Railroad Accidents and Wrecks Time Line Project

As valuable as the railroad has been to Bullitt County down through the years, it has also taken its toll with accidents and wrecks, many involving injuries and deaths. We are preparing a list of these for research purposes, and this page will contain that list. It is incomplete, and we will add to it periodically.

Date	Description	More Info
25 Aug 1860	Two trains collided at Bardstown Junction with injuries to Joseph Smithers and William Smith. In another instance, a man on horseback was run over by a train in the same area.	Link
6 Jul 1867	A misplaced switch at Bardstown Junction derailed three cars, but there were no serious injuries.	Link
8 Nov 1867	A downed tree across the tracks near Bardstown Junction resulted in a smashed engine, but no serious injuries.	Link
30 Oct 1869	Near Bardstown Junction, a Mr. Montgomey was killed when he fell asleep on the tracks and was run over.	Link
14 Apr 1873	The railroad bridge over Rolling Fork River was destroyed by fire, caused by sparks falling from a passing locomotive. [Nashville Union 16 Apr 1873]	Link
9 Jun 1874	Johnnie Wallace, a train fireman, was killed in a collision between a passenger train and a freight train at Belmont. [Nashville Union 10 Jun 1874]	Link
21 Oct 1882	A northbound freight train collided with two mules just north of Shepherdsville, killing George Minott, its engineer, and injuring Charles Cameron, its brakeman.	Link
25 Aug 1883	Sam Perry, a tramp, was stealing a ride between cars, and was killed during a collision between a freight train and a passenger train at Lebanon Junction.	Link
1 Sep 1883	In a collision at Lebanon Junction, engineer Clarence B. Gifford was badly crushed and fireman Kidd also received serious injuries. [The Bourbon News, 4 Sep 1883]	Link
3 Sep 1883	Tom Pegeon, a railroad engineer, was badly mashed at Lebanon Junction in a collision at a switch. [Interior Journal, 4 Sep 1883]	Link
29 Nov 1883	A broken rail near Lebanon Junction derailed the tender car of the express train; no injuries. [CJ 29 Nov 1883]	Link
23 Apr 1884	Charles Anderson was crushed between two draw-heads at the Bardstown Junction station.	Link
11 Sep 1885	Thos Rooney, a train hand was severely injured loading bridge iron at Lebanon Junction, and died from his injuries. [CJ 13 Sep 1885]	Link
17 Mar 1887	William Clark, acting conductor on a freight train, was run over and severely injuried at Lebanon Junction while coupling cars. [CJ 18 Mar 1887]	Link
16 May 1887	Samuel Hicks, a brakeman on the Knoxville branch, was killed attempting to board a moving train at Lebanon Junction. [CJ 17 May 1887]	Link
24 Dec 1888	Mrs. Mary Perkins and Willie Houston, of Hodgenville, were killed during a rear-end crash at Bardstown Junction. Approximately 13 others sustained injuries.	Link Link
18 Jul 1889	J. W. Carroll, a railroad brakeman, was run over and severely injuried at Lebanon Junction while coupling cars. [CJ 19 Jul 1889]	Link
25 Sep 1890	James McHugh, brakeman for the railroad, was killed near Lebanon Junction after falling from a rapidly moving freight train. [CJ 26 Sep 1890]	Link
30 Nov 1890	Charles Ross, a farmer living near Lebanon Junction was killed when run over by a passenger train while walking the rails. [CJ 1 Dec 1890]	Link
27 Apr 1894	James Henry Huber was struck and killed by a locomotive at Huber's Station.	Link
26 Sep 1897	Benjamin Lloyd, an L&N brakeman, was crushed by a car in the Lebanon Junction switch yard.	Link
13 Aug 1898	Learner Davison took the Bowling Green accommodation train to Brooks' Station in Bullitt County to preach. After he exited the train he started across the track to a buggy that awaited him. He never heard the fast Nashville bound train that struck and killed him.	Link
23 Dec 1899	Cora Carothers was killed in a rear-end collision at the Gap-in-Knob station between a freight train and the local passenger train. A dozen or more were injured.	Link
circa 1901	W. V. Paynter, a brakeman for the L. & N., fell under a moving car during a switch at the Y at Bardstown Junction. Date is uncertain, but his death was reported in a later 1904 Circuit Court case.
3 Nov 1903	Will Brown and Luckett Brown, both L&N employees, were killed in a train crash just south of the Salt River bridge.	Link Link
1 Sep 1905	Damin Craven, a passenger aboard the Bardstown Accommodation train fell from the car's platform and was severely injured.	Link
