St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-04-15
RAILROAD HORROR.

RAILROAD HORROR.
Appalling Terrors of the Deerfield Dis.
aster.--MarveIous Stories of Individual
| Experiences.
| We CLEAN from the Boston Journal
the following account of the most hOr-
rible and disasterOus railroad accident
that ever took place in New England
that occurred last Thursday evenin g
about six o'clock, Oh the Fitchburg
road near Deerfeld, Mass.
GREENFIELD, MASS, April s. In
combination of horrors the disaster
near Deerfield last night is unmatched
i'm American railroad history. Its vic
tins met death by fire, by drowning
and by frightful mutilatiOn. That any
one escaped alive from the charred
| fragments that lie at the bottom of the
ragged precipice skirted by the Deer
field river seems nothing short of a
miracle. Yet there are two or three
who went almost unscathed through
an experience that for the moment each
one believed marked the crisis of his
terrestrial career. So complete has
| been the Obliteration of train and con-
| tents that no one can yet accurately
measure the extent of the disaster in
it's effect upon human life. The record
as thus far made up is ten dead and
twenty eight Injured. No wilder spot
in this wild corner of the state could
| be pick ed out where railroad accident
would be more disasterous. The road
creeps along a narrow ledge, artificial
" widened with earth to make it broad
enough for two tracks. Above towers
steep hill several hundred feet high.
Below the restless Deerfield swings
around the base of the hill two hundred
feet distant, but at the foot of Il decliv
ity so steep that it is easy to shy a
stone into the boiling waters. The
slope is composed of great rocks, sharp
and jagged, rudely tossed down appar-
emily from above and burying from
sight the natural soil, if any exists. 1t
is impossible to descend or scale the
rough steep with safety without the
aid of lifeline carefully fastened
above.
When the doomed train approached
this ugly spot last evening the track
appeared to be in sound condition as
usual. There were two or three feet
of apparently solid earth outside the
outer rail. A heavy freight train had
passed safely over less than tive hours
before, and one or two section men had
been at work there during the after
noon. Engineer LittlejOhn had a train
of six cars, and, having just pulled up
the grade from BardwelPs, the speed
did not exceed IL miles per hour. At
spot perhaps within yard of the
worst that could have been pointed out
Engineer Littlejohn suddenly felt the
track sinking from beneath his engine.
He knew what it meant, and in an in
slant he had thrown back the reverse
lever and turned the air-brake cock
1t was of no use. The soft, water
soaked earth beneath the outer rail
yielded like sand to the pressure of a
boot heel. The rail slumped two feet
below the level of the parallel iron,
and the train began to tip toward the
river. The locomotive crossed the
weak spot but the tender felt the
treacherOus influence, and in an instant
twisted off from its connection, tipping
the main body of the engine over the
edge of the bank, where it perclLed
upon its side. Every car in the train,
in its order, went in the direction taken
ton the six cars whirled over and over
like immense rectangular spoOls grind
ing themselves to bits on the cruel
rocks in mad race to reach the river
below. Nobody could count the revo-
lutions as they whirled with the accel-
Grated speed of gravitatiOn into the
rushing stream. The fifty people thus
shaken in great dice boxes hardly re-
was not an instant's warning. No one
had chance to make more than the
most instructive movements for self
preservation. Some could not even
grasp the seats in which they sat be-
fore they were whizzing heels-over-
head. Five of the cars plunged into
the river, which is about twelve feet
deep near the shore. Three or four
persons received their death wounds
during the whirling fall as many more
were plunged beneath the water and
knew no more. Within few moments
fire burst out at several places in the
mass of broken wood and metal, and
the most terrible death of all was ad-
ded for others. Under such terrible
combination of circumstances the ex-
periences of the half hundred victims
were as various as their individual
numbers. No two suffered alike.
Some suffered in greater or less degree
from all three dangers and lived, 9th
ers persisted when apparently more
favOrably situated. The danger by
fire was the only one that could be
fought, but it was a crippled and faint
ing little band of those less unfortu-
nate that rallied to the aid of those in
greater peril. A few were rescued, all
in fact who were exposed to fresh dan
ger, before the flames destroyed all
that was cOmbustible in half the
wreck.
Nine tenths of those on board the
train were killed or hurt. There faced
the survivors the appalling necessity of
scaling the sharp and slippery rocks
to the rOadbed above. 1t was as pain
full pilgrimage as a group of sufferers
ever undertook. The desperately hurt
were lifted from rock to rock by their
stronger companions, and finally all
reached the spot from which the plunge
was taken.
The accident happened just before
dark, at about six O'clock. Within an
hour the first help from outside, sum-