Houston Ammo Train Incident

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Houston Ammo Train Incident
CGTR Ammo Train Derailment.png
Details
Date20 December 1979 (1979-12-20)
9:37 PM
LocationHouston, Texas
Country United States
OperatorCentral Gateway Turtle Railroad
Incident typeTrain collision
CauseLow visibility
Possible suicide attack
Statistics
Trains5
Crew3
Pedestrians3
Deaths6
Injuries10
Damage324 tank cars
27 boxcars
2 GE U25Cs

The Houston Ammo Train Incident was a railway accident that occured on December 20, 1972 (1972-12-20), in Houston, Texas, when a CGTR train led by #3718 and #3709 containing 27 boxcars full of ammunition would ram one of 4 oil tanker trains in the yard, causing a massive fire that would kill 6 people, including the entire crew, and injure another 10.

The accident was often regarded as an attack, although the Central Gateway Turtle Railroad has never confirmed nor denied this. The incident would kill engineer Eli Beams, conductor Jacob Kellerman, and brakeman.

Background

work in progress! come back later :P