| CONNEAUT, OHIO HISTORY & GENEALOGY |
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TRAIN WRECKS |
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Source: New York Herald (New York, NY) Issue: 18294
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| Source: Worcester Daily Spy (Worcester, MA) Volume: 132 Issue:
193 Page: 1 Dated: Friday, July 12, 1901 LOFTY RAILWAY BRIDGE CRASHES DOWN WITH CARS Terrible Catastrophe Near Springfield, Penn., Caused By Fall of Structure on Which Three Heavily Laden Cars Were Standing MEN WORKING BELOW BURIED IN THE DEBRIS Cleveland, O., July 11 - Just after 10 o'clock today three cars of the east end local freight went through the Nickel Plate bridge at Springfield, Pa. The trian left Conneaut only a few minutes before the accident, in charge of Engineer William Griffith of Buffalo and Conductor William Griffith of Buffalo. The latter was killed outright. The bridge gang was at work on the bridge and the 10 men injured are mostly workmen. The horrible affair occurred just after passenger train No. 3 had pulled through. The local, after the passenger train had passed, pushed three cars heavily laden on to the structure to unload stone for the masons working beneath on the large stone foundations. The work of unloading had hardly begun, when, without any warning, the whole structure bearing the laden cars, filled with laborers, fell into the valley. So sudden was the accident that only one man, a mason named George Smith, had a chance to lean in time to save himself from death. The dead: Homer Beckwith, foreman, Conneaut. Phil A. Moore, conductor, Conneaut. George Swortz, laborer, North Springfield, Pa. John Cenos, laborer, Cleveland Carl Randall, West Springfield Five Italian laborers, names unknown. The injured: - J. J. McDermott, a brakeman, Ashtabula, jaw broken, badly bruised. Five Italian laborers, names unknown badly hurt: The place where the accident occurred was at Crooked Creek, directly north of East Springfield, Pa. For many years the creek has been spanned by a heavy structural steel bridge. On May 1, the work of filling up the valley was commenced. Down in the ravine 55 feet below, masons were at work building a large stone abutment. The wreck presented a terrible appearance. The steel was wrenched and distorted into one huge mass. The three cars containing stone were broken to bits and the railway track was obliterated in the pile. The cause of the wreck can be laid only to accident. For a long time all the trains have been required to reduce their speed to four miles an hour in passing over the bridge. The railroad men regard it as little less than miraculous that the structure withstood the strain of heavy laden passenger train No. 2, which passed over it a short time before, and then fell with three loaded cars standing upon it. Conductor Moore was on one of the cars while the crew of workmen was waiting underneath to level off the stone as it was dumped off. Without a word of warning the bridge gave way. The three cars with their heavy loads were hurled into the gulley a distance of about 80 feet. Into the very midst of the workmen the train tumbled and many were crushed. Special trains from Conneaut and Erie carried physicians to the scene of the accident. The work of recovering the dead and rescuing the injured, was difficult, as they were buried under the heavy cars. It appears from later reports from the scene of the accident that the engine did not go down with the wrecked bridge. Only the cars heavy loaded with stone, were carried down. It was at first reported that engineer Griffith had been killed but this now seems to have been erroneous. |
| Source: Woodbury Daily Times (Woodbury, NJ) Page: 3 Dated: Friday, July 12, 1901 BRIDGE FALLS; TEN DEAD Fatal Accident on Nickel Plate Railroad at Springfield, PA FREIGHT TRAIN FELL 80 FEET In the Midst of Workmen Repairing the Bride, the Train Tumbled and Many were Crushed into Shapeless Masses. Cleveland, O., July 12, - Just after 10 o'clock yesterday, three cars of the East End local freight went through the Nickel Plate bridge at Springfield, Pa. Ten men were instantly killed as the result of the collapse of the structure, while it was being repaired. The list of dead includes: Conductor Phil A. Moore, Conneaut, J. Seaboss, workman, Cleveland; George Swartz, workman, Springfield; Homer Beckwith, foreman, Conneaut; five Italians, names