In 1907 Wilgus was forced to resign from the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad after a crash involving the new electric locomotives he had helped to develop killed 20 passengers. Sixteen died on impact, and four more died in the hospital. The victims were mostly women and children. Anxious to defend his reputation, he carefully documented the design decisions, but the railroad's lawyers forced him to destroy his papers, fearing that they would be brought into court as evidence. To keep the railroad from pinning the blame on him, he reconstructed the documentation and used its existence to keep the railroad from throwing him to the wolves. Wilgus went on to open his own consulting practice. He advised numerous railroad companies on construction and improvement projects and on the valuation of their holdings. He also worked with several states and municipalities including several concerned with the improvement of passenger and freight transportation in the New York Metropolitan area.
