The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-09
ENGINE IN POGUE'S RUN
c., III. & ID. PASSENGER TRAIN
WRECKED NEAR EAST STREET.
Fireman and Engineer Jumped-The
Switch Gave Wayne One
Was Injured.

Passenger train No. SO. on the c., H. & D.,
for Cincinnati, was wrecked last evening at
East street. The train was due to leave
the Union Station at 4:45 o'clock, but was
delayed twenty minutes. 1t came from Chi
cago over the Monon, and On account Of be-
ing late was running faster than usual with
in the city limits. The wreck was not
serious one, but it delayed traffic on all
lines and caused money loss of about
50 600.
The train came out of the station and
along through the yard on the north one
of the two tracks of the Union Railway
About $50 feet west of East street the train
was to have left the north track and take
the south track by means of "cut off"
and it would then be- in position to leave
the Union tracks for the main line Of the
c., Fl. 81 ID. at the Pogue s-run bridge just
east of East street.
There was something wrong with the
switch and this caused the wreck The
switch seemed to break as soon as the en-
CINE struck it. 1t is one of the split-rail
switches and the opinion is that some OBJ
struction got in between the rails and
caused the part to weaken. When the en-
CINE struck it, it seemed to topple over and
let the engine down upon the ties. This is
the only theory, the track being too much
torn up to arrive at absolute facts.
The engine ran along on the ties for a
distance of about $50 feet and them striking
the switchman's "shanty' at East street,
toppled over into Pogues run. The switch
mans shanty prevented the engine falling
completely into the ditch The tender re-
manned on the track The accident was all
over in moment and nobody was hurt If,
however, the fall CT the engine had not been
arrested the engineer might have been
buried beneath it and killed. He and the
fireman had time to jump. The fireman,
James Barrett, jumped to the left side and
struck rail. H q fell on his side and was
slightly bruised. The engineer, NJ. j. Dooley,
also jumped He was on the right side and
the only place Or him to jump was into
the bed OF Pogl run He did this just
as the engine slipped off the ends of the
ties and toppleo over.
Just behind tie engine was combination
mail and baggage car. In It were a mail
of this car raj. off the track on the side
opposite the ditch and the car slipped a
short distance off the trucks. A severe jar
ring was suffered by the occupants of the
car.
The wreck caused stoppage of all trains
leaving the city on the Union tracks to-
ward the east. Trains were compelled to
go out over the Cincinnati division of the
Big Four to the Belt road and around to
CQelr respective lines. "A WI6cklIS crew
was on the scene of the wreck shortly after
it occurred and worked industriously to
clear the track but it was a difficult task
and required until after midnight to COM
plete it.
Engineer Dooley said, after the wreck,
that he felt his engine jump the track al
most as soon as it struck the switch. i
saw that we were on the ties he said.
land realized the probability of the engine
topping over into the run. reversed her
and jumped and at the same time saw that
the engine III
a long second and great relief when 1
noticed that the engine struck something
which kept it from falling upon me. l do
not know where the fault lay"
An immense crowd gathered in a few min
utes after the wreck. There were two
coaches and sleeper, making up a vesti-
buled train between Chicago and Cincinnati.
None of the passenger cars left the track.
The Wrecking crew, when it arrived, de-
voted its first attention to the engine. The
water was turned out of the boiler so as
work was built up from the bed of the run
to support the weight and by means of
jack screws and a derrick the engine was
righted. 1t was not so bad a wreck as it
looked, the engine not being beyond repair
People who saw the wreck praise the en-
gineer and fireman for their GOODNESS and
say that it was due to them that lives were
not lost. The train was running at lively
speed Except for the fact that Engineer
Dooley reversed the engine the whole train
would have been dtched.
The opinion arrived at by some railroad
men regarding the wreck is that 1t was
the fault Of the engineer. railroad man
who witnessed the derailuent of the train
declared that it was running at rate of
not less than thirty miles an hour. He says
it is a habit of engineers of that train to
make the run at an unlawful rate of speed.
The derailment occurred at a cutoff where
the turn is very sharp and where it would
be dangerous to run more rapidly than ten
miles hour Superintendent Galloway
viewed the wreck late last night and made
iaJ