| Montparnasse derailment | |
|---|---|
 The wreckage of the station, photographed by Studio Lévy | |
| Details | |
| Date | 22 October 1895; 129 years ago (1895-10-22) 16:00 |
| Location | Paris Montparnasse |
| Country | France |
| Operator | Chemins de fer de l'Ouest |
| Incident type | Overrun |
| Cause | Excess speed and braking failure |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | 131 |
| Pedestrians | 6 |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Injured | 5 |
TheMontparnasse derailment occurred at 16:00 on 22 October 1895 when theGranville–Paris Express overran thebuffer stop at itsGare Montparnasse terminus. With the train several minutes late and the driver trying to make up for lost time, the train approached the station too fast and the driver's application of therailway air brake was ineffective.
After running through the buffer stop, the train crossed the station concourse and crashed through the station wall. The locomotive fell onto the Place de Rennes below, where it stood on its nose. Although the passengers survived, a woman in the street below was killed by falling masonry.
On 22 October 1895, the Granville to Paris express, operated byChemins de fer de l'Ouest, was made up of steam locomotive No. 721 (atype 2-4-0, French notation 120) hauling three luggage vans, a post van, and six passenger coaches.[1] The train had leftGranville on time at 08:45, but was several minutes late as it approached itsMontparnasse terminus with 131 passengers on board. In an effort to make up lost time,[1][2] the train approached the station faster than usual, at a speed of 40–60 km/h (25–37 mph), and when the driver attempted to apply theWestinghouse air brake, it was faulty or ineffective.[1][3][4] The locomotive brakes alone were insufficient to stop the train, the momentum carried it into the buffers, and the locomotive crossed the almost 30-metre (98 ft) wide station concourse, crashing through a 60-centimetre (24 in) thick wall, before falling onto the Place de Rennes 10 metres (33 ft) below, where it stood on its nose.[citation needed]
A woman in the street below, Marie-Augustine Aguillard, was killed by falling masonry. She had been standing in for her husband, a newspaper vendor, while he went to collect the evening newspapers.[4] Two passengers, a fireman, two guards, and a passerby in the street sustained injuries.[2]
The locomotive driver was sentenced to two months in prison and fined 50francs for approaching the station too fast. One of the guards was fined 25 francs as he had been preoccupied with paperwork and failed to apply the handbrake.[2]
The railway company settled with the family of the deceased woman, and arranged for the education of her two young children, as well as proposing future employment for them.
The passenger carriages were undamaged and were easily removed. It took 48 hours before the legal process and investigation allowed the railway to start removing the locomotive andtender. An attempt was made to move the locomotive with 14 horses, but this failed. A 250 tonne winch, with 10 men, first lowered the locomotive to the ground and then lifted the tender back into the station. When the locomotive reached the railway workshops it was found to have suffered little damage.[5]
The wreckage remained outside the station for several days[3] and a number of photographs were taken, such as those attributed to Studio Lévy and Sons,[6] L. Mercier,[3] and Henri Roger-Viollet.[7]
The Lévy and Sons photograph has become one of the most famous in transportation history.[4]
The Lévy and Sons photograph is now in thepublic domain and was used as the cover page in the bookAn Introduction to Error Analysis byJohn Taylor.[8] It is also on the cover ofOn This Day in History Sh!t Went Down byJames Fell.[9] The photograph is featured on the album covers forLean into It by American rock bandMr. Big[10] andScrabbling at the Lock by Dutch rock bandThe Ex withTom Cora, both first released in 1991,[11] and the 2019 albumWarranty Void If Removed by French recording artist Dial-up Jeremy.[12]
The incident is featured during a dream sequence in the 2007 novelThe Invention of Hugo Cabret and its 2011 film adaptation,Hugo.[citation needed] It is depicted in the comic book seriesThe Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec,[13] in the 1978 fourth albumMomies en folie.[14]
The incident was the basis for the 2025 novelThe Paris Express: A Novel byEmma Donoghue.[15]
A train crash with a similar chain of events occurs in the 1998 (season five) episode ofThomas & Friends called "A Better View for Gordon", in which Gordon the Big Engine crashed through a new station due to faulty brakes.[16]
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