The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-12
WRECKED ON
 l1TH AGAIN
Federal Express Derailed Just Seven Months After Tragedy
 At Fair field
BROKEN RAIL TO BLAME
Three Cars Leave Tracks, But No One Is Hurt-Other Trains Arc
 Held Up.

At 3:S1 a. m. on July Il, the sec ond hottest day of last summer, the Federal express on the New Haven road, plunged over an embankment at
 Fairfield and there was a heavy loss of life. At 3:27 a. m. on February Il, 1912. being yesterday, the same train
 was wrecked at Leete's Island about 15 miles east of New Haven. Two Fullmans leIt the rails, another Pull man was wrecked. but there was no loss of life and no injury to passeng> CTS. Sunday night was the tnIrd cold est night of the Iyear. The two acci- dents were within four minutes of be- ing exactly seven months apart.
 Ihe accident yesterday was caused by a broken rail- Railroad men are of the opinion that the break in the rail was caused by the extreme cola bring1ng about excessive contraction of the steel so that some weakened point could not stand the strain and part
 The express, bound from Washing ton to Boston, left New Haven, east struck her speed when just east of the Leete's Island station the acci. dent occurred. The. locomotive and the first three cars of the train went over the broken rail but when the fourth hit the break the forward truck gave way and the fifth and sixth cars jumped the rails. The en- gineer put the air on with a jump but the derailed cars and the car with the broken trucks bumped along for sev. eral hundred feet before they came to a stop.
 The passengers in the three wrecked Pullman sleepers were jared and rat tied out of their berths in a hurry by the accident but their first panic was stayed shortly by the fact that the cars remained upright and there was no sign of fire or other alarming train crew were quickly among the passengers and quieted them.
 The temperature was below zero so the passengers preferred to remain in the wrecked cars rather than brave the stinging atmosphere outside. As soon as they were dressed they were sent into the cars which had remain ed on the tracks and when the Feeder al express reached New London they were given accommoda tions in other sleeping cars.
 The conditions were ripe for an ac> cident which might have made the Fair field tragedy look small. When the accident happened the last ear of the train swung across the tracks, blocking the west bound tracks en- tirely. At the time the roads most luxurious train-the train with brass less than five miles away. and east E@und. The solid United States mail train was at Guilford. only three behind that. at Madison. only six miles away from the scene of the ac> cident. was the Adams Express train, also west bound. All of these trains were held up, however. by the block signals.
 A wreckiug train was despachted from New Haven as soon as news of the accident was received there.
 The de luxe train was sent hack to that city and then sent over the Air Line to Middletown and thence over the Valley division tracks to the Shore line at Saybrook Junction. The other two trains were held until the tracIes were cleared. The wracLers succeeded in getting one of the west bound tracks clear t 7:11 a. m. and the other tracks at 800. The wrecker% did not return to New Haven until 1 after 10 o'clock
 The wrecked cars were brought to l the New Haven repair shops