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EPISODE · Jul 25, 2025 · 16 MIN

Versailles Rail Accident

from History Dispatches · host Matt and McKinley Breen

On May 8, 1842, the locomotive of a train traveling to Paris from Versailles, broke an axle. The carriages behind the locomotive piled into it, and caught fire - leading to a catastrophic inferno. Upwards of 200 people were killed. This is the story of the Versailles rail accident - the first major railway disasters in history - and the deadliest in the world at the time. Sources https://www.geriwalton.com/versailles-railway-accident-of-1842/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_rail_accident Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meudon_1842.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 25, 2025

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