France: High-speed TGV train derails after truck crash
DW →The driver of a high-speed train has died in northern France after his train collided with a truck transporting military material.
Truck Driver Dies As Streamliner Crashes Vehicle
NATION, ILL.—One person was killed and nine others were injured yesterday when a New York Central streamliner plowed into a truck at a crossing and went off the tracks. The NYC's diesel-powered Southwestern Limited, bound for New York with an estimated 150 passengers, struck the truck and the second unit of its diesel engine was derailed. Nine cars following it careened from the tracks and came to a screeching, rending halt 200 yards beyond the crossing. The last two cars remained on the rails. Rescue crews attributed the relatively small number of injuries to the fact that the derailed cars did not splinter. Killed in the collision was Cary Bryant, 54, of NATION, driver of the truck laden with gravel. The train was speeding eastward after a scheduled stop at NATION when it hit the truck at 11:42 a.m. (CST). Only three injured remained in the hospital overnight.
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Redondo Junction train accident
The Redondo Junction train wreck occurred at 17:42 on the evening of January 22, 1956, on the Santa Fe Railroad in Los Angeles. It was the first major disaster in the LA area covered on live television, and the worst train wreck in the city's history.
Wikipedia →Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956
With an original authorization of $25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles of the Interstate Highway System over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history through that time.
Wikipedia →Transportation Act of 1958
The Transportation Act of 1958 (Pub. L. 85–625) attempted to reinvigorate the commercial railroads of the United States by granting the Interstate Commerce Commission money to loan to railroads and power to fix prices. Despite this, railroads were still having a difficult time remaining profitable, and asked to shed services, particularly passenger rail services.
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