as yet unknown; William Randall, West Springfield. The train left Conneaut only a few minutes before the accident in charge of Engineer William Griffith of Buffalo and Conductor Phil A. Moore of Buffalo. Passenger train No. 3 had just pulled through. The local, after the passing of the passenger train pushed three cars heavily laden out onto the structure to unload stone for the masons working beneath on the large stone foundations. The work of unloading had hardly began when, without any warning, the whole structure, bearing the three laden cars filled with laborers, fell with an awful crash into the valley. So sudden was the affair that only one man, a mason named George Smith, had a chance to leap in time to save himself from injury. As soon as the news of the accident reached Conneaut the wrecking train had a hurriedly constructed ambulance train was dispatched to the scene. The wounded were attended to, the dead were placed in cots and all were brought to Conneaut. The place where the wreck occurred was at Crooked Creek, directly north of East Springfield, Pa. For many years the creek has been spanned by a heavy structural steel bridge. On May 1, the work of filling up the valley was commenced. Down in the ravine, 55 feet below, masons were at work building a large stone abutment. The scene presented a horrible appearance. The steel was wrenched and distorted into one huge mass. The three cars containing stone were broken to bits and the railway track obliterated in the pile. The cause of the wreck can be laid only to accident. For a long time all trains have been required to reduce their speed to four miles an hour in passing over the bridge. Railroad men regard it as little less than miraculous that it withstood the strain of the heavy laden passenger train No. 3, while moving slowly over it, and five minutes later fell while only the weight of three uncoupled cars were standing upon it. |
| Source: Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH) Page: 1 Dated: Thursday, Aug. 10, 1905 FREIGHT TRAINS CRASH HEAD ON Cars Piled Up and Locomotives Demolished on Nickel Plate West of Rocky River Fireman Missing, Thought to be Dead - Other Train-men Hurt. COLLISION ON A CURVE Both Trains Running at About Twenty Miles an Hour When Crash Comes - Engineer H. R. King of Conneaut Taken From Wreckage and Removed to Hospital - Fireman E. T. Warren, Also of Conneaut Hs Not Been Found and is Thought to be Pinned Under the Debris. Two freight trains on the Nickel Plate came together in a head-on collision one mile west of Rocky River at 1:30 o'clock this morning. The engineer of one train was badly injured, while the fireman of the other is missing, and is believed to be dead, pinned under his engine. The trains were No. 436, eastbound and No. 41, westbound. Train No. 41 was in charge of Conductor John McCaaundless and Engineer H. R. King, both of Conneaut. No. 436 was in charge of Conductor E. Granfel and Engineer Ed Hoover, both of Bellevue. The two trains were going at a rate of about twenty miles an hour when they met on a curve. Both engines were demolished. Engineer H. R. King of No. 424 Jackson street, Conneaut, was hurled from hisengine and was severely bruised about the head, legs and body. W. T. Warren, fireman of train No. 436, is believed to have been crushed to death beneath his engine. A careful search failed to reveal any trace of the fireman. Mastick's ambulance was sent on a hurry run to the scene of the wreck. Engineer King was picked up and as it was thought that his condition was serious the ambulance did not delay to wait for the search for the fireman. The engineer was taken to St. John's hospital, where the attending physician declared that his hurts were not fatal. None of the other trainmen were injured. Engineer King's fireman jumped in time to save himself, while Engineer Granfel of the eastbound train escaped by a similar expedient. The trainmen last night could give no explanation as to the cause of the wreck. Many cars were piled behind the wrecked engines and the tracks were completely blocked. Wrecking trains were sent from Cleveland to clean up the debris. The accident occurred on a sharp curve. Neither engineer could see the headlight of the train approaching from the opposite direction. On account of the remoteness of the place it was a difficult task to send aid to the injured. The first reports were that several were dead, but it was later found that Engineer King was the only one of the trainmen to be injured beyond a severe shaking up. Fireman Warren alone is believed to have met death. |
