The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-10-03
CLEARING UP THE WRECK.
After Williamstown Branch Accident Of
Yesterday.


With a freight car rolled completely
down 20-foot embankment, a baggage
car partly down the enibankment and
lcanted almost over and with the front
end of 9 passenger coach well started
on the deelivity the wreck on the WIN.
JAMESTOWN branch of the Central YER
mont railroad, near Berlin street. yester.
lday afternoon presented quite a problem
for the wreeking crew to solve, The
freight ear was swept clean of its trucks.
leaving nothing but the box. One set
lof trucks on the baggage car was ripped
| of, aud the other was wrenched. And
the track was torn up for distance Of
fifteen rods.
Conductor Stephen r. Colby, who took
the plunge with the baggage car, was
not 50 badIy hurt as first thought. In
stead of being broken his leg was only
badly spraiBeS When taken 10 the
Emergency hospital the doctors found
that there were no fractures and Mr..
Colby was then removed to his home in
Montpelier. 1t will be some time before
he viii be able to resume his run.
~Steye" was inclined to take his injuries
good naturedly, and when questioned as
he lay on his cot declared that he had
Icniy been taking a short cut II was
standing up in the baggage car said he,
when | felt the car leave the track and
70 humping over the ties. grabbed
for the clats OH the door and chung nm
til the car plunged over the bank, and
then was hurled into the end OF tie
ear, my foot being twisted in my flight" 2"
Expres messenger ). b. Robinson and
Baggage master Y. Y. Henderson also
went down with tie car. The former
found himself at the bottom end Of the
car with trunk on top Of him. Hem
derson escaped injury except for a cut
and some bruises. However, both saw
that was as near as they want to 90.
Engineer Thomas Farrell says that
he was making fair time when the aecl-
dent occurred. The freight car, loaded
woth butter. was next the engine, with
the baggage car Just behind The
freight car apparently mounted the rails
at a siding and, coupled between two
other cars, rode that way until it struck u
turn when it shot of. 1t rounded the
turn on one Wheel Then the coupling
snapped under the strain, and the car
plunged dowa the bank. dragging the
baggage car with it. The coupling be-
tween the two cars held for d second and
then it snapped. Thus released the
freight car rolled over and over and
brought up at the foot of the embank-
ment, against some apple trees in the
rear of W. f. FoIsom's house on Rail-
road street. Ii it hadn't been for the
trees the car would have smashed into
a barn.
The baggage car was pulled partly
down the elnbankment, but the coupling
to the first passenger coach held and thus
prevented its rolling down alongside the
freight car and probably preventing a
fatal accident. When the car stopped.
it rested, tilted to sharp angle, against
q telephone pole One telephone wire
was torn down. The forward trucks Of
the passenger coach were several feet off
the iron. The few passengers on board
lost little time In getting out. The se-
cond coach did not leave the iron at all,
while the engine also kept its feet.
Both the freight and baggage car were
badly damaged, besides the loss Of their
trucks. Scraps of iron lay about, show
ing the powerful wrenching which the
cars underwent, while the roadbed look
ed as if mammoth plow had been run
over it.
The residents Of Railroad street were
aarighted. One Of the near
est was Mrs. Harry Holmes. She was
engaged about the house when the train
came along Suddenly there was an
lawful crash When she looked out
she saw the disabled cars in her back
yard, and the men assisting Conductor
Colby out Of the baggage car