The Story of The Train Wreck at Great Falls, Montana, 1900

1900

THE STORY OF THE WRECK

Conductor Bingham Tells How His Train Was Ditched.

THE DEED OF A FANATIC

Switch Thrown Was the Only One Unguarded — Two Carloads of Perishable Freight Caused the Attempt.

The Great Northern passenger train wrecked at Great Falls at 10 o'clock Wednesday night arrived in Anaconda at 3:35 yesterday afternoon. Conductor Frank Bingham was in charge.

Shortly after the arrival of the train Mr. Bingham was seen by a Standard reporter. In speaking of the affair he said:

"It was a miraculous escape and the wonder of it all is that it was not attended by some loss of life. I had all along looked for trouble, but hardly thought that strike sympathizers would resort to such a dastardly trick. Before we left Havre we were threatened with trouble. There were two carloads of perishable freight to be taken through by us, a car of mineral water for Goodkind Bros., Helena, and a carload of beer for John Caplice of Butte. Before we coupled these cars onto our train we were warned. In fact, one of the strikers went up to one of my brakemen, George Alexander, and told him that if he dared to couple those two cars of freight onto the train he would be brained with a link. When I heard this I assumed the responsibility of this work myself. One of the strikers came to me and said: 'Bingham, you would not take the bread and butter out of our mouths, would you?'

"I answered that it had cost me 12 years of hard, steady work to get my present job, and that if perishable freight was attached to my train and I was ordered to take it out, I most certainly would do so. As the brakeman was afraid that some one of the strikers would carry the threat to brain him into effect, I went forward, coupled the cars onto the engine and coupled up the air myself. No one attempted to interfere and we pulled out of Havre without further incident. Our run to Great Falls was made without any trouble, and we got into that place five hours late. It was feared there that there might be some trouble, and deputy sheriffs had been stationed at every switch to prevent any attempt that might be made to ditch our train.

"We were just about clear of the yards when a man rushed out and, after the engine, the two cars of freight and the baggage car had passed over, threw the only switch that was not guarded. I was standing in the front part of the smoker, and when the switch was thrown the car I was in and the day coach went crashing into heavy ore cars standing on the track next to the main line. The sides of the two passenger cars were crushed in and several of the passengers were thrown on the floor, but luckily no one was injured. One of the brakemen saw the man who threw the switch, but I was inside. Had I been on the platform and seen the fellow when he made the attempt to murder us I should certainly have taken a shot at him.

"I see by the papers that the strikers state that they were attending a meeting when the switch was thrown. This may be true, but by a singular coincidence a number of people were seen to climb up on cars, and all were watching us as we pulled out, and appeared to know that something was going to happen just when it did. As soon as the wreck occurred three engines and a crew of wreckers were set at work and the spot cleared as soon as possible. We were five hours late when the train was ditched and about 12 hours more was consumed in clearing the wreck, but we finally pulled out and I delivered the two carloads of freight. that occasioned the trouble, to their destination."

"What will be the effect of the strike and what merit is there in the strikers' side?"

"It will he over in a short time. I have a personal acquaintance with a number of the men who went out and some of them are good fellows, but they went at this matter in the wrong way. There is no strike and none was ordered. The men simply refused to work under the new schedule, and they quit. That is all there is to it. They are no longer in the employ of the company and if they do not return to work other men will be brought in to take their places."

Locally the strike has been of no effect. Passenger trains are running as usual and freight is being received for points along the line as though nothing had happened. A great deal of freight is being congested at Woodville, the northern terminus of the Butte yard limit, but it is expected that by to-day sufficient men will have been received to man the trains abandoned by strikers, and that trains will be moved as before. All along the line scores of deputy sheriffs have been sworn in to protect company property, and for the first few days trains will he run under the protection of armed men.

—The Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, May 4, 1900, page 4.

Note: In the fourth paragraph from the bottom the original article says, "I delivered the two carloads of freight. that occasioned the trouble, to their designation." Designation, not destination. I don't know if that word works, but I changed it anyway.

Robbers Wreck a Treasure Train

Newcastle, Pennsylvania, 1909
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ROBBERS WRECK A TREASURE TRAIN

Royal Blue Limited on the B. & O. Ditched Near Newcastle, Pa.