| Source: Cleveland Leader (Cleveland, OH) Page: 1 Dated: Saturday, Aug. 24, 1912 TRAIN BANDITS BEAT AND ROB IN HOLD-UP Three Stop Freight on City Outskirts and Assault Engineer Three bandits, masked and armed with revolvers and coupling pins, held up a freight train on the Nickel Plate Railroad last night between Rocky River and W. 110th street just after dusk. The engineer of the train, Charles Langshaw, of Conneaut, O., was felled with a coupling pin and robbed of a watch and some money. The train crew, under Brakeman S. Idle, of Bellevue, O., were held at bay by the bandits, who threatened them with revolvers as they railed at them for not starting their train. For forty minutes after haey had robbed Langshaw the three men held the crew and, finally tiring of their raillery, retreated towards Rocky River. Engineer Returns to Cab. Langshaw was helped back into the cab of the train with his head bleeding and piloted the train through Cleveland to Conneaut. At Conneaut last night Langshaw was taken to his home and placed under a doctor's care. He and Brakeman Idle told the story of the holdup, at Conneaut. The men boarded the train at Rocky River, or a point shortly west of there, according to Langshaw. When the train had gone a short distance past the Rocky River bridge it came to a dead stop. Langshaw, having had no signal from the brakeman, got down from the cab and started back along the train to find the trouble. Idle came up from the caboose. Revolver Halts Rescue. As Langshaw reached the tenth car back from the engine he was set upon by the men who had been hiding between two cars. The men had opened the angle cock on the air brake to stop the train. One of them struck Langshaw over the head with a coupling pin, felling him. As Idle started to run up to help his comrade he was ordered to stop by one of the trio who pointed a revolver at him. Others of the train crew came forward and were held helpless while a watch and money were taken from Langshaw. Police of Rockport, Lakewood and the Detroit avenue station were told of the holdup by the Nickel Plate dispatcher and asked to get the men. It is believed that they made their escape from the vicinity of Cleveland on an eastbound freight train. Wreck is Feared. Idle said that he had tried to induce Langshaw to go to a Cleveland hospital or let him call help, but Langshaw refused, fearing that a freight train due behind his train might collide with the stalled cars. The hold-up is the climax of a series of depredations by tramps and crooks against whom the Nickel Plate police have been working for the past few weeks. The most serious of these recently was the assault made last Tuesday night upon William Alexander, railroad detective, at Erie, Pa. Alexander, working out of Conneaut, was detailed to clean up the ban dof tramps and car robbers which have operated along the division. He engaged in a fight with a gang atop a moving box car at Erie and was beaten and thrown from the train. |
| Source: Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH) Page: 20 Dated: Sunday, Sept. 28, 1941  Wreckage of a locomotive, 14 cars and more than 1,000 tons of steel pipe, was strewn for several hundred feet along the track of the Nickel Plate road near Scranton Road S. W. after the heavy engine jumped the track and plowed down the embankment. TRAIN DERAILED IN FLATS, CAR BURNS FBI Asked to Probe Cause of NKP Wreck The heavy engine and 14 cars of a 69-car fast freight train were derailed and smashed and partly plunged over a 40-foot embankment near the Nickel Plate bridge over Scranton Road S. W. at 5:05 yesterday. Three members of the train crew who were in the engine cab escaped serious injury, although they were shaken up and received minor cuts and bruises. A car filled with fuel oil - believed to have been seventh in the train - caught fire and burned fiercely for several hours. Six engine and two hook and ladder companies fought to keep the flames from spreading to other parts of the train. Only the guarding position of an overturned steel gondola prevented the fire from reaching two wooden cars filled with sheep and another filled with hogs. