Dahlerau station at the time of the accident

Accident site, showing the destroyed first car of the passenger train

The Dahlerau train disaster was a severe railway accident that took place on May 27, 1971 in Dahlerau, a small town belonging to Radevormwald in then-West Germany, in which a freight train and a passenger train crashed into each other. 46 people perished in the accident, of which 41 were senior year pupils of the Geschwister-Scholl-Realschule in Radevormwald.^[1] It was the worst accident in West Germany since its foundation in 1949, and was only surpassed after German reunification in 1998 by the Eschede train disaster. A railing accidentally collapses at a college football game, spilling fans onto the sidelines An accident is something going wrong unexpectedly. ... May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Dahlerau is a borough of Radevormwald, located in the Oberbergischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... ---Sidenote START--- Radevormwald is a North Rhine-Westphalian municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, about 50 km east of Cologne. ... Students attending a lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology The word student is etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stŭdērĕ, meaning to direct ones zeal at; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) German reunification (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) took place on October 3, 1990, when the areas of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, in English commonly called East Germany) were incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, in... This picture illustrates the destruction of the rear passenger cars. ...

Timeline of events

On the evening of May 27, 1971, shortly after 21:00, a train made up of two class VT 95 railbuses of the Deutsche Bundesbahn was running as special service Eto 42227 (units 795 375 + 995 325) on the single-track line between Wuppertal-Oberbarmen and Radevormwald, the so-called Wupper valley line. The train was occupied by senior year pupils of a Radevormwald middle school, their teachers and accompanying railway staff, on the return journey from a class outing in Bremen. The service was about 30 minutes delayed and travelling between Wuppertal-Beyemburg and Dahlerau. A regular local freight train, Ng 16856 (pulled by 212 030, a DB Class V100 engine) and heading from Radevorwald to Wuppertal, was supposed to do an unscheduled stop at Dahlerau station to let the delayed special service pass. In normal operation, the freight train would not wait at Dahlerau. May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Not to be confused with Railroad car A railcar is a self-propelled rail vehicle designed to transport passengers. ... Plaque commemorating 5,000 kilometers of electrification. ... ---Sidenote START--- Radevormwald is a North Rhine-Westphalian municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, about 50 km east of Cologne. ... Bremen may mean: Bremen (city), the city in Germany itself Bremen Airport Bremen (state), which comprises the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven Archbishopric of Bremen, a historical state to the north of the city Duchy of Bremen, a historical state created on the secularization of the archbishopric in 1648 Bremen...

The freight train first came to a halt at the entrance signal as normal, then pulled into the station, expecting the dispatcher's instructions. The dispatcher would normally step onto the platform and show the driver a green light, giving them permission to proceed. However, as the freight train was supposed to stop and wait for the special service still on the line, a red light would have to be shown. It is unclear what happened exactly, but the train did not stop at the station as supposed to, and departed toward Wuppertal. It is suspected that the train trailed the points already set for the passenger train, as the points' seal, which ruptures in such an event, was later found to be missing. The driver later claimed that the train dispatcher had signalled him with a green light using his hand lamp. About 800 metres north of the station, behind a curve, both trains collided. The motor coach of the two-unit special train was compacted to one third of its length by the freight train locomotive, which was five times as heavy and 20 centimetres higher than the railbus. A signal is a mechanical or electrical device that indicates to train drivers information about the state of the line ahead, and therefore whether he or she must stop or may start, or instructions on what speed the train may go. ...

Meanwhile, the dispatcher at Dahlerau, who tried to hold back the departing locomotive by running along the passing train and giving emergency signals, but failed to get the driver's attention, had tried to reach the dispatcher in Wuppertal-Beyenburg by telephone to hold back the passenger train. However, the train had already departed from Beyenburg, and there was no way for the dispatcher to reach either the freight train or the railbus by radio, as the station and trains did not have the neccessary equipment. The dispatcher, faced with the now inevitable crash, instantly phoned emergency services, informing them of the accident about to happen. Ambulances, firefighters and police were promptly ordered from Radevormwald, Wuppertal and Solingen. The rescue effort was hindered by the inaccessibility of the accident site on a hillside and by parents who had waited for the train at Radevormwald station and had now come to search for their children, as well as onlookers who were attracted by the rescue effort. Owing to the quick rescue and medical treatment, 25 people survived despite their severe injuries. 41 pupils, two teachers, a mother and two railway staff were killed nontheless. A single pupil was the only person not injured at all. ---Sidenote START--- Radevormwald is a North Rhine-Westphalian municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, about 50 km east of Cologne. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

A crisis squad was established at the Radevormwald town hall. Due to the high body count, the dead were laid out in the Bredderstraße gymnasium. Some of the funeral homes which were asked to supply coffins at night time first thought they were receiving prank calls due to the supposed improbability of such a severe accident. City Hall is a 1996 film directed by Harold Becker. ... Modern indoor gymnasium with pull-down basketball hoops. ... A funeral home or mortuary is a place where a wake is arranged. ... A coffin (in North American English, also known as a casket) is a funerary box used in the display and containment of deceased remains -- either for burial or after cremation. ... A prank call, also known as a crank call, hoax call, or phony phone call is a form of practical joke committed over the telephone. ...

