When we heard yesterday that an Amtrak train had derailed while leaving Union Station, we thought back to the station’s prior Inaugural-related mishap. For President Dwight Eisenhower’s first Inauguration in 1953, train No. 153, “The Federal Express” crashed into the station and ended up in what is now the food court. The infamous runaway train was filled with Inaugural passengers when its brakes failed on the way into Washington. Nobody was killed, but Union Station wasn’t in the best physical shape after the accident.

The configuration of the station was a little different than it is today (the “modern” concourse behind the century-old Daniel Burnham-designed terminal wasn’t there), but essentially, the train plowed through the station’s back wall, through the news stand, station manager’s office and down into the baggage hall (today’s food court … It is hard to imagine the Bourbon Chicken “Yummy! Yummy!” sample clerk hawking her grizzly chicken samples with rail cars piled on top of her counter.) when the floor gave way.

By the time of the Inauguration, most of the train cars had been removed, but the locomotive remained stuck downstairs while station officials quickly erected a temporary floor for arriving Inaugural visitors to gain access to the Main Hall.

(More information on the crash at SteamLocomotive.com, where we snagged this historic photo.)