Recently I've developed a morbid fascination with train crashes. Two of my favorites are the 1953 Federal Runaway and the 1997 Southall Collision.
The Federal was a joint New Haven-Pennsylvania train running overnight from Boston South Station to Washington Union Station via New York Penn. The train 's third car had a brake hose whose angle cock would bump against the car, closing it. This was first noticed at Kingston, Rhode Island, and was inspected when the NH handed the train over to the Pennsy at New York Penn. Between Baltimore and Landover, Maryland, it must've closed again, because the train's brakes were unresponsive heading into Washington Union Station. The train crashed into the station building at 35mph, and destroyed the news stand and stationmaster's office, before the floor gave way and the engine fell into the basement. Miraculously, nobody died. Pic related is the wreck.
Southall was caused by a Great Western HST driver missing warning signals while putting his belongings in his bag due to a faulty AWS, leading the train to sideswipe a freight train passing over the HST's track to get to a yard, killing 7. This crash is notable because we actually have clear CCTV footage of the wreck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3a7DvXlojAAm I fucked in the head? Does /n/ have a favorite train crash?
