Granville-Paris Express 1895 - Paris, France
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member manchanegra
N 48° 50.484 E 002° 19.230
31U E 450142 N 5410047
Paris Montparnasse was the location of a famous stream train crash in 1895.
Waymark Code: WMD2TH
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 11/11/2011
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Crystal Sound
Views: 46
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Paris Montparnasse is one of the six large terminus railway stations of Paris, located in the Montparnasse area in the XIVe arrondissement.
The station was opened in 1840, and rebuilt completely in 1969.

The Gare Montparnasse became famous for a derailment on 22 October 1895 of the Granville-Paris Express that overran the buffer stop. The engine careered across almost 30 metres (100 ft) of the station concourse, crashed through a 60-centimetre (2 ft) thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 10 metres (33 ft) below, where it stood on its nose. Two of the 131 passengers sustained injuries, along with the fireman and two conductors. The only fatality was a woman on the street below who was killed by falling masonry. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine drivers who were trying to make up for lost time. A conductor incurred a 25 franc penalty and the engine driver a 50 franc penalty.

The story of the train crash and the picture feature in the 2007 children's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. For the film version, Hugo, the crash was re-created using a detailed quarter-scale model by technicians at New Deal Studios. The story of the 1895 was also referenced in the television series Thomas and Friends in "A Better View For Gordon".

Replicas of the train crash are recreated outside the Mundo a Vapor ("Steam World") museum chain buildings in Brazil.

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