The Portland daily press., 1873-03-26
COLLISION ON THE GRAND TRUNE
Both Trains Badly Smashed and Two OF
Three Persons Injured.

We learn that about eleven o'clock yesterday
morning collision took place between the reg
ular and special freight train near West Beth
ell The trains were running at the usual speed
aud dashed into each other, demolshing both
engines and piling up the broken cars so as to
completely blockade the road for twelve hours.
A man named Walker is rumored to be serious
ly injured, if not killed outright, and it is also
rumored that two and perhaps half dozen
others are more or less injured. A despatch
was caught by some party sent by the West
Bethel operator, to Gorham, N. H., and Bethel
asking immediate assistance with physician
and wrecking train.
The officers of the Grand Trunk at this point
are the most hopeful specimens of know moth
ings ever seen:
But their refusal to give any information
leads one to believe that the accident is of
more serious character than they would have
the public understand.
The train due at o'clock yesterday was not
expected until midnight.
Later.-The train of the Grand Trunk due at
8 o'clock yesterday afternoon arrived at 1.2O
this morning. From an eye witness we learn
that the collision took place on a sharp curve
mile west of West Bethel, between a regular
freight train going west, and special freight
or wild train" coming to Portland. The wild
train had notice of crossing at West Bethel,
but the regular train, to which the road be-
longed, had no notice of the wild train, hence
the accident. Cause: Somebody had bluuder-
ed. The trains were running at the usual
speed, and were so near together when mutual
ly discovered that the collision was inevitable.
The respective engineers whistled 'down
breaks and jumped off the engines before
they struck. There were three good engines a
minute before the accident, but now the Grand
Trunk has miscellaneous assortment of old
iron long distance from market. One car
was smashed and several thrown off the track
Mr. Walker, an employee of the road, who has
charge of distributing ties, received an ugly
cash in the back of the head, and it is thought
that he also suffered a fracture of three ribs
Two other men living at Empire Road Station
were quite severely injured, one having his
ankle severely jammed, and the other having
his back painfully wrenched. All the men in
the saloon car were more or less bruised, and
one man complains that he has not SO many
good teeth as he had before the accident On
the whole, 1t was pretty bad thing, because
it shows a lack of carefulness in not notifying
the conductor of the regular train that the wild
train was running on his time
The Grand Trunk has excellent discipline in
one respect From the gentlemanly telegraph
operator to the night Waterman, the lips of
every man are as close as if padlocked. This is
the way one gets information respecting the
Grand Trunk. The reporter singles out fell
low whom be hears talking about the accident
to an official, following him out into the dark,
the following colloquy takes place:
Reporter-How many of lour engines were
smashed?
Employee-Three and stove all to pieces
Reporter-How did it happen?
Employee-Our wild train had crossing at
West Bethel and the regular did not, and the
road belonged to it. We met in cut and the
engines crushed into each other like mad.
When reporter consented to appear as a
railroad man there was news enough