still heading south on the single track line., The accident occurred at the worst possible spot on the rail line - on a blind curve through a deep rock cut. The fact that the passenger-carrying cars were of wooden construction contributed to the high number of fatalities, for after the engines collided, the passenger cars were set on fire by the hot coals from the fireboxes of the two steam locomotives. Most of the dead were those who were trapped in the wreckage and could not escape the flames. , The inaccessibility of the site and the snow on the ground that morning made the job of reaching the wreck difficult. Local doctors were summoned by the Bethayres telephone operator. A number of area fire companies responded including Bryn Athyn, Hatboro, Willow Grove, Huntingdon Valley, Southampton and Jenkintown. Many of the more seriously injured were taken to Abington Memorial Hospital., In February 1922 at the county courthouse in Norristown, the engineer and the conductor of the northbound Train 151 were tried for criminal negligence in failing to follow railroad rules. A jury found them guilty but recommended mercy. The judge sentenced the two men to jail terms. However, in 2 months they were pardoned by the Governor and the Board of Pardons received 30,000 signatures of citizens pleading for mercy in the case., As a result of this accident, the Interstate Commerce Commission directed the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and all other U. S. railroads to commence replacing wooden passenger-carrying cars with those of all-steel construction. Also, as the use of a manual train-signalling system was a contributing factor in the crash, the railroad was directed to install an automatic block signal system. Many of the signal masts from this system still stand along the right of way., This site has since been referred to as Death Gulch. A monument at the North and Southampton Reformed Church in Churchville honors a number of those killed in the accident.