Houten train accident

Houten train accident
Details
Date	7 June 1917
Location	Houten
Coordinates	52°00′28″N 5°11′9″E / 52.00778°N 5.18583°E / 52.00778; 5.18583
Country	Netherlands
Operator	Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen
Incident type	Derailment
Cause	Due to heat the rails was expanded
Statistics
Trains	1
Injured	11

The Houten train accident was a railway accident between Houten and Schalkwijk in the Netherlands on 7 June 1917, which occurred around 4.11pm Amsterdam time. The locomotive and the first eight coaches were detached from the rest of the train and came to a standstill. Eleven coaches derailed, including one that rolled off the embankment, causing enormous damage.^[1] 11 people were injured. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who was in the train was unharmed.

The cause of the derailment was heat: the outside temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius causing expansion of the rails. It was named a "slap in the track". During the evening and night, soldiers who were stationed in the area helped to release one of the two tracks.

The train included two Royal coaches. These coaches were at the rear of the train and only the first one derailed. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was inside and was unharmed. The Queen had made a two-day visit to the Zaltbommel region and was on her way home to The Hague via Utrecht.^[2] The Queen helped with taking care of the injured people. She was described as calm, and responded professionally. After 20 minutes to half an hour there was no more help needed and the Queen went on by train to Utrecht. On the day after the accident, there were at the various royal palaces registers opened where people could sign to congratulate the Queen with the good outcome.

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• Video on YouTube