This Day in History: Two trains collided head-on near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, injuring 116 people, on this day in 2012. There have actually been 33 such collisions since 1874. A train head-on collision occurs most often on a single line railway. This usually means that at least one of the trains has "passed a signal at danger," (much like running a red light) or that a signalman has made a major error. The last head-on collision on November 15, 2017 in Singapore was due to a software error.
From 1896 to the 1930s crashing trains was a great American pastime. The man who pioneered this sport, a railroad equipment salesman named A.L. Streeter, was known as The Man Who Wrecked 146 Locomotives.
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