Pickering Valley Railroad: Difference between revisions

The Pickering Valley Railroad was the scene of a significant wreck on the night of October 4, 1877. A torrential ("phenomenal"<ref name = "jury">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ga8xAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1028&lpg=PA1028&dq=logo+pickering+valley+railroad&source=bl&ots=bh4FtCFqu3&sig=l-h5n1z7BGITIakk22p7VEb2SN4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PUz6UsSLLOXl0QGi1oDIBg&ved=0CEUQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=logo%20pickering%20valley%20railroad&f=false Verdict of the coroner's jury], reported in ''Railway World'', Vol. 21, p. 1028, October 27, 1877.</ref>) rainstorm had washed out a portion of the track near Kimberton, and a passenger train from Phoenixville, carrying about 130 people, including many returning from a Pennypacker family reunion, ran into the [[Washout (erosion)|washout]] in the dark.<ref name=NYT/> The locomotive plunged thirty feet, the first passenger car fell on top of the locomotive, and the second passenger car landed atop the first. Seven passengers and crew were killed, and several dozen injured.<ref name=jury /><ref name=NYT>"[httpshttp://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F0081EFD3B5B137B93C4A9178BD95F438784F9 Disasters on Railroads; Trains thrown into washouts]", ''The New York Times'', October 6, 1877, p. 1.</ref> A lawsuit arising from this accident rose to the [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]], which affirmed the judgement for the plaintiff in the amount of $3,500.<ref>''Philadelphia & Reading RR. Co. v. Anderson'', 94 Pa. 351 (1880).</ref> The wreck was Chester County's worst railroad accident ever.<ref>Eric Chandlee Wilson, "The Great Wreck of 1877", ''Chester County Day'', 1997.</ref>