RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT: HEAD-ON COLLISION OF TWO PENN CENTRAL TRANSPORTATION COMPANY FREIGHT TRAINS NEAR PETTISVILLE, OHIO, ON FEBRUARY 4, 1976

About 11:52 p.m. on February 4, 1976, Penn Central freight train NY-12 collided head-on with freight train BM-7 near Pettisville, Ohio. The 3 locomotive units and 21 cars of train NY-12, and the 4 locomotive units and 4 cars of train BM-7 were derailed. One locomotive unit of each train was destroyed and the derailed cars were heavily damaged. The two crewmembers in the lead locomotive of both trains were killed and one crewmember on each train was injured as a result of the collision. The estimated cost of damages was $1,165,000. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the engineer to stop train NY-12 west of signal 3272E as required by signal indication, and the inability of the crew in the caboose of train NY-12 to take preventive action. As a result of its investigation, the Safety Board submitted three recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Office of Surface Transportation Safety
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1976-9-10

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 15 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automatic train control; Cabs (Vehicle compartments); Centralized traffic control; Crash investigation; Crashes; Double track; Human factors; Locomotives; Operating rules; Safety; Signal devices; Signaling
• Identifier Terms: Penn Central Transportation Company
• Old TRIS Terms: Locomotive cab safety; Signal recognition; Train meets
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00144085
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Transportation Safety Board
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RAR-76-10
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 1 1977 12:00AM