• Source: Meldrim trestle disaster

The Meldrim trestle disaster occurred at Meldrim, Georgia, on June 28, 1959. Involved was a Seaboard Air Line mixed freight train that derailed over the Ogeechee River. Loaded LPG tank cars from the train plunged into the river below and ruptured. The resulting explosion and fire killed 23 people--including entire families and a woman who was eight months pregnant--who were at the river that day as it was a popular area to swim and picnic at.
The derailment was caused by the movement of rails on the trestle due to heat-related expansion, resulting in wheels of one car dropping between the rails.
An ICC investigation faulted the railroad for not installing guard rails along the trestle, which might have helped to keep the derailed equipment on the trestle deck, minimizing the risk of a hazardous materials release.
Killed were the following:

Jimmy Anderson
Elizabeth Dixon Barnes
Ted Barnes
Julian Beasley
Linda Beasley
Reba Lamb Beasley
Michael Bland
Charles Carpenter
Billy Dent
Joan Dent
Frank Dixon
Edna Dixon
Barbara Hales
Claudia Johnson
L.B. Lamb
Terry Lane
Elbie Lane
Florence Lane
Leslie Lee
James Smith
Margie Hales Smith
Timothy Smith
Wayne Smith




References






External links


Final accident report - Interstate Commerce Commission - On ROSAP website.
1959 Meldrim Trestle Disaster 50th Anniversary Video

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Meldrim trestle disaster
• Meldrim
• List of American railroad accidents
• Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion
• List of rail accidents (1950–1959)
• Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway
• List of disasters in the United States by death toll
• List of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions