The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-08-06
Rickety Car Gear Prob
able Cause
ROTTEN TIES PLACE
Walnut Greek Near fLaieigH fihca
With Smashed Freight Jars
Which Fell Thirty zee from
the Bridge Above But
Iniuring No one.
%Injuring No One.

two hundred feet of rail torn up, lhe
timbers and rails jerked on lLte
feet of the iron bridge over the Green.
was the wreck left in its wake py
local freight No. $50 Of the Southern
Railway. bound east, which reacneo
Walnut creek a few minutes pelolo
twelve O'Clock yesterday. the engine
and twenty-five cars getting acro9S
safely.
damage il did TO the road and the
cars. but no lives were lost, ana the
freight carried-bales OF excelsior
coal. stone and lumber-was or such
class as to stand rough treatment
though much of il will be a loss owing
to and the distance II would
have to be raised. the probability be-
ing that much of 1t will AVE to be
burned.
Rickety Gearing of The Car
The cause of the wreck is in doubt,
the track being 50 badly torn up as
to leave little trace, while the smashed
up cars in the creek below give no
sign Of how 1T happened, but the
heories advanced by men Who viewed
the scene and investigated are that
either the dropping down or ola ana
rickety brake rigging caused the
wheels of a box car to jump the track,
and finally pulled others off with IT,
or that the brake gearing or wheels
Of a box car when near the ain
creek bridge gave way. and dashing
nver into the creek, thirty feet below,
pulled five cars with it into the creek
and left one a and the caooose on
the bank. Still another theory IS
that a thin flange Of one of the cars
climbed over the rail about two hun
dred feet from the bridge this pc
cause there are ~indentures along the
ties, and finally jerked over the cars
behind it. The iron rail Is scraped
and orr in places, showing thai car
gearing was dragged along on it.
The Place Of The Rotten Ties.
The space in which the wreck oc-
CURED has been the scene Of two 9TH
ers within the past -four years, a
freight train being derailed, and the
passenger train which smashed up on
the nineteenth of May, 1903, this
wreck caused by the vast numbers OF
rotten ties which made the place q
veritable death trap. The wrecks
there caused the putting in Of some
new ties. but even after the wreck
yesterda yabout fifteen rotten ties
were found on the embankment, while
remnants and pieces of others could
be seen with the wPeckage along the
e~mbankment and towards the creek.
Many of the ties that were used yes
terday in replacing the track are I'M
fit for use and should be taken out
at once. The bridge at Walnut creek
is reached after coming around a
curve on a zig ernbanknent and the
safety of the travelling public demands
that it be kept in perfect condition,
so as to eliminate every chance Of
disaster for a wreck of a passenger
train at this point would give condi-
lions such as to mean many deaths.
Twenty-Five Cars Escaped.
The train, 1t is understood, was run
ming at about twenty-five mile an
hour and left Raleigh twenty-five
minutes late at 11:40 a. M, the wreck
at the bridge taking place at about
11:55 a. m. There were % cars and
the caboose, the engineer being r. T..
Gooch, the conductor L. c. Phipps
and the flagman Harry Hardie. AS
the eight cars left the track and
finally twisted loose from the train
after going some fifteen feet on the
bridge the air brakes broke. AS the
cabOose was bumped along behind the
train Conductor Phipps and Flagman
Hardle were shaken up but were not
injured. 1t is reported that a freight
hand in the caboOse jumped and was
bruised in rolling down the embank-
ment, and there was another report
in circulation that a man on top OF
the cars was thrown across to the
telegraph wires, pulled himself along
to q post and slid down to the ground,
but this could not be verified.
Transfers For Passenger Trains.
When the engine with the twenty
two cars that kept the rails had
crossed the bridge the train was
stopped so as to see what could be
done. Messengers were sent to Raj
eigh for the section master Who
came with his force. and the local
went on towards Goldsboro with En-
gineer Gooch and Conductor Phipps,
while Flagman Hardie stayed with
the ~wreckage. The section master,
l.. D. Murray. went to work with his
men, and shortly after two O'Clock a
repair crew arrived from Selma and
began work. At 2:35 the ~eastbound
passenger train arrived from Raleigh
and about four o'clock the delayed
w~estbound passenger train from
GoldSbOrO, transfers of passengers
baggage, mail and express being
made, and the trains returned in he
directions from which they came. It
took six hours to repair the damage,
and the track was ready for the pas
senger trains due to pass about half
past six o'clock.
Raleigh Fire Department Safe.
The wagons and apparatus of the
Raleigh Fire Department were on the
local freight, having been shipped via
Goldsboro to Wilmington for the
= z LIZ > loOii hiAl0lI ILLS GEN. Dil
fortunately these were in cars near the
engine, and the report is that these
were not damaged.
There Were No Pickings.
The news of the wreck drew big
crowds from Raleigh to the scene,
and in the crowd were numbers of
negro women One party of these re-
turning from the wreck met anohter
party going to it and exclaimed: I'VE
amt got nothing" this showing that
the prospect of many scattered goods.
wares and merchandise had proved an
alluring bait. ever if the walk from
Raleigh was a mile and a half. and
the sun was making the trip a hot
one. There was nothing scattered,
about that was worth While for the
excelsior was in bales but little dam
aged. while coal and stone and luTn-
Der We're not attractive things to lug
from the wreck.
A Mass Of Wreckage.
The wreck as a spectacle was, how
ever. worth the trip. a car loaded
with coal had first gone over into