Marking 56 years since a runaway train plunged into the Cape Fear River

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Tuesday marks 56 years since a runaway train plunged into the Cape Fear River on March 12, 1968.

The brakes failed on a Seaboard Air Line locomotive, towing 13 Atlantic Coast Line freight cars, during a yard maneuver at the Smith Creek yard.

The train went through several intersections and into Wilmington’s north side.

Witnesses say the runaway train hit speeds of around 30 miles per hour.

Engineer L.L. Poplin and assistant yard superintendent James Rooker, who had been aboard the engine, vainly tried to stop it. But the brakes had completely failed. The men had no choice but to jump off the locomotive just east of Front Street as it headed for the river.

The train ran down to the Seaboard Air Line pier behind the freight houses where the Wilmington Railroad Museum is now at the foot of Red Cross Street. A locomotive and two cars plunged into the river and slammed into the starboard side of the oil tanker Gulf Service moored there.

Several cars on the runaway train had been loaded with 105-mm artillery shells, bound for the Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point, across the river. But none of the munition cars went into the river.

The Gulf Service Oil Tanker was left with two gaping holes in its side but was able to maneuver away from the dock under its own power later in the day.

Thankfully, no one was killed or injured.