WERE AFTER CASH CARRIED BY TRAIN

Two Killed and Several Hurt When Train is Thrown from Track.

Newcastle, Pa., Sept. 4. -- The wreck of train No. 5, the Royal Blue limited on the Baltimore & Ohio, railroad which occurred at 12:25 this morning causing the death of two persons and injury of more than a score of others, is now believed to have been caused for the purpose of robbing the express car, which is known to have contained a large sum of money shipped from New York to western banks.

The Baltimore & Ohio officials declared the accident was a pure case of train wrecking, and immediately following the wreck stationed armed guards about the express car.

The train was west bound from Pittsburgh for Chicago and when two miles from Newcastle at a little place called Chewton, Pa., ran into a misplaced rail. Wreckers had removed two fish plates, moved the north rail inside and had pulled out the spikes. The entire train was thrown from the track. The great speed with which it was traveling caused all the cars and engine of the train to topple over on their sides and slip on with force over a small embankment.

Killed and Injured.

Following is a list of the killed and seriously injured as given out by the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company:

Killed:
CHAS A. DILL, engineer, Chicago Junction, O.
GEORGE WHEATCRAFT, train baggagemaster, Chicago Junction, O.

Injured:
E. P. Cavanaugh, chief boiler inspector, Baltimore & Ohio railroad, Baltimore.
Henry C. Millard, passenger, 54 years old, at hospital, Newcastle.
Charles Buki, Austrian, passenger, Joliet, jaw badly injured and knee sprained.
J. H. Lanson, single, 53 years old, residence Indianapolis, bad back, now in hospital at Newcastle.
Mrs. H. B. Seneff, passenger, 40 years old, Chadwick, Ill., in hospital Newcastle.
Master Kenneth Senneff, passenger, three years old, Chadwick, Ill., in hospital Newcastle.

Deliberate Case of Wrecking.

According to General Superintendent R. Finney it was a deliberate case of train wrecking. The rail on the right side was cut at the point and the spikes pulled on both sides nearly the entire length of the rail. The approach rail was moved in far enough to clear the wheels. The spikes were pulled by a bar. The bolts and nuts of the joint showed they had been removed with a Wrench. One splice bar was placed between the rails to keep them from going together. The motive for the dastardly act whether revenge or robbery, has not yet been determined. The officials of the road in Pittsburgh and the entire force Of detectives were dispatched to the scene and began a thorough investigation.

Immediately after the accident a train was made up and the uninjured passengers after being transferred continued their journey westward leaving at 5:25 o'clock this morning. The east bound tracks were not obstructed by the wreck and the westbound track was expected to be cleared about 10 o'clock.

Heroic Fireman Saves Lives.

That a hundred lives were not lost in the wreck, it was declared today was due to the bravery and quick action of fireman Purcell, who escaped death by a miraculous leap from the engine cab as the heavy engine and two cars somersaulted over a steep embankment.

When he felt the heavy engine on which he was firing, lurch and leave the rails, Purcell jumped to the right side of the cab and threw over the emergency brakes thus saving the ditching of the two Pullman sleepers attached to the flyer. The fireman's story is borne out by the fact that the brakes on the Pullman cars were found to be tightly set by wrecking crews.

Dead Number Three.

The list of casualties was augmented today by the death of E. P. Kavanaugh, chief boiler inspector of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, who died at the Newcastle hospital shortly after 11 o'clock. The total dead and injured according to the latest calculation is now three dead and seventeen injured.

Casting about for a motive for the train wreck, Baltimore and Ohio special police today attach special significance to the recent strike of the machinists employed on the road.

The railway people say the wreck was the work of railroad men, as the manner of extracting the bolts from the rails and the removal of the fish plates was done in a way indicative of experienced workmen.

Several former employes of the railroad were looked up by the special police during the morning. No arrests were made.




DENY TRAIN CARRIED MONEY

Pittsburgh, Sept. 4.— Officials of the United States Express company here stated today that no money was aboard the train No. 5 known as the Royal Blue limited, wrecked at Newcastle early today. The report that the train carried a large sum of money was said to be fiction for the reason that the express company carries no money whatsoever on that train, nor have they ever done so. The statement of the express company officials, it is believed eliminates the robbery motive of the train wreckers.

--Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, September 8, 1909, page 2.