The San Francisco call., 1897-04-02
DISASTER.
NARROWLY"
]. AvERTED
Two Southern Pacific Rail-
" road Trains Collide Near
>Ingleside.
-sw1rCHMAN's BLuNDER
RESPONSIBLE.
:. ....:..:. -
! Quick Work With the Brakes
:. !" :. Reduced the Force Of the
Shock.
ONE. OF" THE ENGINES WAS
CRIPPLED.
=.
The Passengers Were Given Lively
=: Shaking Up, but Met With No
-..-
Serious Injuries
ONE OF. THE ENGINES WAS
CRIPPLED.
The Passengers Were Given Lively
Shaking Up, but Met With No
Serious Injuries

What might have been a most disas-
trous railroad accident in which many
innocent lives would have been sacrificed,
was narrowly averted last evening near
the Ingleside racetrack.
Train No. 10, the evening regular" for
San Jose and way stations left the South
ern Pacific depot at Third and Townsend
streets at $50 o'clock, schedule time, car
rying some sixty passengers, most of
whom we're visitors to San Francisco. The
usual care was taken in winding out of
the City, and top speed was not attempted
until the train was well past Ocean View.
Here sharp run is always made until
the station. known as Spring Valley draws
near, and the Showdown orders take
effect. This is done for the reason that
there are some sidings here and spur
track which is used by the excursion trains
carrying people to the 1ngleside race
course. =. ...-~.. -,
When train 10 came rolling along the
last race had been run at the track, the
=. spectators were home ward bound and had
already boarded their >peciaL. -.
The latter had been sent down the spur
"a mile and half of track-and was
waiting within a hundred yards or so OF
: the, main track until the San Jose train
should: pass, thus giving 1t q clean rail
GOWN 10 L nTu anu townsend streets.
While his special was lying there, snort
ing and kissing impatiently, switchman
named Mogan, who the railroad people
say must have been in temporary trance,
or was troubled with something even
more serious, opened the switch connect
. ing the spur track with the main line. :.
It was evidently his intention to make
the way clear for the special to go oct,
having forgotten that the south bound
regular was scheduled to pass before the
excursionists could resume their Journey
cityward-
= The effect OF his blunder was TO direct
the course OF the now whistling and rap
idly approaching regular with its sixty
innocent souls on board, squarely into the
spur track ana where a collision with the
special, also with its human freight, was
certain.
Fortunately for those whose lives were
thus imperiled by this piece OF apparently
inexcusable carelessness. the engineer of
the San Jose train was sharp-eyed enough
to see that the switch was open.
Like flash he reversed his engine
and ciapped on the air brakes. He was
not a second 100 soon, for his train was
last closing in on the special before the
brakes and reversal began to have their
effect. When they did, though, thew op-
Grated quickly and with force But even
allof this lightning-like and heroic work
was not enough to prevent a collision.
That was inevitable, but neverthe le ss
the crash was so eatlY minimized that
.those.wh were passengers on either train
suffered scarcely more than a heavy lar
Had the southbound regular been mog-
ing down the main track at full speed, in
stead OF slowly, the two trains would GER
tainly have been telescoped ana a fright
full scene would have ensued The loss of
life would have been great But as it was
nooody was hurt beyond receiving Il shak-
ing up and there was little wreckaee.
The pilot of the engine drawing the
southbound train was smashed and partly
carried away and some of the machinery
was injured. News of the m1shap wa.
telephoned to the Southern Pacific
yards and a new locomotive was dis
patched to the Spring Valley station to
take the place of the injured one. All
this occasioned delay of about an hour
and then the San Jose train resumed lis
journey south.
The locomotive ahead of the racetrack
special was not damaged enough to inter.
fere with Its task OF bringing the race
goers home. A baggage-car Attached IN
the track by the force of the COL
llsion in such manner that the
forward coupling was broken and that
end of the car thrown upon the tender.
IL did not require a great deal OF time 10
get every thing in working order again and
send the passengers-that is those of
them who had not taken to the street.
cars--into town.
The railroad people acknowledge that
they had very narrow escape from hay.
F ing one more ia tal disaster added to their
record. Superintendent Frazer OF the
coast division said last night that he was
amazed that SO little damage was done
A few hours work, he said, would see
the jured locomotive as good as ever,
and asfor any other bad effects OF the col
lision they amounted to nothing. But
what he considered most fortunate was
the fact that nobody had been hurt.