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified because part of the train's cargo was made up of defense materials. Agents joined with city and railroad police in investigating the cause, which remained obscure late last night. Metal Found on Switch There was a report that the train had hit a rail which was split down the middle, but the track was torn up for 300 feet when the engine and cars left the rails and it was difficult to determine that point. A piece of metal was found on top of a switch close to the spot where the engine left the track. It was believed the metal might have been a piece of wreckage that fell from one of the smashed cars. Pedestrians and others were endangered when heavy steel tubing in pieces 30 to 40 feet in length and a foot or more in diameter, rolled down the embankment from open gondolas on which it was being hauled. An automobile going east in Scranton Road was smashed. Its driver escaped uninjured and disappeared into the crowd without his name being learned. A two-car steel garage at the foot of the embankment was smashed by one of the trucks of the burned tank car that catapulted over the embankment and stopped within five feet of the walls of the Bassett Co. in Walworth Road S. W. ---  Escaping injury, although their cab was wrecked when a heavy engine jumped the tracks and rolled down a 40-foot embankment on the Nickel Plate road at Scranton Road S. W. yesterday, the crew above (left to right), Walter L. Herbel, Conneaut, O., engineer; H. L. Bates, Conneaut, fireman, and C. L. Setzler, Bellaire, O., brakeman, had to crawl out of the windows of the cab to leave the wreckage. --- Prevented From Leaping The train crew members who were in the engine cab at the time it left the rails were the engineer. Walter L. Herbel, 45 of 262 Grant Road, Conneaut, O.; the fireman, H. L. Bates, 44 of 432 E. Main Road, Conneaut, and a brakeman, . L. Setzler, 21 of 733 E. Main Street, Bellevue, O. Bates attempted to jump from the engine when it left the rails, but he was stopped because his right hand was jammed by wreckage when the cab collapsed. Spectators said he would have been thrown directly under the train, as the cars shot down the embankment, had been successful. He escaped with cuts on the fingers of his right had and bruises on the right knee. The train was en route from Bellevue to Conneaut. It carried a miscellaneous assortment of cars - open gondolas, life stock cars and box cars. Engineer Herbel said he had the train running between 20 and 25 miles an hour as it approached the bridge over Scranton Road. He said the track was clear and there was no apparent obstruction or defect in the rails far ahead of him. Engine Leaves Track Suddenly, as the train was 50 feet from the bridge, the engine lunged from the track and headed down the embankment toward Scranton Road. There it plunged into the cinders and dirt before it reached the highway. The tender jackknifed and a string of gondolas plunged down the other side of the embankment toward Walworth Avenue S. W., but stopped before reaching the thoroughfare. The first three cars were open gondolas loaded with the heavy tubing. The contents of hte cars rolled with great speed impelled by the crash down the embankment, one of them crushing the automobile. Stanley Zak, 17, of 1523 Harvard Avenue S. E., Atendant at a gasoline station at 2245 Scranton Raod, and his helper, Edward Gavell, 15, of 2469 Professor Street S. W., were on the driveway of the filling station at the time of the crash. They saw the heavy pipe coming toward them and ran into the service station just in time to escape. The tubing crashed across Scranton Road and into the side of the building. Gavell was bruised on the knee when it hit the side of the door as he leaped into the building. Police Lieutenant Edwin Meier and Patrolman James Blaha were in a zone car at Walworth and Willey Avenues S. W. at the time of the crash. Meier said he saw the train running at a slow speed and paid no attention to it. Then came a roaring crash, and he saw the engine and cars toppling. Over the police radio the lieutenant summoned ambulances, the fire department, rescue squads and police aid. Eleven zone cars came with the fire equipment. The police immediately set to work handling traffic and investigating the wreck. More than 10,000 men, women and children were at the scene a few minutes after the wreck. Traffic was cut off entirely on Scranton Road for several hours. Police said that if yesterday had not been the day for semi-annual sales in downtown stores the street would have been heavy with traffic and many casualties might have resulted. First Assistant Fire Chief James E. Nimmo, who commanded the fire-fighting force that responded, said only the position of the steel gondolas that shut off the flames fro the blazing tank car prevented a serious fire throughout the length of the train. Firemen quoted railroad officials as saying the loss by fire and damage to the engine and wrecked cars totaled approximately $40,000. |
