2/10/43 - SOUTH FORK, PA.

[shlustig]

Located on the Pittsburgh Division between Altoona and Pittsburgh.

EXTRA 3719 WEST (42 cars [39 x 3] + cab) proceeding at about 25 mph; #1pair of driving wheels derailed. #3719, tender, and head 17 cars derailed and blocked all 4 tracks. The locomotive cab was crushed and the Fireman was killed.

3719 was an I-class engine. post accident inspection revealed the #1 left driving wheel tire was off center. Initial derailment was the right #1 driver dropped inside the low rail on a 4@ curve and stayed inline until it hit a facing point switch at which the general derailment occurred.

Previous reports by engine crews and inspectors about the #3719 had apparently not been properly handled.

[Allen Hazen]

"Previous reports by engine crews and inspectors about the #3719 had apparently not been properly handled."

Thinks: Wartime. Massive traffic increases over pre-war (Depression) levels. Armed forces and war industries soaking up labor, so PRR couldn't hire extra staff. So corners get cut on maintenance… (Well, it's a story and sounds plausible to me. But I don't know how true it is.)

[ExCon90]

Seems perfectly plausible--a lot of things didn't get done during the War, particularly things that couldn't be done by women.