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Monday, July 9, 2007 Officials Mark 89th Anniversary of the Dutchman's Curve Train Wreck of 1918
On July 9, 1918 the worst rail disaster in U. S. passenger train service occurred near Nashville under the old White Bridge Road overpass . Two trains on the historic Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway line collided early that morning resulting in well over a hundred deaths.

Betsy Thorpe worked with the Metro Historic Commission, The Westview newspaper and the Bellevue Harpeth Historical Association to establish a Metro historic marker near the site. On May 21, 2007 the Metro Historic Commission voted to approve the marker.

On Monday July 9, 2007 Senator Doug Henry, Councilman John Summers, and representatives of City Government, the Metro Historic Commission, NC&St.L Preservation Society will accompany family members of victims, survivors and rescue workers to pay respect at the graves of the two engineers involved in the deadly crash , Engineers William Lloyd and David Kennedy . The group will meet at the entrance to the Richland Creek Greenway at 9 am and caravan to Mount Olivet Cemetery.

A Day Of Remembrance
By Betsy Thorpe
On July 9th 2007 at 8:15 am (7:15 am Central Standard Time) I walked near the railroad tracks at Dutchman's Curve with NC&St.L Preservation Society Vice President, Terry Coats. At that exact moment in 1918 two passenger trains on the historic Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway collided. As we viewed the empty tracks, my minds eye visualized the drama that unfolded that morning long ago. The knowledge we would soon meet descendants and relatives of victims, survivors, and rescue workers caused me to reflect on the ties that bind a community to its past and how the events of the past create the future.

As family members gathered with us on the "Old White Bridge," I wondered what Willis Farris Sr. would say to the four generations assembled in his memory. Would Dan Timmons be surprised his nieces were present to honor him and his place in their family? What tales would Engineers William Lloyd and David Kennedy share recounting their railway's history? Were ghosts of the unfortunates listening as we recaptured the past?

If uneasy ghosts hover near Dutchman's Curve, taking cover as the tracks rumble and trains roar do they realize their place in history? Do they ponder fate wondering with the passing decades how they might have affected change had more days and deeds been allotted them? Do they lie in wait near the bridge positioned to repel disaster? Do their spirits linger hoping to be remembered or are they anxiously awaiting something we can't understand? If ghosts do abide near Dutchman's Curve perhaps they sensed our presence and were soothed by our remembrance of their lives, their deaths and their story as we gathered to commemorate the eighty ninth anniversary of the calamity that consumed their souls on the darkest and most sorrowful day in the saga of American railroads. May they rest in peace.