HOW TO USE MAP-O-MATIC (#8 in a Series)
Notable U.S. Railroad Disasters, from 1925 to 2019 (Strictly from 1925 to 1951)
Similar to installment #7 on maritime disasters, this brief tutorial on Map-O-Matic demonstrates the file needed to display pushpins for the ~ worst railroad disasters in U.S. history, from 1925 to 2019 (but the last, or most recent, disaster, occurred in 1951). Except for one in Utah, they all took place in the Eastern portion of the U.S.
Without further ado, here is the file I used to create the map of the 6 worst U.S. railroad disasters, beginning with 1925:
Red~Hackettstown, New Jersey - 6/16/1925 - 50 deaths;40.854314;-74.831012
Green~Frankford Junction, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 9/6/1943 - 79 deaths;40.015284;-75.084770
Blue~Between Rennert and Buie, North Carolina - Dec 16/1943 - 72 deaths;34.756561;-79.102175
Orange~Bagley, Utah (AKA "The Great Salt Lake Wreck")- 12/31/1944 - 50 deaths;41.238577;-112.310196
Purple~Richmond Hill, Queens, New York - 11/22/1950 - 79 deaths;40.699142;-73.832794
Teal~Woodbridge, New Jersey - 2/6/1951 - 84 deaths;40.553803;-74.284356
This is the map it produces:
As you can see, the Utah disaster and North Carolina disasters are well off the “beaten track” (no pun intended), but the other four are close enough together that we can’t see “what’s what” unless we zoom in on them (ignoring those two “outliers”) like so:
In the next installment of these Map-O-Matic tutorials, we will look at the 20 worst railroad disasters that occurred worldwise (based on number of deaths) between 1925 and 2019. In effect, the dates covered will be between 1933 and 2004, as the “cutoff” point will be 200 or more deaths. The only one of these 20 that occurred in N0rth America was a 1955 wreck in Mexico.
For more details on what you can do with Map-O-Matic and how to use it, see the previous Map-O-Matic tutorials in the series from the links below.
Map-O-Matic Tutorial #1: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/how-to-use-map-o-matic-1-in-a-series
Map-O-Matic Tutorial #2: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/how-to-use-map-o-matic-2-in-a-series
Map-O-Matic Tutorial #3: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/how-to-use-map-o-matic-3-in-a-series
Map-O-Matic Tutorial #4: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/how-to-use-map-o-matic-4-in-a-series
Map-O-Matic Tutorial #5: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/how-to-use-map-o-matic-5-in-a-series
Map-O-Matic Tutorial #6: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/how-to-use-map-o-matic-6-in-a-series
Map-O-Matic Tutorial #7: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/how-to-use-map-o-matic-7-in-a-series