Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-29
Locomotive Crashes
Into Electric Car
at 0neonta
Scenes Follow
Terrific Impact Of
Engine
Conductor Of Trolley Falls to See
or Hear Approaching Train.
Signals Motorman on to
Disaster

One person was killed and ffty-three
were injured in a collision between a
Sierra Madre car on the Pacific Electric
railroad and the Pasadena-Los Angeles
local on the Southern Pacific at the
crossing of the two roads a short dis
tance east Of the Oneonta station at
lao O'Clock yesterday afternoon.
Witnesses declared that the accident
was partially the fault of Motorman
Perkins and Conductor Smith, who
were said to have been careless, and
also to have been the victims of cir
Cumstances.
Sierre Madre car No. 2S3 left Los
Angeles at 1:1O o'clock. 1t approached
the crossing thirty minutes later and
came to halt few feet west of the
ira cks. Conductor Smith, according to
the company order, went to the rail-
road track, then gave the signal to go
ahead
Fatal Crash Soon Occurs
Too late he saw the train approaching
at a rate of thirty-five miles an hour.
He gave the signal to stop and the
motorman applied the air and at the
same time reversed the motor. Then,
thinking that he could cross ahead Of
the train, he threw the motor in a for
ward motion and applied the full power.
The huge car gave one leap.
At that instant the engine crashed
| into the middle of the coach, lifted 1t
clear from the tracks and with the
half hundred bewildered persons,
l..
the car struck a telephone pole and the
coach was thrown to the right side Of
the track. AS it struck the ground it
was literally torn to pieces.
The engine was derailed at the right
side of the track and the train was
brought to a stop within distance of
ten feet
Several passengers were thrown for
many feet to either side of the track.
Some were pinioned in their seats, while
others were tossed about within the car
like a ball in a tight barrel tumbling
down a hill
Not One Escapes Injury
Manned, bleeding and bruised, those
who were able crawled from the
wrecked coach. Some had sustained
broken arms, others had been less for
tunate. None escaped without being
cut by flying glass, for every window
In the car was broken.
Hurried calls were sent to all of the
nearby towns and special cars. with
doctors and nurses, were dispatched
with full speed.
Probably a score of the passengers
were able to go to their homes with
little or no help. The helpless injured
were taken from the car and every
thing done to ease their pain until they
could be removed to hospitals.
Treated at Temporary Hospital
A large number of the people were
put on cars and brought to Los An
geles. An emergency hospital was
hastily fitted up at the Pacific Elec-
trio depot
Many of the injured were able to be
removed to their homes after they
had received first medical attention.
The news of the accident spread rap
idly and within thirty minutes hun
dreds of people were at the scene of
the wreck gathering souvenirs or TAX
ing photographs.
When the engine. No. 2S3, of the
smaller type, struck the street car it
drove the bottom of it in the center
nearly to the ceiling of the car. One
set of trucks was thrown to the side
of the track.
When the car was dropped to the
ground it fell partly on the side. Seats
had been torn loose and the headlight
and other apparatus were demolished.
Two Fortunate circumstances
1t is regarded as miraculous that
more than half of the more than two
score people on board were not killed.
That the death list is not larger is
accredited to two facts:
First, that the people, when they
saw the train approaching, rushed to
either end of the car in mad race
to alight before the collision came. |
in no one was at the vulnerable spot.
Second, because the bottom of the
car was composed of steel. Although |
stretched and strained and driven sew |
eral feet from it's natural position, the |
steel underframe did not give way.
1t is claimed that had the car been |
entirely composed of wood 1t would |
have been crushed like an eggshell and |
that the engine would have piled |
up on It,
A car from the east Approached the |
crossing a few minutes after the ac-
cident and physician on board admin
istered to the injured.
The people who were on board the
railroad train assisted in releasing the
passengers from the wrecked coach.
Among the first to reach the scene
were Mr. and Mrs. w. Dixon, who live
about a quarter of mile from the |
crossing. They saw the collision and
ran at full speed to the wreck
Mrs. Dixon received great praise for
her work in caring for the injured
She loosened the women's clothes In
order that they might breathe easier
and wet the lips of those crying for
water
Two linemen for the Edison Electric