DeFeo Research Finds Human Error Common in Deadliest U.S. Railroad Wrecks

WINTER GARDEN, Florida — Todd DeFeo, founder of The DeFeo Groupe and publisher and Editor of Railfanning.org, shared new research into the causes of major U.S. railroad disasters during a recent presentation at the Central Florida Railroad Museum.

As part of his talk,“Death on the Rails in Florida and Beyond,” DeFeo said he analyzed what he believes are 50 of the deadliest railroad wrecks in American history. While cautioning that early railroad-disaster records are often incomplete and casualty totals can vary, DeFeo said the research points to a clear pattern: human error was the leading factor in the majority of the wrecks.

Based on his review, about 60 percent of the wrecks were caused by human error, while 14 percent involved infrastructure failures and about 12 percent were caused by weather. DeFeo emphasized that the categories are subjective, since some disasters could reasonably fit more than one cause.

“Trains have changed, the equipment has changed, [and] the technology’s changed,” DeFeo told the audience. “But again, there’s one element that has not changed, and that would be the people.”

The presentation also examined the difficulty of researching railroad deaths. DeFeo noted that newspaper accounts often exaggerated or contradicted one another, while even official records do not always settle the final toll. He cited the 1918 Nashville wreck at Dutchman’s Curve as one example where the official death count may not tell the full story.

DeFeo also discussed Florida examples, including the 1956 Pineola wreck near Floral City, where four railroad employees died after two Atlantic Coast Line freight trains collided head-on.

DeFeo said he plans to continue researching railroad deaths, even as a complete count may never be possible.