Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1912-10-05
BAD FREIGHT
WRECK IN THE
B. AND 0. YARDS
Rear-end Collision Blocks All
Four Tracks.

Dozen Freight Cars Piled Up In
Crash Above c. v. Bridge When
Engineer Of Forward Eastbound
Train Cuts Loose Engine to Take
| Water and Train Behind Runs Into
Him Before Fagman Gets Back In
Time--Nobody Hurt.
One of the most serious wrecks that
has occurred in the Baltimore yards
| in this city for some time happened
| about 10 O'Clock this morning just
west of the Cumberland Valley Rail-
road bridge and just about opposite
Intersection. While 1t was consider
able OF a smash up no one was hurt
The peculiar thing about the wreck
was that 1t involved four trains. It
took nearly four hours to get one
track clear and traffic was suspend
ed for that length of time.
A freight train composed of mer-
chandise and pulled by engine 1850
had stopped just west of the Queen
street crossing and the engine had cut
loose and pulled down to take water.
While the train was standing on the
eastbound main track train compos-
ed of coal cars drawn by engine 4154
came east at a pretty good speed, and
before fiagman could get back he
had run into the rear of the train
ahead.
On the eastbound sidetrack the
yard engine was pushing draft of
cars, and the yard engine happened
to be just about opposite where the
collision occurred and the cars were
thrown over against it and tied up the
yard engine and the second east
bound track. Back about fifteen cars
on the coal train was a wooden hop
per and when the engine hit the for
ward train the impact smashed the
wooden car and that caused three or
four cars to buckle there. They were
thrown across the eastbound main
track and came up against the side of
the engine which was attached to the
work train and which was standing
on the westbound second track. Meth
er of the trains on the outside tracks
could be moved and the four tracks
were tied up SO tight that nothing
could be moved in either direction.
When the Asa, which was manned
by Engineer William Eberhardt, of
Brunswick, hit the rear end of the
train the caboose was completely
smashed and the two cars ahead of it.
Five or six cars from the rear end of
the first train was refrigerator car
which was smashed as if 1t had been
made of paste board. 1t was between
two box cars and the freezer" was
shot almost perpendicularly into the
air and the distance between the box
cars was not ten feet. = 1t was the
freak part of the wreck. Just back of
the Asa three, or. four coal cars had
buckled and spilled the coal all over
the track. The westbound track at
this point was also pushed out of
alignment
The wood in the caboose caught fire
from the engine, and for a time.it look
ed as fl there would be a considerable
fire, so the Ryneals were sent for.
When the chemical wagon arrived
they usedthe chemicals on the blaze
and succeeded in checking it for a
while. The distance from the wreck
to fire plug was so great that line
of hose could not be used. After time
the company secured lot of buckets
and formed a bucket brigade which
put out the lbaze. Next to the burning
car was a car loaded with sheet tin
and this gang of men transferred
to the side of the tracks.
1t was not long until the section
foreman had several hundred men at
work shoyeling the coal from the
tracks in order to clear the way for
the wrecking trains. When the
Brunswick crane arrived some time
after noon the work of getting the
wrecked cars off the track was be-
gun. While the big steel hoppers
were being torn from the train and
tossed over the bank an engine and
another crew went to work at the
west end to tear away the cars from
the work train engine. The tracks
were cleared a few minutes before
two o'clock and at 2.02 thte first train
passed the wreck,
The wreck occurred almost in the
face of No. 2, which was held at Fau-
vers. No. was just behind. These
two passenger trains were held just
west of the wreck until the westbound
second track was cleared. Nos. So
and Is were held down the road
awhile but No. SIS was brought to
Martinsburg about / O'clock where II
waited until both Nos. 2 and went
east.
1t was first reported that No. 2
would be sent around by Hagerstown
over the G. ", but this was not done.
1t was also reported that the two
westbound trains had been sent over
the Washington County Branch by
way of Hagerstown and the Western
/ ,iat, oil inn