Browse Items (6 total)

Wreck at Powhatan, West Virginia. Notice the double-tracking in the image. Unfortunately, the development of adequate rail safety technology was years from completion, making railroading a dangerous profession.

A closer view of the Thaxton wreck shows the debris pile. Engineer Pat Donovan's body was so badly mangled he was only identified by his clothing. The entire woodwork of the train was burned due to exploding gas lights in the coaches. Seven cars…

This head-on collision occurred at Rippon, Virginia. Engine No. 481 is at left.

On July 2, 1889, a night storm swelled Wolf Creek near Thaxton, Virginia, which rose out of its banks just as passenger train No. 2 was crossing. The situation became N&W's first major disaster. There was only one survivor, trainmaster James…

The aftermath of the wreck of the "Ole 97". Due to excessive speed in an attempt to maintain schedule, the train derailed at the Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia where the train careened off the side of the bridge, killing eleven personnel…

Train wreck on the Norfolk and Western railroad. Twenty one wounded and the number of killed unknown, as the records were destroyed. Man in foreground unidentified