100 Years Later, Nashville Remembers The Deadly Train Crash At Dutchman's Curve [View all]

There was a head-on collision of two trains at a site called Dutchman's Curve in West Nashville 100 years ago Monday, July 9. It remains the deadliest train crash in American history. But the tragedy has largely faded from the city's collective memory.

There's a song recorded by David Allan Coe from 1980 that tells the story pretty close to how it happened. One train that left around midnight was coming into town from Memphis, carrying mostly African Americans headed to work at DuPont's new munitions plant in Old Hickory. The train leaving Nashville was headed west to Memphis. And both were late.

The Nashville train should have waited for the Memphis train to reach the double tracks that start around Centennial Park. But the engineer leaving Nashville barreled ahead.

The locomotives collided at a big bend in the tracks near Belle Meade, behind a Publix that's there now. Because of the curve, they didn't see each other until it was too late. At least 100 people died.

Read more: http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/100-years-later-nashville-remembers-deadly-train-crash-dutchman-s-curve


This photo is included in the Interstate Commerce Commission's incident report on the Dutchman's Curve wreck.
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