Fayette Factor: Crozet Crash

An Amtrak train carrying GOP lawmakers to a retreat hit trash truck - owned by Time Disposal - causing injures of those on board.

One of two people on the vehicle is reported to have died.

A chartered train carrying Republican lawmakers to a retreat collided with a trash truck on January 31, 2018, Wednesday morning at 11:20 am, a congressman said.

The train was carrying House and Senate Republicans to the retreat in West Virginia when it hit the truck, Congressman Carlos Curbelo, of Florida, said on MSNBC.

The crash occurred outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, specifically in Crozet, Virginia.

The train was on the way to West Virginia when a sudden impact occurred, a loud noise was heard; everyone on the train was jolted.

###

The town of Crozet is named after Benoît "Claudius" Crozet (December 31, 1789 – January 29, 1864). 

Crozet traveled to the United States in 1816, and, with recommendation from the Marquis de Lafayette, became assistant professor of engineering at the United States Military Academy, a postion he held from 1817 to 1823. Source.

Crozet taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and helped found the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia. Crozet was Principal Engineer for the Virginia Board of Public Works and oversaw the planning and construction of canals, turnpikes, bridges and railroads in Virginia, including the area which is now West Virginia. He became widely known as the "Pathfinder of the Blue Ridge."

While at West Point, Crozet is credited by some as being the first to use the chalkboard as an instructional tool. He also designed several of the buildings at West Point. Thomas Jefferson referred to Claudius Crozet as "by far the best mathematician in the United States."

The anniversary of Crozet's death is January 29th. He died at the age of 74, in 1864. The town of Crozet, Virginia was named in his honor in 1870. The dining hall at the Virginia Military Institute is also named in his honor. It has been affectionately nicknamed "Club Crozet" by the Cadets.

For full information and links regarding the Fayette Factor, please click here.