Date April 14, 1907 Country United States Trains 1 | Location Annsville, New York Cause Roadbed failure | |
Rail line New York Central Railroad | ||
On April 14, 1907 a northbound freight train, No.23, of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, operating on the Rome and Richland branch of the former Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad (later part of the New York Central) crashed when the bank on the lower side of the track failed and a section slid down the hill undermining the track. The accident occurred approximately 2.5 miles south of Blossvale, a hamlet in the Oneida County, New York, town of Annsville. The sixty-car freight train, carrying coal and other freight was pulled by engines No. 1726 and 1863. Both engines plunged down the sixty foot embankment. The lead engine came to rest in an inverted position while the second engine was on its side.
Fireman E.J. Hartford, in engine 1863 was killed but engineer I.F. Losch was uninjured. The crewmen of engine 1726, engineer W.A. Darling and fireman L.B. Joyce sustained cuts and bruises. The body of fireman Hartford was not recovered until two cranes were brought to the site to remove a box car and other debris.
The accident was one of 15 derailments and one of 33 total train accidents in the United States in April 1907.