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73 stories matching derail
- Train Derailment in Stampede Tunnel
A sudden movement by a helper engine caused a derailment, halting Northern Pacific traffic through the mountains.
- Locomotive Strikes Boulder in North Bank Slide
A train derailment on the Spokane, Portland & Seattle line injures an engineer but spares passengers as the train was moving slowly through dangerous terrain.
- The Great Train Wreck of 1907
A look back at a dramatic freight derailment that sent twenty-one cars into a Kennewick gully.
- A Narrow Escape on the Lake Shore Tracks
An evening train nearly derailed near Latona after striking a cow, mangling the animal and providing a terrifying ride for the passengers.
- ‘Incipient Treason’: Judge Hanford Sentences the Spokane Strikers
Seven men are jailed for contempt after a mob derails trains and seizes a roundhouse during the 1894 railroad strike. The federal judge calls it insurrection.
- Tragedy at Eagle Gorge
A broken rail causes a catastrophic train derailment, leaving two dead and scores injured.
- When the Pullman Strike Reached Washington
Tacoma bricklayers are jailed for contempt and Spokane men face federal charges as the railroad boycott’s aftershocks hit the Northwest.
- Passenger Train Derails South of Yakima
A broken axle causes a Northern Pacific passenger train to derail, tearing up hundreds of feet of track and injuring an express messenger.
- The Anatomy of a Murder (Misunderstood)
A courtroom blunder in 1876 highlights how a simple misunderstanding can derail the pursuit of justice.
- The 'Ram's Horn' Railroad Riot at Yesler Way
A morning of chaotic track-laying, derailed railcars, and a shouting match between the Mayor and a railroad giant over a contested franchise.
- Gravel Car Derailment Disrupts Rail Service
A runaway gravel car caused a headache for Lynden commuters when it jumped the switch at the local yards.
- Work Train Wreck Claims Three Lives Near Majestic
A embankment collapse on the Seattle, Port Angeles & Western railroad extension results in a fatal derailment.
- Train Derailment Leaves Commuters Stranded
A faulty rail causes a train wreck near Samish Lake, leaving passengers to walk twelve miles back to the city.
- Logging Train Disaster Near Stella
A runaway locomotive and loaded cars derail on a steep grade, leaving two men fatally injured and four others seriously hurt.
- Cow vs. Streetcar: A Transit Disaster
A collision between a Spanaway streetcar and a stray cow sends two passengers to the hospital with broken bones.
- A Hobo's Waving Coat, and Three Slides That Shut the Line North of Newport
A landslide near Scotia derails a Great Northern freight — saved from worse by a tramp flagging the crew with his coat — while two more slides in the Morrissey cut strand the night passenger and keep Newport passengers in local hotels until morning.
- Northern Pacific Declares War on Train Wreckers
After rail saboteurs derailed an overland train near Buckley, the railroad management has authorized a massive reward to hunt down the culprits.
- The Day the Railroad Stopped: How Two Boys Nearly Derailed a Train in Seattle
In October 1876, a group of mischievous youths removed the brake from a freight train at the Northern Pacific terminus. A lucky passerby noticed the danger just in time, averting a potential catastrophe that could have turned Seattle’s early rail history into a tragedy.
- Social Club’s Liquor License Gambit Fails
A club for 'colored gentlemen' finds their strategy to circumvent licensing laws derailed by a bureaucratic oversight in their incorporation paperwork.
- A Local Pastor’s Miraculous Escape from a Train Disaster
Rev. Oliver T. Mather, arriving in Tacoma to lead the Bethany Presbyterian Church, survives a catastrophic Canadian Pacific derailment.
- The Boy Who Tried to Derail a Train
A Snohomish County jury acquits two young boys who tampered with railroad switches to watch a crash, sparking a furious editorial on the failings of the justice system.
- Trolley Car Disaster Narrowly Averted
A construction car derails near Lake Washington, trapping a man in the mud.
- The Great Blizzard of 1892
A historic ten-inch snowfall paralyzes Seattle's transit systems, forces school closures, and creates an eerie, blanketed stillness across Western Washington.
- The Clerkship Scandal at City Hall
A municipal court clerkship nomination is derailed amid allegations of a secret deal to trade the position for political favor.
- The Day the Bridge Fell: A Tramp’s Fatal Ride and a Railroad’s Collapse
A westbound freight train on the Northern Pacific line was derailed when a stowaway fell under a car, triggering a chain reaction that plunged nine cars into Hangman's Creek. One man died; the rest were spared.
Also about this, in other words
- Sabotage on the Coal Line
A dangerous attempt to derail a coal train near Seattle highlights the intense tensions surrounding the city's burgeoning industrial infrastructure.
- Tragedy on the Tracks: A Night of Horror
A train derailment near Seattle leaves passengers trapped in the wreckage as a fire begins to spread through the cars.
- A Train Derails in the Smoky Woods
A Satsop Railroad locomotive plunges off the tracks after hitting a fallen tree in the fire-choked timberlands near Shelton.
- A Young Man's Last Ride: Edward Kowald and the Cost of Hopping Freight
Edward Kowald, 23, tried to hop a freight to Newport after quitting work at Penrith. He fell, lost both legs, and died the next morning—joking with friends until the end.
- A Nighttime Train Wreck Near Chehalis
A northbound express train derails after striking a steer, leading to a miraculous escape for the crew and passengers.