Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-22
VICTIMS OF
WRECK ARE S
FREIGHT SLIDES DOWN cAJoN
GRADE
FLAMES THWART REscuERs OF
IMPRISONED
Damage ,ooo-InIured Man crawIs
to Warn Trains-Runaway
CoIIides with Engine
f on Curve

jured>and six seriously hurt in a collision
on the Cajon grade near San Bernardino,
between a runaway freight train of thirty
cars and a light freight engine of the
Santa Fe road at 4:40 yesterday morning.
Every car In the freight train was
knocked from the rails. Fire escaping
from the firebox in the engine spread and
soon the entire mass was in flames.
The dead are:
ENGINEER H. X. STRATTON, San
BernardinO.
FIREMAN G. b. RAY, San Bernnr-
dino.
FIREMAN BRYANT, San BernardinO.
TWO MEXICAN TRAMPS, uniden-
tilted.
The injured are:
Fireman c. Thrasher, San Bernardino;
fractured skull, spine and shoulders in
jured. Will die.
and cut
Brakeman Yount; seriously bruised.
Fireman Vaughn, head lacerated; seri-
ously bruised.
Two unidentified negro tramps. lacera'-
tions and bruises.
With the exception of Engineer Stratton
the men who were killed died In the
flames, the hundreds of rescuers who
crowded to the scene being unable TO
According to members of the train
crew the wreck was caused through the
failure of the brakes on the freight train
to work properly
Starts Back
The light engine, In charge of Fred
Worthington, one of the oldest engineers
in the employ of the Santa Fe. had been
used to assist the freight train up the
grade. When near the top 1t uncoupled
and started back.
1t had almost reached the bottom Of the
grade when the heavy freight began to
slide back. Engineer Stratton stuck to
his post and tried to hold the cars back,
but the weight of the train drew the
engine after it, and soon the entire train
was rushing at terrific speed.
Engineer Worthington looked back and
saw what had happened He decided to
try and stop the wreck For this reason
he continued going forward, but at a
much slower rate than the runaway, hop
ing the train would bump his engine and
that with his power, in addition to the
power of the engine which was attached
to the cars, he would be able to stop it.
Worthington misjudged the rate at
which the runaway was travelling, and
when the freight struck his engine the
locomotive was smashed from the rails.
The coal tender was crumpled to bits and
the engine is a total loss.
Worthington was thrown several feet
as result of the collision, but escaped
without injury. He ran from the scene OF
the wreck and telephoned word of 1t to
San Bernardino from farmhouse nearly
mile away.
According to officials of the road, Worth
ington would have succeeded in his pur-
pose but for the fact that the runaway
struck his engine on the curve at the foot
t1@ ~ L IAA h tYhI NnrFT
mended for his action as well as for the
bravery he showed.
Flags Trains
Brakeman Driscoll one of the most
severely injured also proved himself a
hero in the accident. He was thrown
several rods by the collision, but did not
lose consciousness. His knee was broken
by his fall and he was severely cut and
bruised Despite the pain he suffered
from these injuries the brakeman thought
of the trains he knew would soon reach
the top of the grade and start downward.
He knew they would not have time to stop
before reaching the wreck, and appreciat-
ing the results which would follow such
an occurrence crawled on hands and
knees to the top of the grade and tagged
the trains as they approached.
He also has been highly commended by
the officials of the road, and was taken
to a hospital in San Bernardino for treat
ment.
AL! trains on the Santa Fe running to
and from Los Angeles were delayed by
the wreck, and it was necessarily to build
a ''shoo fly" track around the scene of the
wreck. Trains were able to pass last
night
According to officials Of the road the
loss financially to them will not be less
than 100000. and may be great deal
more. All the cars in the freight train
were destroyed.
General Superintendent Hubbard and
Division Superintendent Hitchcock are on
the scene and are making an investigation
into the cause.