Crash Site: Georgia RR, 1912

USA / Georgia / Rutledge /
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Night of March 5/6, 1912. The first section of Georgia RR train number 13 (i.e. 1/13), an Augusta to Atlanta freight, collides head-on with eastbound train #4, an Augusta-bound passenger express. Four passengers and the engineer of train #4 are killed. One passenger and eight crewmembers are injured.

Train 13 was traveling in two sections the night of the accident. Orders for the day called for section 1/13 to stop at Rutledge, GA to the east, joined shortly later by section 2/13. Both sections were to wait at Rutledge until train #210 and train #4 passed them headed east. After #210 arrived and departed Rutledge, section 1/13 entered the mainline and headed west, impacting train #4 at this spot.

An ICC investigation revealed that the crewmembers of 1/13 had timepieces that were out of sync with the "official" time of the road, and a general lack of knowledge of the timetable. The fireman of 1/13 thought they were supposed to meet #4 at Social Circle to the west, not Rutledge, & the flagman was making his first trip on this part of the line.
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Coordinates:   33°37'49"N   83°38'20"W
This article was last modified 11 years ago