OTD - 18th February (various years)

OK - so I wrote a really interesting article for 18th February (1902) to discover, just as I checked my final draft, that I had a typo in the date and it was all about something that happened on 8th February not 18th ... so, from my emergency supply of railway accidents at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/rax_otd.pdf ...

February 18, 1899 - Belgium - In heavy fog, the train from London to Brussels via Calais, ran into a train from Tial, which had stopped at the station of Forest, near Brussels. 19 persons were killed and 100+ injured.

February 18, 1923 – France – A train from Paris to Strasbourg on the Chemins de fer de l'Est collided killing 27.

February 18, 1934 – Italy – Near Populonia, on the single-track line from Campiglia Marittima to Piombino, a gasoline-powered railcar going 75 mph (120 km/h) collides with a steam special and catches fire. Of 48 passengers in the railcar, 34 are killed.

February 18, 1947 – United States – Blair County, Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Railroad's "Red Arrow" from Pittsburgh to New York derailed at Bennington Curve west of Horseshoe Curve at 3:22 am local time. The train was going at excessive speed. Two of the PRR^▸ K4s engines slid down the mountain, along with several coaches. Of the 155 passengers on board, 24 died and 104 were injured (including crew). Ten of 15 cars derailed.

February 18, 1949 – France – An express from Nancy to Dijon collides with a locomotive at Port d'Atelier, near Amance. Two wooden passenger cars are crushed between the steel cars in front of and behind them. Before dying of his injuries, the driver of the express manages to protect the wreck site by laying down detonators and notifying the crossing keeper. Altogether 43 people are killed.

February 18, 2003 – South Korea – Daegu subway fire: A mentally ill man starts a fire which engulfs two subway trains, killing 192 people.

February 18, 2004 – Iran – Nishapur train disaster: 51 train cars break loose from their siding, roll down the track, derail and roll down an embankment into Khayyam, near Nishapur. During the cleanup operation, the cargo of the cars explode (an equivalent of 180 tons of TNT), killing 295 people and leveling Khayyam and damaging three nearby towns. The blast is felt as far away as Mashhad.

Please don't think from this list that rail travel is dangerous - it is NOT - these are occasional events from all over the world and over more than a century apart