Evening star., 1942-11-30
Engineer Faces
Jury in Fatal
Rail Wreck
Prosecution Charges
Violation of
Regulations
BY PAT JONES,
4tAr STATE


Star Staff Correspondent.
ROCKVILLE, Md, Nov. 3o.-A
12-man jury was impaneled in less
than half hour here this morning
as the trial of Raymond Rufus Nc
Clelland, 59-year-old Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad engineer, on charges
OF granddaughter in connection with
the wreck Of two B. & o. trains near
Dickerson September "a, got under
way IN Montgomery County Circuit
Court.
Only five Of those called to the
Jury box were challenged. The II
selected were men of middle age or
older.
After the jury had been sworn in,
States Attorney Ben G. Wilkinson
began his statement to the jury in
which he said the prosecution would
prove the engineer was guilty of
criminal negligence.
Pleads Not Guilty.
The trial opened at $50 am. in
q partly filled courtroom with Judges
Charles w. Woodward and Sted-
man Prescott on the bench.
Students of the modern history
class at the Richard Montgomery
High School in Rockville were
among the crowd in the courtroom.
One student said they were told
to attend in order to observe trial
procedure.
After the list Of witnesses had
been called, Engineer McClelland
was arraigned. Dressed neatly in a
black suit and seated directly behind
bis attorneys, the bespectacled and
partly bald engineer rose and said
mot guilty" in a calm voice that
could scarcely be heard in the back
OF the courtroom He then sat down
and watched with interest while the
jury was being drawn.
While one indictment has been
returned by the Montgomery County
grand jury for each of the Is vic
Tins identified after the maze of
twisted steel had been cleared away,
Mr.. McClelland is being tried on
manslaughter charge in the death
Of DR.. Frederick Hochstetter of
Pittsburgh.
Hits Night Express.
Mr.. McClelland was the engineer
OF the crack Ambassador from De-
troit, which crashed into the rear
OF the night express from Cleve-
land. Both trains were bound for
Washington.
The rear Pullman on the Cleve-
land train was hurled into the path
OF freight going in the opposite
direction and was buried under tons
Of wreckage. ...
In his opening statement before
. jury, States Attorney Wilkinson
said he would attempt to show the
crash was caused by Mr McClel-
lands violation of several railroad
regulations.
These included failure to observe
caution signals and excessive speed,
the prosecutor said. Mr. Wilkinson
declared that Mr. McClelland went
through q yellow signal at 81 miles
an hour and was travelling at As
miles an hour when the warning
torpedoes exploded.
Employees Called.
Witnesses to be called included
Paul K. Partee, division superin-
tendent of the railroad, and eight or
nine other employees of the railroad.
Mr.. McClelland is represented by
State Senator Robert Peter and
William Wilson. Baltimore attorney.
McClelland waived a preliminary
hearing in the County Trial Magis-
trates Court at Bethesda and was
indicted by the Circuit Court grand
jury November 10. He has been free
under $4,000 bond.
The collision occurred in early
morning and crewmen testified at
previous inquest and Interstate
Commerce Commission hearings
that the tracks were shrouded in
fog.
McClelland tainted while testify
ing at a hearing in Baltimore and
gave conflicting testimony about see
ing a yellow signal, but at the ICC
hearing he described as the truth"
his story that he noticed the signal
as he passed under it and thought
1t was just changing to yellow from
green. Slowing down in that block,
he said warning torpedoes left by
the nagman Of the Cleveland ex-
press exploded, and McClelland said
he jammed on the brakes when he
approached the red signal in the
next block.
McClelland said the heavy pas
senger train continued its forward
motion and collided with the Cleve-
land express about $50 feet beyond
the red signal. The Cleveland train
had been stopped for repairs and
was getting started again.
Flagman Gilhart, who placed the
warning fuse, was killed In the
crash which occurred just after he
hoped aboard the Cleveland train.
ICC Investigators attributed the
crash to failure to provide ade-
quate nag protection for the preced-
ing train and failure to operate the
following train in accordance with
signal indicators"