Paris October 22nd, 1895, chaos erupted at the Gare Montparnasse train station as the brakes
fail to stop Locomotive number 721 from plowing through the terminus bumper and plummeting 10
meters onto the Plaza below. The incident was over in a matter of seconds, but it was one that left
a lasting impact in the form of some of the most powerful images ever captured on photograph. Here
now is the story of what happened in the fatal moment the Granville Paris Express lost control.
The train departed Granville on schedule at 8:45 earlier that morning, it was carrying
131 passengers. The consist was composed of the Locomotive 721 which was a 2-4-0 type
coal-fired engine, the French notation is 1-2-0. It was hauling three luggage wagons, a post van,
and 6 passenger carriages. As the train made its way to Paris, it was making poor time,
running about 10 minutes late, the Engineer sped up the train in order to make up time.
The train was approaching the station at a speed between 40-60 kilometers per hour,
or about 25-37 miles per hour. The Engineer began to operate the Westinghouse air brake in order
to bring the train in for a smooth stop at the terminus, however, the brakes were not engaging
and the Engineer had only moments to resolve the issue and slow the train down.
What followed was a failure to stop the train, it ran through the bumper at the
end of the track and its momentum carried it across the 98-foot wide concourse,
smashing through a 60-centimeter thick masonry wall, shattering the window above it. The engine
continued traveling out of the building and fell 33 feet down to the Place de Rennes below,
it landed on its forward frame and the back of the engine pinned the tender in a precarious position.
Miraculously, all 131 passengers survived, including the train crew, although 6 people were
injured including the fireman, two conductors, two passengers, and a pedestrian at street level.
Unfortunately, the incident was not without fatality.
The engine had landed on a newspaper stand that was being operated by Marie-Augustine Aguillard.
Her husband normally operated the newsstand but asked her to watch over it as he went to
retrieve more papers. He returned to find his wife crushed to death by the fallen masonry.
The wreck site was stabilized in place for four days as investigators gathered
evidence and studied the crash. The view of the aftermath drew large crowds of onlookers each day,
allowing both professional and amateur photographers to capture photos of the site.
Eventually, workers were allowed to start cleaning up the area. At first,
they tried using 14 horses to hoist the locomotive and ease it down, but that was without success.
They then brought in a 250-tonne winch, and with the help of 10 men, they lowered the engine and
then carefully lifted it back up to the station platform. From there other locomotives hooked up
to the carriages and wagons hauling them away, while the engine was taken to a repair shop.
Surprisingly the locomotive and cars had sustained minimal damage and were
quickly repaired and put back into service. The investigation into the incident revealed
that the Engineer, who had 19 years of experience working for the railroad had intended to make up
for lost time, and so ran the locomotive faster than usual, flying past areas of recommended
brake application. When he attempted to apply the air brakes, the system did not immediately
respond due to the high speed, the engineer had taken a moment to try to resolve the issue
but this wasted precious time. The Fireman was preoccupied during this time, but when he noticed
they were approaching too fast, he then went to apply the hand brake, but it was too late. It
was said that the fireman was declared guilty of not properly engaging the brakes himself.
In the end, the cause of the crash was negligence on the part of the locomotive’s crew.
The next year, on the 30th of March, 1896, the court fined the Fireman 25 francs with deferment
while the Engineer was sentenced to two months in jail plus a fine of 50 francs with deferment.
The railroad itself was designated legally responsible for the crash,
and after the public put pressure on the company, they agreed to provide financial support
for Marie-Augustine Aguillard’s two children in the years after the loss of their mother.
The train wreck at Gare Montparnasse is a stark reminder of how a day can start out
with a typical commute from one city to another,
only for things to go off the rails, and for tragedy to strike with an iron fist.