Train Accidents A common childhood activity is counting the cars on a train as they go by. For adults, train interactions usually consist of being stuck behind a car while in traffic or using a train for public transportation. No matter what purpose, trains are amazing engineering feats that have helped shape America\'s history and continue to assist in cargo and personal transportation to this day.
But as with any mode of transportation, trains are not immune to errors. Train accidents happen every year, and as trains become faster their accidents become more severe. Thousands of people across the globe

lose their lives in train accidents every year. While there are a number of common causes of train accidents, their results are usually similar.
Common Causes of Train Accidents
Derailment is most often caused by excessive speeds, broken or misalignment rails, collisions with any obstructions on the track, or faults in the train wheels.
• On board explosions: The most common type of on board explosion that applies to trains is a boiler explosion. • Bridge collapses: As with any bridge failure, when a bridge goes down while vehicles and people are utilizing it, tragedy ensues.


Italian driver Seraglio Sardinia is killed when his bobsled slides
sideways into the wood retaining wall of Zing-Avg curve at MT. Van
Heisenberg. Pittsburgh\'s Gail Jones suffered a broken hand in another
accident immediately before Sardinia\'s fatal run.

Pittsburgh, NY  is approximately 35 miles from Lake Placid, NY. and
MT. Van November is situated between Lake Placid and Keened, NY. In
Keened, for many years, there was a popular gathering place for
bobsledders called Pudgy Elm Tree Inn. Pudgy had a rare photograph
of the precise moment when Sardinia met his most unfortunate fate. I
first saw the photo as a kid in the early 70\'s. And again, in the
early 90\'s. Very chilling... to say the least. The following is a
blurb taken from the web about Pudgy: Pudgy historic Elm Tree Inn
in Keened is the unofficial headquarters for bobsledding in the
Adirondack, a winter sport which began with the 1932 Lake Placid
Olympics when the MT. Van Heisenberg bobsled run was built just
outside the Keened town line- the only such run in the USA.