When was the worst accident the MBTA has ever seen?

what do you think..?

Ok, sorry about that. But unfortunately I cannot think of an answer right now. Rob or CS, please remove my post. Thanks.

If that is the case, a few come to mind (however grim this subject is).

If I recall, in 1978, there was a pretty henous accident, although I don't remember the details of it,

Also, didn't a crowded bus once drive off the Mass Ave bridge some time in the late 60's or early 70's?

And, I remember one where a commuter rail train rear ended/collided with a frieght train, (mid 1980's).

Don't know if those are exactly the worst ones, but pretty bad....

Reddy Rocker wrote:I think you either need to be more specific, or the thread needs to be removed.

He actually wanted to know when the MBTA saw it's worst accident.

Also, there was the 1981 Prides Crossing MBCR/B & M accident, the series of Green Line streetcar crashes in the 80s and 90s, and the red line crash between Park St and Charles in Aug 1975.

A commuter rail-Amtrak rear-end crash closed Back Bay Station for several months in the 1980s. That's the worst thing I've ever heard of happening on the T.

Didn't an RDC hit a propane truck in Chelsea or Revere sometime in the Seventies? I seem to recall hearing about an accident like that once.

Ron Newman wrote:A commuter rail-Amtrak rear-end crash closed Back Bay Station for several months in the 1980s. That's the worst thing I've ever heard of happening on the T.

Yep, the one in 11/87 and it happened again in 1990 with 272/366 and MBCR 1073, all those engines could not be saved, all scrapped right then and there.

Ron Newman wrote:A commuter rail-Amtrak rear-end crash closed Back Bay Station for several months in the 1980s. That's the worst thing I've ever heard of happening on the T.

That was a huge mess but thankfully no one was killed in that one.

The 1981 B&M-versus-MBTA (no MBCR back then) collision at Pride's Crossing did kill two crewmen plus a railfan who was riding (unauthorized) in the cab of the local freight's GP9.

I too have memories of an RDC-versus-propane truck grade crossing collision a long time ago... maybe I can look that up when I get home.

The railbuff in the B & M freight shouldn't have been in that cab in the first place......That's why we've got the infamous NORAC Rule "L". That forbids cab rides by railfans and other family/friends.

And of course, there's the recent crash in Holbrook which an 83-year old Braintree man perished when his cars was sitting at the grade crossing.

Does anyone know anything about the elevator fire at the old Atlantic (now Aquarium) station? I've always heard it was very bad, but never read any first hand news reports.

Details on the bad grade crossing accident that NealG and I were trying to recall above... on December 28, 1966, B&M RDC 6142 running outbound to Rockport hit a fuel oil truck at a crossing in Everett, killing 13 and injuring 22. That just made it as an MBTA-era event, since the T had begun funding B&M commuter service less than two years earlier.

Robert Paniagua wrote: Yep, the one in 11/87 and it happened again in 1990 with 272/366 and MBCR 1073, all those engines could not be saved, all scrapped right then and there.

There were TWO collisions in Back Bay? I only recall one where an unqualified engineer was traveling almost 70 mph through the Back Bay tunnel, derailed, and hit a stopped train. An engine actually broke up through the street as a result! What was the other accident like?

Wasn't that the one out to CP-4 along the Mass Pike and not Back Bay? Just around the corner, inbound rear-ended a CR Piggyback train (TV-14).

Dave

There were TWO collisions in Back Bay?

Yep, they were. The one you just mentioned was on 12/12/90. The other one at Back Bay was Nov 87 when two MBCR trains rear-ended each other, and the F10 engine rear-ended a Budd RDC from the other train.