Death On The Railroad (Duffy's Cut)

Death On The Railroad: The Story of Duffy's Cut

Death on the Railroad is an epic nine year detective story and murder mystery. It is a classic story involving foul play, cover ups, a one hundred and eighty year old murder mystery and voyage of discovery for the Watson Brothers and their project team.

This is a science/history
documentary that sets out to solve the mystery of what happened in a remote Pennsylvania valley

known as Duffys Cut.


In 2003 twin brothers Dr Bill Watson and Rev Dr Frank Watson discovered a secret file amongst their Grandfathers papers which set in motion a chain of events which has had a profound effect on their lives and the lives of many others.

The contents of the file recounted how in West Chester, Pennsylvania,

In 1832, railroad contractor, Fellow Irishman Philip Duffy, hired 57 Irish immigrants from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry to lay railroad tracks in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

But, less than two months after their arrival, all 57 were dead, whilst building one of the earliest American railroads, 57
young men from Ireland met their untimely death in a valley which came to be known as Duffys Cut.

The suggestion was they mostly died of Cholera. In 2009 the mass grave of some of those who died was found.

The remains uncovered to date have turned the original story on its head. The bodies were
buried in heavily nailed down coffins. Why?

Using the latest forensic and scientific
investigative techniques and historical detective work in the USA and Ireland,

our modern detectives, the Watson Brothers and the team of experts they have assembled, will unravel this

extraordinary story. (Source: PBS/RTE/TileFilms)