Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1911-11-03

SPECTACULAR TRAIN WRECK.
Two Freight Cars Observation-Disclosures
Escape for Passenger Train Carrying
Many People.

Escape for Passenger Train Carrying
Many People.
When the Boston G. Maine owl pas
senger train No. sc "sideswiped" two
loaded freight cars that were standing on
the roundhouse siding back of the town
hall building about 6 o'clock Saturday
morning the most spectacular train wreck
in this locality in recent years occurred.
1t was only by inches that a large number
of the passengers escaped serious injur-
les. The engine was swept clean along
the left side, the trucks and under parts
of the passenger coaches were torn from
their places, the steps were torn off
the entire length of the heavily
loaded passenger train and the two
freight cars were damaged so as to be
fit only for kindling wood. A few pas
sengers reported slight scratches and
bruises to the conductor.
The freight cars had been kicked on
the roundhouse siding and one of them
stood so near to the switch that the
southbound engine crashed into II, knock
ing it down the river bank and at the
same time pulling it along so that the
second freight car and the passenger
coaches came together side-on. The for
ward freight car was pushed down the
"embankment almost into the river and
nearly at right angles with the rails and
the front end of the other was reduced
to fragments. When the crash came
passengers were thrown from their seats
and some were badly shaken up, but
none were seriously injured.
The passenger train consisted of 10 cars,
in charge of Conductor w. G.. Spear of
White River Junction, and was hauled
by engine 1929, a 145-ton mogul, driven
by Engineer G. Il. Ellis of White River
Junction. Jack Johnson of Springfield,
Mass, was fireman. The train was
about 80 minutes late and all the way
from Bellows Falls the engineer had
been trying to make up time, and as the
morning was bright and clear he had
come down the line with the throttle
wide open. The block signal at the
West river bridge showed that the way
was clear and he continued at a good
rate of speed until a few rods south of
the roundhouse, when he shut off the
steam q little. Suddenly the crash
came and Engineer Ellis tried to put on
his air brakes, but they refused to work,
and steam and hot water poured into
the cab. The train went almost its en-
tire length before it stopped. The en-
gineer and fireman then stepped from
the engine. Passengers were crowd1nG
from the coaches, among them lao
bridge workers who had completed work
on the big bridge across the st. Law
renee river at Quebec and were going to
New York. Steam was escaping with
such force from the open parts of the
engine that it was impossible to see
what damage had been done, but a look
at the passenger coaches and the freight
cars showed that all had escaped a hor-
rible wreck by narrow margin.
The train was made up of a milk car,
two Quebec Central railroad Quebec
and Boston line) first class coaches, a
Boston & Maine baggage car, a mail
car, two Boston & Maine passenger
coaches and three Boston IL Maine
sleepers. Nearly every piece OF iron
on the left side of the engine was strip
ped off, the air pump was torn from its
fastenings and rested beside the rails
abreast of the fifth car, steam pipes and
parts of the engine were scattered along
the side of the rails where plates had
been torn off. The asbestos coating be-
tween the shield and the boiler was vlsl-
BILE. The rear truck of the milk car left
the rails. The two Quebec Central
trucks remained on the rails. Every
journal box of the first seven cars was
broken, the heavy springs were knocked
out of place, some of the windows were
broken, and the steps were torn off the
vestibules with the exception of the
three rear sleepers, which did not reach
the freight cars before the train stopped.
The rear passenger coach sustained the
most damage underneath, the gas tank
being torn off and the rear truck turned
at right angles.
The engine hit the first freight car
heal the door and tore one side almost
completely off. 1t was a Canadian Pa
cifc car oaded with stock feed on
signed to e. Crosby & Co. of this town.
Bags of wall plaster in the other car,
consigned to j. E.. Mellen & Co. of Brat
tleboro, were thrown about and a large
number were ripped open.
Section men were at work in a short
time and men not regular employees of
~ -@-I 900 -pA.eA1 fnAA aNxfa Thn
West River track was moved about 10
inches to make room for rains to pass
on that track. The. three rear sleepers
were pushed down to the station and
extra cars attached to the 7.25 south
bound train to accommodate the passen-
gers. About $40 o'clock a wrecking crew
arrived and the work of clearing the
track began. The rear freight car was
pulled back and the other coaches were
put on the rails, About 10 o'clock the
engine was pulled into the freight yard
and later was sent to the repair shops in
Keene.
An interesting feature of the accident
was the scene in the interior of the two
Quebec Central cars in which were the
$50 bridge workers. When early arrivals
went through the cars they found money
on the floor that evidently made VI
"jack-pots" when the accident occurred.
Sandwiches, sardines and sardine cans,
Dredu, ITull, ana all hlHuS VI euiDleS
were strewn about and between the
seats was a variety of empty bottles.
The car that caused the wreck had
been ''kicked' on the siding by the crew
of the local freight that leaves here as
soon as the "owl" train, which was the
one in the wreck, arrives. The freight
was in charge of Conductor Stratton and
Engineman L. j. Harvey and either the
cars had not been shunte up far enough
or the brakes did not hold after they
had been set. The stock feed and wall
plaster had not been delivered to the
c~onsigneees. When the engine hit the
freight car Fireman Johnson was not
on his seat and thus escaped serious in
Jury as that side of the cab was badly
smashed and the glass broken. Five
railway mail clerks in the mail car
were thrown the entire length of the
car and piled up near the door, but all
escaped injury.
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