On October 22, 1895, the
Granville–
Paris Express
train overran the
buffer stop at
Gare Montparnasse station. The engine careened across almost 30 metres (100 feet) of the station
concourse, crashed through a 60 centimetre thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 10 metres (30 feet) below where it stood on its nose. While all of the passengers on board the train survived, one woman on the street below was killed by falling
masonry.
Photo credit: Studio Lévy and Sons