The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1906-01-06
MISCREANT OPENED
RAILROAD SWITCH
Sleeping Passengers at Mercy Of Train
Mreckers.
ESCAPE FAIRLY MIRACULOUS
Montreal Sleeper Crashes Into Freight Cars at Wal
Ioomsse This Momins....Ensme and Cars
Made Into Sersp....0nly Two Injured
ESCAPE FAIRLY MIRACULOUS

iiailand iaiIfuz4 sfhrfaloi o. lease
North iisnninstaa 81 i1ss =, 81, Fzn
iHio zn spsn ssiich 81 Wsiiosmsse
siaiiof ihis moFaing sni ihs arrss
mat fssaiird aas pns ~ tho sorsi
sfnsshaps Ia 80 hisioiy ~ failfusdins
Ia Ibis srciion,
HAT 'hsru seFr ~ fatalities il So
maikabls Tie shsihosr. Charles
Asriusii - Raiiand sas badly soaii
"a about ihs face and hzads zHd ihs
arsmani " sanbora Of taiisnd ass
aiso soaided Ia no Sans manBfF h.i
ihs b1rrs aoc cot ~ srrpus as three
oiihe englns-r sho also received sums
scaip SQUADS. rnisss b. IL hurt 10,
ieruaily wardseii's isiuriss siii haze
90 permanent results,
Tho locomotive ploughsd through
ihe fright cafs 90 tho sid.nF shich
scrc loaded uiih rolls ~ paper from
ihc mill az Waiioomssc ADD barrels
oircsin aud iurbrd on iis side slmosi
directly across ihc track. Il j. 40
absolute Hreyk.
Tho baggage car cilmhcd TIE loco
motive uha u lay . collapsed hsap
~ iron and sood. Tho combination
mail and smoker sent Oh on q iangoni
" tho right. climbed a sis foot cmbAak.
meni and stopped Ia n backyard 81 q
resident almost asains, the house.
The day coach swsng agaias, the 10.
conceive aud help " make the heap 81
wrcckagc The forward Sleeper cent
"a the rails lot apparently sustained
bu, little amsgc. The tao rear sleep.
or. did NO, leave the rails aud a. soon
a. the wreck train arrived they werc
hauled TO white Greek
Is apparent that the wreck vas
caused by the deliberate opening IT
the switch 10y some unknoWn person.
The lock, which il snap paddock. had
apparcnlly been hammered open vith
a hammer or a piece of stone aud the
switch turned. The person who did
the malicious act must have had some
knowledge Of railrosding for In order
that the opening OF the switch should
not show, the red light danger signal
when the bar was thrown over the
lantern was taken from the top OF the
bar and placed at the foot OF the
switch out OF sight.
At the foot OF the switch we're the
necks oft bottles which may consti-
tute an indirect cause for the act. Who
the guilty party is or what his object
or reason for wrecking the train may
have been, no one seems TO have the
slightest idea. The north bound train
which passes through walloomsac
about midnight went over the switch
safely enough and nothing ont OF the
way was noticed at the time. As the
night trains do not stop at Walloom-
sac the station is not kept open after
the evening train south passes
through.
From the looks OF tie ties some of
the cars must have left the rails soon
after passing the switch. The ties are
cut as though the wheels had passed
over them and one of the rails In the
switch was broken and the two ends |
moved severa inches apart.
The train left North Bennington on
time and must have been running at
its usual speed, IS to 40 miles an hour.
1t was in charge of Rutland engine
crew but the conductor, James Buck
ley is Boston & Maine man.
Immediately after the smashup a
wreck train was sent out from Rutland
making the run to Walloomsac in ~ I
minutes. While taking the unchanged
pullmans back to White Creek the
locomotive had an accident and was
put out of commission. The freight
cars on the siding that were capable
of being moved we're taken to Hoosick
Falls.
Arrangements were at once made to
transfer the passenger, mail and ex-
press traffic north by the way of
Petersburg Junction. The Benning-
ton branch train was utilized to take
the injured ngineer and fireman to
their homes in Rutland.
How the engineer and fireman could
have escaped with their lives is fairly
marvellous. Those who helped Ward
well out of the wreck of the locomotive
said that there was just room enough
for him to lie and at the same time
avoid being crushed to death Fireman
Sanborn was also tied up in the
wreck of the cab but when he was taken
out and an attempt was made to put