Tragedy on "the Gravity"

After finally freeing the brakes, the brakeman allowed the car to slowly descend the rest of its course with no further problems.

For reasons never explained, this problem was not looked into and the car was again pulled to the top of the mountain with a new load of passengers.

The same model car that crashed at Cemetery Curve

This time, as the car was beginning its descent, it was found that the brakes would not work at all and the car began to coast with nothing to control its speed.

As it picked up speed, one of the two brakemen aboard leapt from the car to run ahead and try to derail it at the next turn, a relatively flat area. But the car was already traveling too fast and beat him to the turn.

The car continued down the mountainside picking up speed and travelling faster and faster. Its passengers screamed in panic. Some of them were able to jump off the runaway car, but most hung on. The car which usually descended the mountain at a graceful 12 mph, was now travelling at up to 55 mph in its wild, uncontrolled descent.

Cemetery Curve before the accident

Cemetery Curve

When the railroad was first planned, the course of descent was laid out to come by the edge of a hill where passengers could have another scenic view of Reading. There wasn't much room on the crest of this hill, so the track was laid out in a "hairpin" turn. The track turned 180 degrees in a mere 75-foot diameter. The turn overlooked Aulenbach's Cemetery 75 feet below, so it was quickly nicknamed "Cemetery Curve".

The name was about to become "prophetic".

The runaway car came into the hairpin turn at about 55 mph. There was nothing that could be done. With passengers still hanging on, the car left the track and tumbled down the 75-foot embankment, coming to rest in the cemetery on its roof. The car was demolished, and 5 people were killed, the other brakeman included. Twenty others were injured.

The track was re-routed and a "safety" switchback section of track was incorporated to prevent this from happening again.

But, a year later, another accident happened.

On November 5, 1891, another car descended the mountainside at the usual speed and nothing seemed wrong as the car rounded Cemetery Curve. But it was an autumn day and at the very next turn, another "hairpin" turn, the tracks were covered with leaves from the trees beside the track, and a recent rain left the leaves wet and slippery.

As the brakeman applied the brakes to slow the car into the turn, he found the car slid on the wet leaves and didn't slow its speed. This turn was in a "cut" in the hillside and therefore had an embankment on each side. As the car started into the turn at too fast a rate of speed, it derailed and ran into the embankment. One person was killed this time.

The railroad was closed for the rest of the season, and many changes were made to the right-of-way. Runaway sidings and switchbacks were built before many of the turns.

The Gravity Railroad stayed in operation for another 32 years and never again was there a serious accident.