Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-08-11
gUDD CREEK.
BUUU OkSEEhs
The Late Railroad Disaster.
F.ctions and RumOrs-The Facts I'm the
Case-Where she REame Rests

| F-cft0nS and kunlOFS-Ane fafts In kne
elsewhere she Riame Rests.
| Correspondence of the Cincinnati Commercial
JACKSON, Miss, Aug. 8, 1969.-Th.
facts in relation to the shocking accident
at Budd's creek, on the Memphis and
Louisville railroad, have not, as far as
have seen, been correctly stated. If they
reflect unfavorably on the management
it is their misfortune or their fault, and
is no sufficient reason why they should
not be told. if the public interest is con-
cerned in their publication. l rode over
the spot four days before the accident,
and i walked over the wreck four days
after, when l had an opportunity to exs
anime into its probable cause.
There seems to have been systemS
attic attempt to conceal the real facts in
the case, and to set afloat fictions in their
place. The facts seem to show culpabil-
ity on the part of the directors Of the
road the fictions seem intended to
throw the responsibility anywhere but
where it should rest.
OF the fictions set afioat and printed l
have seen the following: That the
train ran off the track probably in conse-
quence of . displaced rail, just as it
reached the trestle- work; that 100000
of specie were contained in the express
safe, which sum was lost in the wreck,
and has not yet been discovered; that
the foundations of the trestle-work had
been weakened by the late rains; that
the cause of the accident was to be at
tributed to the breaking of one Of the
axles of the locomotive; that the trestle-
work in question was put up only about
two years ago; that said trestle-work
had recently been inspected bya trusty
officer of the road, and lad been pro-
nounced to be entirely secure.
From inquiries made on the spot and
from the express agent here, / find that
there was no such sum Of specie on
board the train. The other fctions will
be disposed Of by a simple statement of
the facts in the case.
l have been assured by a reliable
officer of the company that the Chief
Engineer of the road had reported that
this trestle~work was unsafe. That it
lid not fall before seems miracle. The
portion that fell consists of two spans,
each of about forty feet in length. Each
span was supported by beam on either
'ide of the track, and q single truss over
zach beam, and constructed barely suffit |
;ient, considering the width of the span,
or a country road never traversed by |
anything heavier than a loaded wagon,
md utterly insufficient for railroad travel |
md traffic. .-
A tolerably safe judgment on the ques-
ion OF strength may be formed by taking |
| bridge of kestleswork of equal stretch
IN the same road. Within few miles of
he accident, near the Cumberland river,
here is bridge of trestle-work of about
he same length, built within year or
wo, and which is at least ten to twelve
lines as strong as the fallen bridge ever
;ould have been. Were these works
hat have given way with such sacri-
ice of life and limb only one.tenth as
trong as they should be, or is this other
eferred to from ten to twelve times as
trong as it need be?
That the train did not run off the track,
tut that the trestle-work fairly broke
through with the weight of the train,
vas made apparent to me by an examina-
ion of the fractured timbers, which were
broken by vertical strain.
For how many years this trestle>work
las been erected, cannot say. To
ssert that it has been up but two years |
5 an absurdity. The timbers were |
water soaked, split and rotten in many
'laces. A portion Of it, observed, was
f poplar.
Think of using poplar in a country
where oak and red pine are to be obtain
d. As the GAINESVILLE bridge was down
uring the war, the portion Of the road
n which the accident happened was not
Ised, and if am not mistaken, it will be
ound that this trestle>work was erected
'efore the war.
An exposure of the facts in this case
will alone tend to prevent similar dis
sters. 1t may, for instance, compel the
ompany to erect some more substantial
york in place of that hell-trap just north
f GAINESVILLE, where there is trestle-
york a quarter of mile long, a portion
f it ninety feet high, and which is as
ricketY, and rotten, as the
pirit of mischief could desire.
Three lives have been sacrificed, more
han twenty persons have been MANNED,
much personal baggage has been de-
troyed, and several mail bags Of letters
ave been burnt up, in this midnight
iorror. venture to affirm that year
will not pass by without a repetition OF
he disaster on this road, possibly on
more gigantic scale, unless the more
reacherous of these wooden structures
re superseded by others of greater
trength and durability. B. ?. |