Worth A Thousand Words

How cool must it have been in the early days of photography to actually be able to include a photograph with the newspaper story reporting this incident. I always include at least one picture with all my posts because no amount of explanation can make up for the information you get with just one photo or image.

"On 22 October, 1895, the Granville-Paris Express rail engine 120-721 failed to stop at the platform at Gare Montparnasse (known then as Gare de l’Ouest) and overran the buffer stop. The engine careened across almost 100 feet of the station concourse, crashed through a two foot thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 33 feet below where it stood on its nose.

All on board the train survived with five sustaining injuries: two passengers, the fireman and two crewmembers. One woman on the street below 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. The conductor incurred a 25 franc penalty and the engine driver a 50 franc penalty; he was also sent to prison for two months."