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On March 14, 1887, the worst accident in Massachusetts railroad
history occurred at Roslindale. At least 37 people were killed, with many
people seriously hurt.
The Boston & Providence Railroad 7 a.m. train to Boston was made up at
Dedham with nine passenger cars and one baggage car. The train picked up
more passengers at Roslindale, and headed north as usual. Just south
of Forest Hills Station, the engine, tender, and two passenger cars made it
across the Bussey Bridge at South Street.
Suddenly, one end of the Bussey Bridge collapsed. Several of the passenger
cars soared off the high embankment, and the wooden coaches were splintered
into a hundred thousand pieces. A crash survivor described what happened in the March
23rd 1887 Boston Globe:
"I was sitting in the rear seat of the third [passenger] car, the first
thing I noticed was the derailment of the front end of the car, this was
one-third of the way across the bridge; I was facing the window, talking to
a young Lady, in less than six seconds the rear end of the car seemed to
sink and the heads of the passengers in the front appeared at least six feet
higher than our own. Then came a violent shock that tore away the flooring.
The front platform of the car was carried forward and struck the abutment.
The rear end of the car also struck the abutment with great force...."
Death was violent, swift, and horrific for many passengers. A few people were
crushed beyond recognition, with their body parts strewn about the debris.
Eyewitness accounts of victims were quite graphic and extremely sad; and
due to this will not be mentioned in this article. The March 15th 1887 Boston
Globe describes some victims at the scene:
"Over the body of one young girl who was dead, the police were bending,
endeavoring to ascertain her name or where she belonged. There was nothing
about her to indicate who or what she was, except that she probably was a
store girl, for in her hand she still held a bag that contained her
luncheon. Her head and body were terribly bruised, and it was evident she
was killed instantly.
A young man whose leg was completely crushed lay beside her, and while some
were bending over him, endeavoring to soothe his suffering until the arrival
of the physicians he opened his eyes, and seeing the young girl, he begged
those about him to turn their attention to her; that he was strong and could
wait until she had been cared for. He was not, however, as strong as he
supposed he was, and [was] soon swooned away. He was, however, strong enough to
know how to be brave."
The wreck was totally preventable. There were many causes of the
accident, and the Boston & Providence Railroad was completely negligent.
Some of the root causes include:
Poor Design
The bridge was built at a slanted angle to the street below. Iron trusses
were built across the span. Semi-perpendicular I-beams supported the
track, and were suspended from these trusses by iron hangers. The hangers
resembled large cotter pins looped at both ends. Some of the hangers
were inaccessible for inspection, and had rusted completely through. The
primary structural reason for the collapse was the failure of the hangers.
Poor Repairs & Inspection
The bridge was originally constructed of wood, and then an iron truss was
added on one side. In 1876, the bridge was rebuilt and the older iron truss
was moved to the other side, replacing the wooden span. A 2nd iron
truss was added, making an iron pair. The designers of the bridge were
not civil engineers. Manufacturers of the iron components were never
supervised. Contractors that built and/or repaired the
bridge were never supervised.
The Boston & Providence Railroad officials initially agreed that rusted hangers
had caused the accident, but then the company backed off from its responsibility.
Theories were put forth that the derailing of cars had caused the bridge to fail,
and that part of a brake system had snagged in the bridge which splintered it.
Also noteworthy, it was a miracle that the wooden coaches did not ignite into an
inferno, and burn the trapped passengers to death. Wood stoves in the
passenger cars were locked shut, preventing embers from escaping. The
engineer of the doomed train sped forward into Forest Hills Station, jumped off
the train, and pulled an alarm to get fire companies to the scene quickly.
Some of the good that arose from this tragic event is that all railroads in
Massachusetts were soon required to inspect all bridges by a competent
engineer once every two years.
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