The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway

When Things Went Wrong...

Accidents happen. It's a fact of life. And the L&HR, like every other railroad, had its share over the years. Derailments, both minor and major; boiler explosions in the steam era (I'm only aware of two, both in the early years); grade crossing accidents; sideswipes; at least one head-on collision.

What follows is some of what was documented photographically, either by the railroad itself or others.

The Pennsylvania Railroad's Bel-Del (Belvedere-Delaware) division was used by the L&HR via a trackage rights agreement to access Hudson Yard in Phillipsburg, N.J. and it's bridge over the Delaware River- and connections to the west at Easton, Pennsylvania and beyond.

The PRR's 'G' Tower controlled the juction with the L&HR. Prior to October 12, 1912, 'G' Tower stood on the hillside on the east side of the tracks.

In the archives, this photo and 8 more taken at the scene are captioned:

"Wreck of Second 92, Engine 64, at L&H Jct., at 12:05 AM, October 13th, 1912, by 27th car in train mounting frog, west of 'G' Tower, derailing and throwing five cars of coal crosswise of the track, and knocking tower over."

The tower was moved to the other side of the tracks after this accident, where it remained.

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