Evening star., 1941-02-27
Crash OF Two Trains
Here Investigated
By Three Agencies
Engineer Of 40 Years
Service Killed; Brakeman
Leaps to Sufety


District Coroner A. Magruder Mac
Donald and investigators of tn,
Interstate Commerce Commission
and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
today were investigating the trair
wreck in which a 56-year-old engi
neer of 40 years service with thu
line was crushed to death yester'
day when the locomotive of a freigh
train tumbled down a 15-foot EN-
bankment near Blair road and Var
Buren street NV, after plowins
into the rear of a standing freigh
train.
The dead man is Samuel Snyder
Of Bartholow, Md, who leaves 6
wife and two children. Witnesse.
said he jumped from the cab a mo.
ment before the impact after ap'
parently having tried to the last tt
halt the train. The derailed engine
pinned him between its wheels at the
foot of the embankment, however.
Andrew Duffy, 48, of Baltimore
was reported in fair condition in
Casualty Hospital today, where he
was receiving treatment for severe
head lacerations received when he
jumped from the train.
Brakeman Leaps to Safety.
A brakeman, William C. Christian
IS, jumped just before Mr.. Duffy
He escaped uninjured.
Witnesses said the train appeared
to be proceeding at about 20 or 25
miles an hour Immediately before
the crash.
Coroner Macdonald said today he
was continuing the investigation. 3"
7, c. c. Bureau of Safety Investi-
gators Gordon Morris, Norman
Welein and Eugene Moore were
assigned to the accident, and
B. & o. investigators were working
under Supt. H. F. Wyatt.
Work Train Returns.
The work train which cleared
debris from the eastbound track last
night returned today to hoist and
carry away the engine and other de-
rallied rolling stock.
Mr.. Christian, who for an hour
was believed buried under tons of
coal or beneath the wrecked engine,
went to a gasoline station several
blocks away after his leap to safety
and made a telephone call to his
wife in Baltimore.
''We were coming down the grade
at regulation speed" he told re-
porters. There was a fagman on
the track back of the other train.
When I saw we were getting too
close to stop in time I looked down
and saw the embankment; then I
went to the other side and left I
was lucky not to land on a rail. I
picked myself up and started run
ming, because I wasn't sure which
way the engine would fall"
Asked whether the engineer said
anything Immediately before the ac-
cident, Mr.. Christian replied:
No. He never did much talking
When I left he was still sitting
there. get the impression he
was applying the brakes"
Fire Alarm Turned In.
Richard C. Keegan, 6801 Eastern
avenue, said he was riding a de-
livery motorcycle along Blair road
when the crash occurred and i'm
mediately turned in a fire alarm.
Broken pipes and sprung boiler
plates caused a cloud of steam to
envelop the engine Immediately
after it hit the street level, and
the caboose of the work train burst
into flame. Fearing an explosion
of the oil tank car, police forced
spectators a half block away from
the scene on all sides, but f1remen
quickly extinguished the blaze.
An eyewitness account of the
wreck was given by Harold Busser,
309 Lynn drive, Chevy Chase, Md,
who was driving down Blair road
at the time. He said:
ct was driving by and saw
trainman, about so feet behind a
train which was stopped on the
tracks. I heard the other train
coming and saw him waving his red
flag at it.
THE other train was going about
20 or 25 miles an hour. 1t must
have had the brake on, for it was
laboring and slowing down gradu-
ally. I noticed the engineer and the
fireman in the cab of the engine.
They had not jumped.
Went Through Caboose.
"Then came the crash. The NOV
ing train was going about 20 miles
an hour when it hit 1t went right
through the caboose. In front of
the caboose was a tank car. The
engine mounted the tank cart
stood almost straight up.
Then it dropped and rolled down
the embankment to the street. The
engineer jumped just as they
crashed, but it was too late. He
stuck in there until the last second.
He landed at the foot of the en-
bankment and the train dropped
right on top of him. guess he
knew it was too late, when he
jumped. The engine was completely
in steam.
THE fireman went out the other
side and was safe. I remember that
the fagman who had been trying to
stop the moving train ran back into
the caboose when he saw there was
going to be wreck. He came out
the other side just before the crash
carrying his clothes. There must
have been something in there he
wanted awfully bad"
Firemen of the rescue squad
worked with acetylene torches to
free Mr.. Snyder's body by cutting
through the axle of two of the en-
gine's smaller wheels. With the aid
of winch on a power company
truck, they were successful after an
hour and half of labor.
In hurtling down the embankment
the locomotive fell across telegraph
wires, carrying them to the ground,
cutting many and telling several
poles. Emergency crews were rushed
to the scene to restore service.
Extra police sped from precincts
and the Traffic Division. Inspector
Edward j. Kelly took charge. In
spector Bernard w. Thompson, chief