Train Wreck in Deerfield Beach

WWII Soldiers Witness Crash

In 1942, a train carrying soldiers on their way to The Boca Raton Hotel for basic training, stopped at the Seaboard Station in Deerfield Beach. The soldiers disembarked and stood on the platform. Many then witnessed the horrible sight of another train barreling down the tracks and plowing, full speed, into the back of the train they had just gotten off.

One person was killed and four injured in the incident.

There was little reporting of the wreck at the time. Al Rouffa, a 22 year old soldier at the time, witnessed the crash. For years he worked to make sure the tragedy was not forgotten. The Deerfield Beach Historical Society along with other Historical organizations in the area took up Mr. Rouffa’s interest in accounts of the wreck.

Research is still ongoing.