Who was the train dispatcher who sent a warning message to another passenger train in the December 6, 1917 Halifax maritime disaster?
Vince Coleman (train dispatcher) Patrick Vincent Coleman (13March 18726December 1917) was a train dispatcher for the Canadian Government Railways (formerly the ICR, Intercolonial Railway of Canada) who was killed in the Halifax Explosion, but not before he sent a message to an incoming passenger train to stop out of range of the explosion. Today he is remembered as one of the heroic figures from the disaster.
1815 Philadelphia train accident The 1815 Philadelphia train accident occurred on 31 July 1815, in Philadelphia, County Durham, England, when an early experimental railway locomotive, Brunton's "Mechanical Traveller", suffered a boiler explosion. This engine, also known as the Steam Horse, ran on four wheels but was pushed by mechanical feet. This was both the first recorded boiler explosion and the first railway accident causing major loss of life, as 16 people were killed [some sources state 13].