Template:Did you know nominations/1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Schwede66 talk 07:57, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck

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Thomas Nast cartoon

• ... that the 1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck happened in part because a drunken New York state legislator thought it would be funny to pull the emergency brake (cartoon)? Source: "We had a lively party on board. All through the cars they were passing bottles, drinking freely, smashing hats, and signing songs. Apparently they were sober when they boarded the train in Albany, but many became drunk after the train started. I had no control over them. Someone, I don’t know who, pulled the rope connecting with the air brakes, and the train came to a standstill, to enable the engineer to pump out the air", Railroad Stories, December 1935

1935 illustration of wreck

• • ALT1: ... that locals responding to the 1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck used snowballs to extinguish the fires in the wrecked cars (illustration, pictured)? Source: "And, although badly burned about the face and hands, Hanford started to roll a snowball toward the terrible mass of burning timbers and hissing metal. Soon hundreds of willing hands were pushing great mounds of snow toward the danger spot ... Tons of snow were thrown upon the two cars, and in a short time the volunteer workers had the hills and roadway scraped almost entirely clear of snow. " Railroad Stories.
  • ALT2: ... that the brakeman prosecuted for his negligence in the 1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck testified that he had never read the rulebook because he was illiterate? Source: "Although George Melius had been employed in train service on the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad for more than twenty years, he could neither read nor write!" Railroad Stories

Webster Wagner

• • ALT3: ... that Webster Wagner (pictured) was crushed to death in the 1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck between two of his own company's sleeper cars? Source: "State Senator Wagner is supposed to have been crushed to death between two of his own company's drawing cars". "Meeting A Terrible Fate", The New York Times; January 14, 1882.
  • ALT4: ... that Judge Noah Davis observed that the manslaughter trial of a brakeman after the 1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck he presided over was possibly the first time a railroad employee was indicted for passenger deaths? "In charging the jury Judge Davis said ... 'It is probably the first case of the kind where an indictment has been found against an employee of a railroad corporation for having by neglect of his duty caused the loss of life'" "The Brakeman Acquitted", The New York Times; November 25, 1882.
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Nonô (musician)
  • Comment: The 142nd anniversary of this is coming up on January 13. I can easily reword if we want to run one of these on that date. (I am also not totally done with this article; just nominating it now because Christmas. I may also have another picture to go with one of the hooks. Uploaded it; it's the Thomas Nast cartoon above.

Created by Daniel Case (talk). Self-nominated at 06:11, 25 December 2023 (UTC). Post-promotion hook changes for this nom will be logged at Template talk:Did you know nominations/1882 Spuyten Duyvil train wreck; consider watching this nomination, if it is successful, until the hook appears on the Main Page

• All of the hooks meet the criteria and the article looks great. voorts (talk/contributions) 03:52, 24 January 2024 (UTC)