| | New Haven Railroad Historical Events |
| | Date | | Category | | Event |
| | 8/12/1853 | | Wreck | On the morning of August 12th an excursion train consisting of seven passenger cars was loaded with 475 holiday goers en |
| | route to Narragansett Bay via Providence, twenty-six miles away. On the same morning a train of two passenger cars left |
| | Providence bound for Worcester. These trains going in opposite directions, were set to pass each other on a double track |
| | siding near Pawtucket. The train out of Providence made its usual time, and on reaching Pawtucket, stopped for five minutes, |
| | according to established company regualtions. It then proceeded slowly toward the single track. In rounding a sharp curve, the |
| | other train going toward Providence came down upon it a full speed, about forty miles per hour. The two trains crashed head- |
| | on at Valley Falls Station killing thirteen and seriously injuring thirty others. The first car of the excursion was shattered: |
| | nearly every passenger was killed or badly hurt. The second car was not so badly damaged but was driven back through the |
| | third car, where casualties were also heavy. A passenger in the excursion train recorded the horror of the wreck; I was in the |
| | sixth car of the Uxbridge train. The first intimation we had that anything was wrong was three violent jerks succeeded by a |
| | crash and, what we supposed, the explosion of the boiler. There was of course, a general rush for the doors, and passengers ran |
| | in confusion. It seemed as though the cars had not more than come together, before a man was at work with an axe cutting |
| | into one of the windows of the second car to take out the body of a woman who had been instantly killed while attempting to |
| | escape. Two men were hanging between the roof of the second and third cars, lifeless, and another poor fellow caught while |
| | attempting to get out of a window, was imploring for help. The wounded were taken to a grove nearby. The dead were laid |
| | upon the grass. One young man,(Goldthwait, of Uxbridge,) presented a most piteous sight. His arm was torn off near the |
| | shoulder, and he was left upon the grass, where he held up his lacerated stump, and begged for help.. The cause of the disaster |
| | was bad judgement on the part of the engineer, Edwin Gates, of the Worcester-bound train. He though that since the |
| | excursion would be scheduled to wait five minutes at the siding he would be able to make it to the double track before the |
| | other started out. This was a fatal mistake. Even though Gates raced at full speed to make up time, he was caught on the |
| | single track with the excursion train approaching just around a sharp curve. Again the cause of heavy loss of life was human |
| | error. Referring to his accident at Valley Falls, one New York newspaper editorial concluded: "That a vast majority of railroad |
| | disasters are directly owing to the stupidity and neglect of the employees, and the apathy and avarice of the officers." |
| | 8/6/1855 | | Lease | Mortgage trustees of THE NORFOLK COUNTY RAILROAD took over the property from the BOSTON & NEW YORK |
| | CENTRAL and leased it to the BOSTON & PROVIDENCE RAILROAD, by whom it was operated until March 2, 1857. |
| | 8/6/1855 | | Lease | BOSTON & NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY leased its road to THE EAST THOMPSON RAILROAD |
| | COMPANY, the latter taking possession March 2, 1857. |
| | 8/3/1863 | | Bankruptcy | DORCHESTER & MILTON BRANCH RAILROAD COMPANY mortgage foreclosed and property transferred to OLD |
| | COLONY & FALL RIVER RAILROAD COMPANY. |
| | 8/5/1863 | | Merger | OLD COLONY & FALL RIVER RAILROAD COMPANY united with THE NEWPORT & FALL RIVER RAILROAD |
| | COMPANY under name of OLD COLONY & NEWPORT RAILROAD COMPANY. |
| | 8/10/1863 | | Opening of Service | ROCKVILLE RAILROAD, opened, Vernon to Rockville, 4.43 miles. |
| | Page 2 of 7 |