Cause of the accident

V100 engine, the same type as used on the freight train

Railbus of the model involved in the accident

The legal proceedings investigating the cause of the accident carried on for one year. The exact happenings could not be reproduced however, as the dispatcher of the station died in a car accident shortly after the train crash. It has been proven that the accident was not caused by the dispatcher, therefore ruling out suicide. The driver of the freight train, who survived the accident, testified in court that he had seen a green light from the dispatcher's hand lantern, signalling him to pass through the station without stopping. The stations of the Wuppertal-Radevormwald branch line were not equipped with exit signals, so showing a green light would indicate the line being clear ahead. Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ...

However, the true causes of the accident could never be fully clarified, but it is generally accepted that the likely cause was some form of human error. Since the dispatcher had died during the hearings, the case never went to court. This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

As a consequence of the incident, the Deutsche Bundesbahn removed the blind on the hand lanterns, which could previously be switched between showing a green and a red light. The accident also caused criticism of the light-weight construction of the railbus in general, as the units dated back to the 1950s already. Their replacements, the DB Class 628 railcars that were built from the mid-1970s on, were constructed considerably more sturdy than the VT 95 railbuses. After the investigation had ended, the damaged railbus was dismantled on September 1, 1971. The engine of the freight train, which did not suffer from major damage, was rebuilt and continued to be in service until 2001.^[2] Plaque commemorating 5,000 kilometers of electrification. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning from the 1st of January, 1950 to the 31st of December, 1959. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Funerals

As Radevormwald was a small town with a population of about 20,000, the effects of the accident were devastating on its population. An entire year of pupils had been wiped out, and virtually everyone was affected directly or indirectly. Most of the dead teenage pupils were laid to rest in a seperate grave on the Radevormwald cemetery. The funeral took place on June 2, 1971, a remarkably hot day, and was attended by about 10,000 people, among them Chancellor Willy Brandt, the Minister of Transport and the president of the Bundesrat. Public life came to a halt on that day, as shops were kept closed and the train service on the railway line was suspended while the funeral took place. Condolences arrived from places as far as France and Great Britain. One uncle of a pupil who had died in the rail accident suffered a heart attack due to the hot weather and died later on. Ancient unreadable gravestones mark the position of graves in the parish churchyard at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, England A grave is a place where the body of a dead animal, generally human, is buried, often after a funeral. ... Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... The head of government of Germany is called Chancellor (German: Kanzler or Bundeskanzler meaning federal chancellor). ... Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm (December 18, 1913 - October 8, 1992) was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969 – 1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1964 – 1987. ... The Bundesrat, German for Federal Council, is a political institution in several countries: Bundesrat of Austria (legislative) Bundesrat of Germany (legislative) Bundesrat of Switzerland: the Swiss Federal Council (executive) This is a disambiguation page — a list of articles associated with the same title. ... A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ...

In 1972, a stone pillar containing the inscription "Komme Geist von den vier Winden herbei und hauche diese Toten an, damit sie lebendig werden" (Ezekiel 37,9, translates as "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live") was placed next to the graves. At first, the inscription was criticised as overly and inappropriately optimistic ("...that they may live"), but the complaints settled down after a while. Look up pillar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ezekiel redirects here. ...

Aftermath

Graves at Radevormwald cemetery, 2004

Even today, almost 40 years after the incident, the railway accident still is an often-discussed event in the populace of Radevormwald, especially around its anniversay. While some regard discussing the topic as sensationalism, others consider the continuous dealing with the events as a lack or failure of coming to terms with it. As it was not yet common in the 1970s to offer psychological counselling for those involved in the accident, i.e. survivors, next of kin and rescue workers, and as the victims of the event were all local people (contrary to other large-scale accidents, where the geographical distribution of victims usually is less shallow), some unique behaviour patterns can be observed in Radevormwald. Most citizens know about the accident, and many had relatives or friends who were involved in the accident in some form or another. Often people who had lost family members became aggressive towards those who survived, damaging the socio-psychological climate of the small town. It has been reported that some people, now in their 20s, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder even though they were not alive at the time of the accident, and would go as far as not using trains at all. This is a behaviour previously observed with children of survivors of the Holocaust. Sensationalism is a manner of being extremely controversial, loud, attention-grabbing, or otherwise sensationalistic. ... It has been suggested that Combat stress reaction be merged into this article or section. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ...

Dahlerau station was equipped with Indusi protected exit signals in 1975. The line from Wuppertal to Radevormwald was closed in 1976. The Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung, abbreviated to PZB, is a train safety system used in Germany and Austria. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ...

Since 1989, an initiative exists to establish a museum service on the line. The initiative has purchased part of the former railway line in 1994, including the station of Dahlerau and the place where the incident took place. The line only continues unto a point a few kilometres south of the station, however, as the remaining length of track to Radevormwald was flooded during the construction of the Wuppertalsperre dam in the 1980s.^[3] Scrivener Dam, in Canberra, Australia, was engineered to withstand a once-in-5000-years flood A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ...

References

The Westdeutsche Rundfunk (WDR) is a public broadcaster in the German Bundesland North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office is in Köln. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• (German) WDR - Aktuelle Stunde vom 27.05.06 - includes video footage
• (German) Bahnen im Bergischen: Das Zugunglück von Dahlerau

Coordinates: 51°13′30″N, 7°19′20″E This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of January 15, 2007. Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...