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>"[http://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> The wreck was the worst railroad accident in the history of Chester County.<ref>Eric Chandlee Wilson, "The Great Wreck of 1877", ''Chester County Day'', 1997.</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> TheThat wreckcase wasbecame Chesterprecedent, County'sas worstthe court formulated a rule that when a railroad accepts money and undertakes to transport a passenger, there arises an implied contract of care upon the part of the company, and if the passenger is injured by any accident everarising from a collision or a defect in the track or equipment, negligence is presumed on the part of the railroad; the passenger needs only to prove the fact of the accident and the extent of the injury.<ref>EricPennsylvania ChandleeCounty WilsonCourt Reports, "TheVolume Great3. WreckT. of& 1877",J.W. ''ChesterJohnson County& Day''Co., 1997Philadelphia, 1887, p. 473.</ref>