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| Nashville Residents Now in National Railroad Hall of Fame |
An entire city that is apparently very fond of its railroads is now a part of the National Railroad Hall of Fame, due in part to the community coming together in a time of immense tragedy.
The Citizens of Nashville and West Nashville in Tennessee were inducted into the hall Saturday in the "Golden Era" category.
Hall Executive Director Julie King says the communities are being inducted because of what happened after two Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway passenger trains collided the morning of July 9th, 1918 -- a collision that could be heard miles away.
"As many as 50,000 people came to the track to help rescue survivors, search for loved ones, or simply witness the tragic scene," King said. "Immediately following the collision, local residents responded to the disaster with aid, many arriving before ambulances, doctors, and the railroad's wrecking crew. The first to arrive worked with their bare hands to remove trapped victims."
King says residents and farmers offered their vehicles for transportation of victims, housewives provided other aid, nuns and Red Cross workers also helped at the scene, and even bootleggers helped, too -- providing whiskey, in her words, "to relieve the pain and fear of injured and dying victims."
100 passengers and workers died in the collision, and victims ranged in age from 17 to 78. But King says it's not known how many lives those Nashville residents saved.
Download the entire NRRHOF induction ceremony by CLICKING HERE.
(Terry Coats, President of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Preservation Society, left, represents the people of Nashville and West Nashville at Saturday's National Railroad Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Here, is is given a medal by NRRHOF President Emeritus Bob Bondi. WGIL News Story and Photo by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 06 28 09 by Newsroom |
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