weekend. September 3 – Japan – Gokurakubashi (Mount Koya) bound train was traveling on a gradient of the Nankai Koya Line, has a sudden stop and fire broke out from under the floor in Wakayama Prefecture. 71 people were killed and 138 were injured. September 14 - United States - On the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, a northbound express/passenger train fails to take a siding at Dewey, Indiana and collides head-on with the first section of the southbound Dixie Flyer at Terre Haute, Indiana. 29 people died and 42 were injured, many of whom were airmen on leave after being wounded overseas. September 18–20 – United States – A Great Northern Railway (GN) freight train collides with a Northern Pacific Railway (NP) freight near Castle Rock, Washington, on the NP. The wreckage blocks the eastbound track, so eastbound trains must use the westbound track without the protection of automatic signals. While doing this the next day, the crew of an eastbound GN special passenger train throws out a fusee to protect the train, but it burns out and the following eastbound train, another GN special with presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey aboard, crashes into the first train. The following day the NP suffers another accident when a dispatcher's error causes two freights to collide at a closing speed of on the Hoquiam branch. Altogether 4 people are killed and 69 injured in the three crashes. November 2 – Romania – A military train and goods train collide at Craiova, killing 60 and injuring 100. November 7 – Puerto Rico – Passenger train derails in Aguadilla, due to excessive speed on a descent. 16 killed; 50 injured. November 8 – United States – Nine killed and 125 injured when, at dawn, the first section of the westbound Southern Pacific Challenger jumps the tracks and hurtles into a ditch three miles (5 km) west of Colfax. November 14 – United States – Newport, Pennsylvania – Two Pennsylvania Railroad freights collide head-on at about 2200 hours ET on a track normally reserved for westbound traffic. About five minutes later, a westbound special troop train, headed from New York to Chicago, strikes the wreck. Injuries included the engineer and fireman of the westbound freight, and two porters and an enlisted man on the passenger special. November 24 – Poland – Collision of two trains (German supply train and Polish passenger train) in Barwałd