Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-30
ENGINEER BLAMED
IN PENNSY WRECK
Failed to Act on Signals, Says
Report of !. c. C.-May
Have Been Dead.
BY the Associated Press.

Failure of Engineman Gordon of
the Cincinnati Limited to control his
train as required by automatic block
signals was given by the Interstate
Commerce Commission today as the
cause of the wreck June 16 Of two
Pennsylvania Railroad passenger
trains near Gray, Pa.
The failure on the part Of the en-
gineman. however, the commission s
safety bureau reported. was believed
to have been due to his Sudden death
or physical Interpretation"
The collision, which also involved
the Washington Express. resulted in
the death of II passengers and four
employees and the injury Of 50 pas
sengels and four employees.
Had Engineman Mcconnell of the
! second engine of the Cincinnati Linn
tied realized few seconds earlier
that his train was not being prop
erly controlled by Gordon in the lead
ing engine, the report added he could
have brought the train to a stop in
time to avert the accident.
Report OH Flagman.
Had Flagman Macdonald of the
Washington Express gone back as far
as he was able TO go in the time
available after his train came to a
stop and before he was recalled, 1t
continued, his torpedoes and fuses
placed farther back would probably
have given Engineman Mcconnell
warning in time to have enabled him
to stop his train before striking the
preceding train. or at least in time
TO mitigate the disastrous conSe-
quencies of the collision"
This accident" the report said
'forcefully calls attention to the need
of an automatic train control appli-
ance which will cause train to be
brought to stop in case an engine
man for any reason failed to obey
the stop indication of an automatic
block signal. Had an adequate auto
matte train stop or train control sys-
TEN been in use on this line this &C.
cident would have been prevented"
The report contained a preliminary
finding of the doctor who performed
the autopsy upon the body of Gordon,
which said that. although he could not
tell definitely, he thought Gordon was
alive at the time of the accident. 1t
added that the doctor was sure that
II the engineman was not alive he
had not been dead more than a few
moments. Gordon was 81 years old.
Flagging Rules Discussed.
If the action of Flagman MacDon-
aid of the Washington express was
a typical example. the report said. II
was apparent the tagging rules were
not being properly enforced Cues
tioning of employees. il added, made il
appear they depended upon the speed
~ the train being tagged, being con
trolled in accordance with block sig.
nal Indications. Macdonald, while
contending he went back a sufficient
distance. IT said. virtually admitted
this was contingent on the speed of
the following train being controlled
in conformity with the signals.
The report said on trains the in
Vestigators rode on the fiagman went
back at a slow walk in one instance
and not at all in another.
Testimony of Fireman Mcconnell.
the only surviving member Of the Gin.
cinnatt Limited train crew, was that
he saw a clear gnal indication at
signal bridge 1920. The report further
held that 1t was probable that in
rounding the curve approaching this
signal bridge Mcconnell saw clear sig.
nal on track No. and accepted it as
the indication for track No. =. on
which his train was running.
From his statement 1t appears that
the first intimation he had of impend-
ing danger was when the rear end
OF train No. so washington expresS)
came into view, the fuse and tor
pedoeS were passed and his enginema n
applied the brakes in emergency. 1t
was then too late to avert the acct
dent"