New-York tribune., 1910-06-07
COOL ENGINEER SAVES
MANY FROM INJURY
Passenger in Car That Jumped
Track, He Called to Others to
Hold On to Seats.
SMOKER ROLLED INTO GULLY
No One Hurt in Wreck of Single
Coach of Boston Express That
Ploughed Along Ties at
New Rochelle.

The smoker of a Boston express on
the New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad jumped the track at West New
Rochelle yesterday afternoon while go
ing at twenty miles an hour but owing
to the presence of mind of Charles Smith
an engine driver who was off duty and
called to his fellow passengers in the
car to hold tight to the seats" no one
was hurt
The car turned over on its side, and,
although every window glass was
smashed and the trucks were torn from
beneath the coach, not a single passen-
ger was injured.
The accident, according to railroad
men. was one of the most remarkable in
the history of the road. The train left
Boston at 1908 o'clock yesterday morn
ing and was due in the Grand Central
at 3: 90 o'clock It was made up of three
parlor cars, three coaches, a mail car, a
smoker and a baggage car.
The train reached New Rochelle at
32O p. m, on time At West New
Rochelle Junction there is a network of
tracks and switches, as four tracks of
the main line Of the New Haven system
and four tracks of the Harlem River
branch converge there.
Most of Train Over Switch.
Opposite the junction is large tower,
from which the switches are operated by
electricity The two big electric motors
and the first seven cars passed over
switch safely and then, suddenly, some
thing happened
The rear coach broke away from the
smoker and crossed from the east to
the west bound express track, while the
smoker jumped the frog and tore over
the ties, cutting them into kindling wood
for a distance of two hundred feet Then
the rear trucks were torn off and thrown
against switch box.
In the mean time the smoker. which
was still coupled to a forward coach,
kept humping over the ties for another
two hundred feet, until the coupling on
the forward car broke and it toppled
over on its side in little gully between
the east and west bound express tracks.
Smith realized that the car was off
the track and in a calm but loud voice
called out: Boys hang on tight to the
seats Hang on for your lives, This
car is going over"
The car contained about thirty-fve
men. and they all seized the arms of the
seats and hung on. A few moments
later the car turned over and crashed
into the ditch. Broken glass was scat
tered in all directions. but no one was
badIv cut even Several men were
bruised and many suffered from the jar,
but they were all able 10 go on to New
York later in the other cars Of the train
which were not damaged.
Many Thrown from Seats.
When the coupling broke between the
two rear coaches the air brakes were set
automatically, and the sudden stopping
of the train threw many passengers from
their seats. The first report that reached
NeY Rochelle was that a dozen persons
had been injured, and six doctors and
several ambulances were rushed to the
scene. but the physicians had nothing
TO do,
The men in the smoker climbed out
of the windows or crawled through the
door. and although badly scared no one
needed services of a doctor. One man
said that he had six cigars in his vest
noclet and not one of them was broken
For two hours eastbound trains had to
he run over the westbound tracks from
Mount Vernon to New Rochelle, and
hundreds of commuters were stalled in