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Apple Train Derailment (Site)

GPS Coordinates: 38.7228449, -77.2041247
Closest Address: 8707 LaGrange Street, Lorton, VA 22079

Apple Train Derailment (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the accident occurred. No visible remains exist.

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Here follows an excerpt from "The Iron Road of Franconia" book about the railroad written by local historian Nathaniel Lee.

One of the more curious accidents on the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad (RF&P) line occurred on September 17, 1932. All rail traffic was halter for the day after a fourteen-car train derailed at the Accotink Creek bridge. Several of the train cars were damaged, causing tons of soda and fruit to escape into the creek below. For years afterward, bemused locals would enjoy recalling the day they saw thousands of apples bobbing their way down the creek toward the Potomac River. None of the train's crew was injured, but that must have been one "sweet" cleanup effort.

ABOUT ME

Award-winning local historian and tour guide in Franconia and the greater Alexandria area of Virginia.

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ADDRESS

Nathaniel Lee

c/o Franconia Museum

6121 Franconia Road

Alexandria, VA 22310

franconiahistory@gmail.com

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