The Wreck of The Broker: The Basic Story

For those unfamiliar with the wreck of The Broker, here’s the basics of the story. On the drizzly evening of February 6, 1951, the Pennsylvania Railroad commuter train known as “The Broker” left Jersey City for its express run down the Jersey shore to Bay Head Junction. The nickname came from the fact many of the commuters who took that train worked on Wall Street in Manhattan. The cars were extra packed this night. A switchmen’s strike on the Jersey Central line caused many to squeeze onto The Broker instead.

Just south of the Woodbridge, NJ station,the New Jersey Turnpike was under construction, necessitating a new train bridge, as the highway passed under the rails, which were atop an embankment through the town. To allow the construction to proceed without impeding the busy commuter lines, a temporary track was laid, parallel to the main line where the work was being done. This required a temporary wooden trestle next to the normal bridge over Legion Place. It was here, just south of the station and Main Street and immediately north of the Turnpike construction site, that the trains would make the tight turn onto the temporary track.

The temporary track had opened at 1:00 pm that day and several trains passed through without problem (the exact number seems in dispute). They were to slow down to 25 miles per hour to negotiate the curve and pass through the construction zone. Train crews that day were supposed to be alerted to the change in track and the go-slow order via a notice board and signing off that they had read notices pertaining to their run.

According to later investigations, The Broker (which did not stop at Woodbridge) hit that curve going around 50 miles per hour. It derailed, sending cars tumbling down the embankment onto Fulton Street. 84 passengers were killed as well as the fireman. It stands as the worse railway disaster in New Jersey history and the fourth worse in the U.S.

The engineer at the throttle of the K4 steam locomotive, Joseph Fitzsimmons, was an old hand and many who knew him respected his skill and experience. Why he didn’t slow down has been the subject of much debate ever since. The PRR blamed him solely. Having survived the wreck, he claimed he was looking for the yellow lights that would have signaled the go-slow area. There were none and it is not clear if there should have been (this is something I need to research).The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s office, however, blamed the PRR for not having adequate signals. Assistant Prosecutor, Alexander Eber, took umbrage that the mighty PRR appeared to him to be scapegoating Fitzsimmons. He brought 85 counts of manslaughter against them, but when trying the cases would evidently bankrupt the state, there was an out of court settlement.

There was a tremendous outpouring of help after the accident as emergency squads and citizens descended on the scene to pull survivors out of the wreckage. The stories from that night are amazing human dramas that few would ever forget.

In future postings, I will talk more about how I came to know of the wreck and become interested in telling the story, as well as what progress has already been made in researching it.