September 11, 1905: The Ninth Avenue Elevated Derailment

September 11, 1905: The Ninth Avenue Elevated Line has a train derail at the intersection of 9th Avenue and 50th Street, where the building we now know as "the old Madison Square Garden" would be built 20 years later. With 13 deaths, and 48 additional injuries, it is the worst accident in the history of elevated railways in New York City.

Trains of the Ninth Avenue and Sixth Avenue elevated lines shared the same track above West 53rd Street, where the Sixth Avenue Line branched off, rather than go through Central Park between 59th and 110th Streets. Downtown-bound trains displayed disks indicating to the towerman at the junction whether he should set the switch for the train to enter the curve or proceed straight on to the 50th Street station.

During the morning rush hour, a Ninth Avenue train following a Sixth Avenue train was mistakenly switched onto the curve. The train was traveling at 30 miles per hour when it entered the sharp curve, for which 9 miles per hour was the company-mandated limit.

The motorman, Paul Kelly, realizing the error, braked quickly. The lead car remained on the tracks, but the second was thrown right off the trestle and down to the street, coming to rest with one end on the ground and the other across the third rail on the trestle, which sparked an electrical fire. Kelly was blamed for the deaths -- probably unfairly -- and served time for manslaughter.

This was the 1st New York disaster to occur on a September 11. It would not be the last.

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September 11, 1905 was a Monday. There were 3 sets of doubleheaders played in baseball that day:

* A doubleheader was split at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. The Boston Americans won the 1st game, 6-3. The Washington Senators were leading the 2nd game, 14-0 after 7 innings, when it was called due to darkness. The Americans became the Boston Red Sox in 1908.

* A doubleheader was split at The Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Reds won the 1st game, 3-2. The Chicago Cubs were leading the 2nd game, 12-0 after 6 innings, when it was called due to darkness.

* And the Cleveland Naps swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Browns, at the 1898-1908 version of Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Both games ended 2-1, the 2nd game taking 11 innings. Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, the Cleveland team's 2nd baseman, best hitter, manager and namesake, saw no reason to put himself into either game, and did not play. The Naps would become the Cleveland Indians in 1915, and the Cleveland Guardians in 2022.