The Bismarck tribune., 1931-05-28

Train Lifted from
Tracks Near Fargo
By Freak Tornado
Continued from page one)
Dakota Minnesota line and was near
ing Sabin. Mimi, with Engineer B. E.
Mckee. st. Paul, at the throttle.
All Coaches Lifted
Without warning. as II handled in
a cradle, the entire IL coacn train
was lifted from the tracks, moved east
from the roadbed, and deposited with
a thud on the prairie, leaving only
the 54.0O0-pound engine and tender
on the tracks.
AS If held spellbound by the sud-
denness of the disaster, moment or
two passed before realization Of the
horror Of the wreck became mani
fest among the passengers. Men
struggled frantically to make their
way over the debris, through shat
tered windows and jammed doors.
Passing motorists sped into Moor
head, Mimi, notified railway officials
and within few minutes doctors,
nurses and ambulances were en- route
Scores of volunteers. including po-
lice, farmers and Moorhead citizens,
climbed inside the coaches and
passed the injured to waiting hands.
Despite the tremendous shock of
the impact, scores escaped uninjured,
chiefly because all cars Of the train
were of steel. None Of the coaches
collapsed.
Use Special Train
The first of the injured were
rushed to hospitals at Moorhead and
Fargo in automobiles of passing mo-
torists. A few minutes later spe;
cial train from Fargo reached the
wreck and took the remaining in
jured and other passengers.
One of the heroes Of the wreck
was Andrew Jackson, Seminole In
dian, en- route to his home at Pawnee,
Okla, who aided injured and assisted
in restoring order Immediately after
the crash.
Seven persons were imprisoned for
half an hour in the train club car
when doors jammed. The barriers
were chiseled away and the persons,
several hysterical, taken out.
The luXuriously equipped train, one
of the fastest in the northwest, was
named after the late James j. Hill.
Empire Builder" of the northwest,
and had been in service for three
years.
Engineer Mckee and AL Klinfehn,
Minneapolis. fireman on the engine,
said the IL coaches literally were
jerked away from the locomotive.
The coupling between the first car
and the tender snapped as the high
wind struck, but the locomotive
stuck to the tracks, although 1t shook
noticeably.
The two said they noticed men,
acing cloud but thought nothing Of it
until it struck the train.
Edward Brandt, conductor In
charge of the train still was dazed
Thursday suffering from bruises to
the head.
To Resume Traffic Soon
Wreckers were sent out from
Breckenridge, Mimi, and Grand
Forks, N. D., to clear the tracks. Work
was being rushed and traffic was cx-
pected to be resumed before long. Of
ficials of the Great Northern said.
Passengers and the train crew were
able to give but little in the way OF
impressions of what happened be-
cause Of the suddenness of the tor
nado, which struck at 4:22 p. m.
I'M f;,.c% 1,.ooly3No nf tho
windows, was followed almost in
stantly by the wild pitching OF the
cars. In the coaches passengers
threw themselves to the floors and
scores saved themselves from more
serious injury.
In the observation coach, where
about a dozen passengers were rid
ing, all but one passenger were able
to reach the floor. The single one
was injured, the others, buried under
furniture of the car, suffered only
minor hurts.
Interiors OF many Of the coaches,
including the palatial observation car,
were wrecked.
Are Working Rapidly
Work of removing the IL cars Of the
Empire Builder moved at rapid
pace Thursday under the direction OF
Charles McOonough, st. Paul, gen.
eral superintendent of the Great
Northern.
BY 10 a. n. four of the 80-ton Pull
mans and the heavier observation
car had oeen replaced on the rails
and brought to Fargo. AS three
giant wreckers tugged and hauled
the coaches into position to lay them
on the rails, other crews prepared
for the most difficult of the cleanup
tasks-the removing Of two baggage
coaches, tho end of one Of which
rests lis fest from the rails.
A special spur line has been built
alongside tho coaches and late Thurs
day wreckerS will move in to re-
claim them.
Traffic over the line is to be at
near normal late Thursday, Mr.. Nc
Donough said, and noon Friday all of
the debris Is expected to be cleaned
up. Trains Nos. l, 2, 7, and II were
to operate over the line Thursday.
No. is the Empire Builder.
Train Narrowly Missed
A train running away from tor
nado was the story related by
Thomas E. Clark. st. Paul, conductor
of the North Coast Limited, Northern
Pacific passenger train.
He gave the engineer the dynamite
signal" - meaning to get away in a
hurry-and the train missed the tor
nado by a quarter OF a minute by
Clarks estimate. A few minutes later
il bowled the Great Northern's crack
train, Empire Builder, from the track.
killing one and injuring more than a
score.
Ralph Budd, president of the Great
Northern, had a word of praise for
Leonard Henderson.