Mud Run Disaster

Mud Run Disaster
Telescoping of cars
Details
Date	October 10, 1888
Time	10 pm.
Location	Kidder Township, Carbon County, near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania
Country	United States
Rail line	Lehigh Valley Railroad
Operator
Type of incident	Rear collision
Cause	Signal passed at danger
Statistics
Trains	2
Deaths	66
Injuries	50

The Mud Run Disaster was a train wreck which occurred on October 10,^[1] 1888 at Mud Run station in Kidder Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, on the Lehigh Valley Railroad when a train ran into the back of another, killing 66 people.

Trains

The trains concerned were taking home members of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America from a 20,000 person rally in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Altogether 5,000 were returning to Luzerne and Lackawanna counties via the railroad, and to accommodate this great number eight trains were provided ("laid on"), running at ten-minute intervals. Each train had between 8 and 12 cars and was headed by two engines to cope with the steep grades between Penn Haven and Hazle Creek Junctions through what is now the Lehigh Gorge State Park; lookouts were posted on the engines to watch ahead for signals. The first four trains had passed through without incident but as the fifth passed through Mud Run station it stopped 500 yards beyond the station as there was no 'All Clear' signal displayed ahead. The flagman and conductor hung a red light on the rear car and walked back along the track to warn the 6th train which was approaching Mud Run. It had passed an eastbound train which normally indicates the single track ahead was now clear. The lookouts on the 6th train failed to see the red signal at Mud Run station^[2] and by the time they noticed the light being waved frantically by the conductor and flagman of the 5th train it was too late to avoid a collision, which happened at 10 pm.^[3]

Collision

The full length of the lead engine telescoped into the rear car and drove it two thirds of its length into the next car; which was in turn pushed into the third. No-one survived in the rear car 'on all sides hung mangled bodies and limbs' whilst the second was described as 'crowded with maimed and bleeding bodies'. An attempt was made to withdraw the engine from the third car but brought 'such awful cries of distress that it was abandoned'.^[4] In all 66 were killed and 50 injured; 37 of the dead were from the small village of Pleasant Valley (later renamed Avoca), many were teenage members of the Drum and Bugle Corps of the Aloysius Society.

Charges

The entire train crew of the 6th train, and the conductor of the 5th train were charged with gross negligence by the Coroner's jury; one of the lookouts even admitted to having seen a red light but 'did not think the red light meant anything, as nobody used it'!^[2] At the trial held on March 16 1889, all defendants were acquitted.

References

1. ^ Mud Run, PA Train Wreck, Oct 1888
2. ^ ^{a b} The Mud Run Disaster: Where the Coroner's Jury Fixes the Responsibility
3. ^ The Adirondack News, New York 1888-10-20
4. ^ The Syracuse Daily Standard, New York, 1888-10-12

Coordinates: 40°59′23″N 75°42′47″W / 40.98972°N 75.71306°W / 40.98972; -75.71306