28 Jan 1905	"Orleans Lee, eighty-four years of age, and one of Bullitt's most honored citizens, was killed by a fast train near his home, at Belmont, this county, this morning. He was walking along the track, and being very deaf, did not hear the approaching train." [The Courier-Journal, Sunday 29 Oct 1905]
4 Jan 1907	Chrissie Lee Bell, a brakeman, was killed at Bardstown Junction when he stumbled while making a switch and fell beneath the moving train.	Link
14 Jul 1907	William T. King, a conductor, was killed in a wreck at Bardstown Junction.	Link
26 Jun 1909	Mrs. Mack Jones, Mrs. Yetta Patterson, and two children were seriously injured when their wagon was struck by a train near Bardstown Junction.	Link
24 Dec 1909	Solomon Northern was struck by a fast passenger train at Bardstown Junction and seriously injured.	Link
3 Oct 1911	Sam Henry Richard, a railroad sectionhand employee, was struck and killed by a passing freight train in Lebanon Junction. He was a native of Adair County.	Link
24 May 1913	Joseph Ernest Bowman, age 18 and a locomotive fireman, was killed at Lebanon Junction when run over by several cars.	Link
25 Oct 1915	John Thomas Payne, a railroad employee, was killed in the Lebanon Junction yard while inspecting cars to be added to a train.
28 May 1917	John Robert Hoagland was struck by a locomotive and killed near his home in central Bullitt County. He was a son of Thomas W. Hoagland who was injured in the December 20 wreck at Shepherdsville.
20 Dec 1917	A rear-end crash occurred at Shepherdsville, killing 49, and injuring at least that many more. The names of the killed and injured are listed on another page.	Link
9 Jun 1918	The Flyer, which was involved in the Dec 20 wreck at Shepherdsville, crashed near Huber Station. No one was killed.	Link
18 Jun 1918	Five members of an extended family were killed at the Bardstown Junction crossing when their stalled automobile was struck by a northbound train.	Link
30 Nov 1935	Bill Jackson, 74, was struck and killed by the train that runs to Springfield along the Bardstown Branch.	Link
9 May 1940	Robert E. Maraman, age 15, killed near north end of Salt River bridge. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Grover C. Maraman.	Link
14 Feb 1943	Rev. Ben Cundiff, his wife Virginia, and daughter Cerelda Jane were struck by a locomotive at the Highway 44 crossing in Shepherdsville. All died.	Link
27 Aug 1949	Lloyd W. "Dub" Masden was struck by a freight train at Lebanon Junction. He died two days later in a Louisville Hospital. Reported in The Salt River Valley News, of 2 Sep 1949.
23 Feb 1957	Querry Emmett Shepherd was struck by an L. and N. passenger train, the "South Wind," while walking between the northbound tracks 500 feet south of the Salt River bridge, according to his death certificate.	Link
15 Dec 1958	Five Louisville and Nashville Railroad section hands were killed a mile south of Bardstown Junction when their gasoline-powered work car was rammed from the rear by a passenger train.	Link
8 Jul 1968	Eighteen cars of two L. & N. freight trains derailed near Bardstown Junction when a load shifted, causing the North and Southbound trains to sideswipe each other. No injuries were reported.
31 Dec 1973	Twenty-six railroad cars derailed in Shepherdsville, including one that crashed into Charlie Mann's home at Third and Walnut (very close to where the Judicial Center is located today). Many of the cars were loaded with grain which spilled. Fortunately no one was injured.	Link
11 Dec 1976	Charles Jackson of Lebanon Junction was killed when the car he was riding in stalled on the railroad tracks at Airport Road. He had exited the vehicle before being stuck.
19 Nov 1991	Twenty-eight cars of a CSX freight train jumped the tracks and 14 plunged into Salt River, as half the railroad bridge at Shepherdsville collapsed into the river. Three cars contained hazardous materials, forcing the town's evacuation. No injuries were reported.	Link
16 Jan 2007	Fourteen cars of an 80-car train headed to Louisville from Birmingham derailed near Huber's Station and caught on fire. Twelve of them contained hazardous materials.
30 Jun 2011	Seventeen cars of a 48-car CSX train derailed near Huber's Station road, scattering new automobiles along the roadside. No one was injured.
9 Jul 2014	A Shepherdsville man was struck and killed by a locomotive while walking along the tracks just south of Beech Grove Road.
1 May 2018	A CSX train derailment involving locomotives and several car carriers just north of Lebanon Junction in Bullitt County resulted in a number of car carriers catching fire. No injuries were reported.

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