The Wreck of the Broker: The Woodbridge Train Disaster of 1951

On the misty evening of February 6th, 1951, the residents along Fulton Street in Woodbridge, New Jersey heard a thundering crash. Opening their doors, they saw the deadliest train wreck in state history. The worst wreck in American history since 1918... This was the Broker, which came off the rails taking the lives of 85 people and injuring hundreds more, scarring many for life, both physically and emotionally… it was officially deemed as a simple case of excessive speed, but frustrated investigations failed to get to the bottom of things, leaving many questions unanswered.

We’re using the advanced technology of Unreal Engine 5 to piece this wreckage back together, bringing the history to life like never before. Guided by historians, exploring the wrecksite, and hearing the stories directly from survivors, we’re re-examining this 73 year old case, and hopefully answering these questions once and for all.

Director and Narrator: Tom Lynskey
Writer: Tom Lynskey and Gordon Bond
Executive Producer: Steven Schwankert
Animator: Alex Moeller
Digital Models: Steve Lerro and Alex Moeller
Technical Consultant: John Turkeli

[seankaiser]

To think that the history channel is running the billionth season of Ancient Aliens conspiracy and you’re making this on YouTube… incredible work.

[jw]

I was two months old when this happened. The youngest of six children. Years later my older siblings recalled that night when my mother sat with me in her arms as neighbors came over awaiting a phone call or a knock at the door as my dad was on that train. Many hours past when suddenly the door of our home opened and there was my fsther, tired, dusty, and dirty but unhurt. He and others on that train stayed to help as they could then finally got a ride home. He had recently turned 41 and was eventually the father of eight. God blessed us that night.

This is an excellent film.

[KLTrainz]

This beats anything available on Discovery, Nova, PBS, National Geographic! You deserve an Emmy for this one! I'm proud to have to been able to contribute! Cheers! 🍻🍻🍻

[arthurerickson]

My dad was on that train. He told me that most, if not all, of the passengers in his car were either injured or dead. When the wreck occurred he was sitting upright, studying for, of all things, a first aid exam. He said he was positive that if he was relaxing, he would’ve been thrown about the car and likely died. He suffered a broken back and many contusions, but he was alive, and fortunately not paralyzed. My mom, little brother, and my 5 yr old self were just getting ready to leave home to pick up my dad at the Red Bank station.

[harrisonofcolorado]

24:25 "People in the community at the time wondered why we needed a truck with such a large ladder, when the tallest building in our community was only 3 stories high."
"Well that new fangled fire ladder proved to be exactly what was needed that night."


A good case of "it's better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have one."



That aside, this was a REALLY good documentary that you created! The recreation of the crash has honestly got to be my favorite part, and even with that, this documentary has the quality and production that people at say Amazon Prime or Netflix would dream of. Kudos to you for making this documentary.

[robinbutler]

My grandfather and aunt were on that train. Grampa worked all his life for the Jersey Central railroad as an auditor and road the train every day to and from work. When the engineer dropped the throttle and hit the brakes he knew instantly what was happening. He slid to the floor, covered his head and waited for the crash. He stepped off that train barely touched. My aunt was at the front of the train in car2. She came off with minor bumps and scrapes. They were both lucky in the seats they chose, because they usually would sit together in the 3rd car. They were head for the Asbury Park station. So amazing.

[toni_]

I honestly can't belive we get to watch this quality content for free. Thank you so much for your work!

[theofficerfactory]

Highly ironic that this VERY well made production was recommended to me and I am watching it on this Tuesday, Feb 6, 2024; 73 years later to the day.

[stuff___idontknow]

I love how you animated the whole train crash for this video. It really gave me an understanding of how things played out

[Triplex]

So, being a train engineer myself, from the other side of the pond in Croatia, I see some things never change even after decades.

When an accident happens:
1) The engineer is the first to blame.
2) Maintenance wise the equipment is in excellent condition just on paper. Shops just don't maintain the equipment as they are suppose to. Engineers and other staff call out the defects but the maintaince crews just ignore it.
3) The railroad will say that everything was fine with the signalling and with areas of restricted speed.

Seems railroads all over the world suffer from the same chronic problems and it's something we've been dragging along for decades. It's all good until an accident occurs.

Great video! This is how, unfortunately, we must learn from mistakes.

[CodyRushDriving]

52:10 Documentarians DREAM of capturing moments like this. What a beautiful, visceral, and heartbreaking moment. Even decades later you can see how genuinely deep these scars run for those who were there. Astounding documentary. Please keep up the amazing work.

[elmcreekrr]

I use to teach a forensic engineering class and you nailed it, especially with water baffle and tender frame. Awesome graphics. I've also had the pleasure of being the engineer on a steam passenger train at 60-70mph. The water slosh is real. Well done.

[ChrisNT]

This documentary is absolutely amazing, the visuals really give you a sense of how it all unraveled. Probably the best recreation of the accident we can ever have.

[robinsea]

This is TV level production value with the level of detail TV hasn't reached in a long time, thank you so much for creating it.

[thomassecurename]

This is living reenactment artwork unparalleled that sets a new high standard going forward. Grateful for every frame. Thanks Tom. Poulsbo, Washington

[WillArtie]

52:05 - oh my goodness. man, what a tragic, powerful and heart breaking scene. the type of live, raw scene doco makers dream of capturing, and here it is sitting in a YouTube doco, which is by most measures actually superior to the majority of TV doco over the decades.

edit - when we going to get some proper recognition / awards for the excellent programs independently produced from very talented folks here on YouTube and other places like Nebula?
Don't let corporate interests get their dirty, mucky, bottom-line driven crooked fingers into these productions. They are what they are because of their utter absence.

[Rico_G]

I've been living just a few miles from the crash site for over 30 years and have NEVER heard about this incident. Outstanding job as always, PTE!

[soiouz]

What an amazing documentary, done with respect and talent. Thank you for this!

[maryannebeauchamp]

Such a terrible tragedy. Those passengers were probably terrified. Tom your recreation of the accident was fantastic & helped me visualize what actually happened that fateful day.

[de-fault_de-fault]

As a lifelong New Jersey guy who has always been interested in our rails as an integral part of our past, present, and future...not to mention a constant consumer of disaster investigation content on YouTube, I have no idea how I only had a very basic awareness of this story before. But I really enjoyed learning a thorough version of it by finding this video. Amazing work.