| Source: Morning Star (Rockford, IL) Page: 1 Dated: Saturday, Mar. 28, 1953 5 DEAD, 20 HURT IN TRAIN CRASH Wreck in Ohio CONNEAUT, O. (UP) - Two New York Central passenger trains were involved in a wreck near here Friday night, and Ohio state patrolmen said five persons were killed and 20 others injured. Conneaut Police Chief J. A. Pounds said there was a possibility that a third train was involved. Some 15 to 20 ambulances from this and nearby communities were rushed to the scene. The injured were being taken to the Conneaut Hospital and to the hospital at Ashtabula, 14 miles west of here. Pounds said the wreck occurred at about 10:30 p.m. (EST) about 2 1-2 miles from here on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The New York Central in New York identified the trains as No. 5, a Buffalo-Chicago train, and No. 12, en route from St. Louis to New York. |
| Source: Omaha World Herald (Omaha, NE) Page: 1 Dated: Saturday, Mar. 28, 1953 25 Are Killed in Ohio Train Triple Crash 2 Passengers, Freight Involved; Later Had a Derailment Conneaut, O. (AP) - A gas station proprietor near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line Friday night said 25 persons died in the triple wreck of two fast New York Central passenger trains and a freight train four miles east of Conneaut. "We've counted 25 bodies already," said Tony Talarico, one of the early eye-witnesses to the wreckage. "They're strewn all over the tracks. They'll be up there for five or eight more hours. "The telephones are down and everything." Freight Derailed Two crack passenger trains roaring down the main lines of the New York Central, piled atop a derailed freight train. All available ambulances from Conneaut were rushed to the scene. Conneaut is about 70 miles east of Cleveland. A dispatcher said the passenger trains involved were No. 56, a Buffalo to Chicago Express, and No. 12, the Southwestern Limited from St. Louis to New York. '400 Passengers' It was not known how many passengers were aboard both trains but it was believed to be about four hundred. The Southwestern had 127 passengers when it left St. Louis. The dispatcher gave this version of the wreck: "The freight train was on what is known as No. 3 track. Some of its cars derailed. The Buffalo to Chicago Express came along and smashed into the wreckage. Then the Southwestern smashed into the piled-up jumble." |
| Source: Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) Vol. 28, No. 261, Page 1 Dated: Saturday, Mar. 28, 1953 12 Killed in Train Wreck Two Passengers Pile Atop Wrecked Freight; 20 Persons Injured CONNEAUT, Ohio, March 28 (AP) - Two passenger trains piled atop a wrecked New York Central freight train last night, killing 12 persons and injuring 20, four miles East of Conneaut. The Ohio highway patrol gave the dead and injured figures. "We are pretty sure of that figure," said patrolman E. L. Dennison. "We've had trouble getting information." However, a gas station proprietor near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line last night said 25 persons died in the wreck. "We've counted 25 bodies already," said Tony Talarico, one of the early eyewitnesses to the ghastly wreckage. "They're strewn all over the tracks. They'll be up there for five or eight more hours. "The telephones are down and everything." Talarico talked in spurts, greatly excited. "There's all that, easily," he said. "They're all mangled and everything else." Bodies Left on Scene The bodies of the dead were left at the scene while personnel of funeral homes in the area worked at the chore of getting the score of injured to hospitals. The weird wreck involved two crack New York Central passenger trains, a westbound freight and an eastbound freight. In New York, the New York Central said an object fell from one of the cars of an eastbound freight, coming to rest on an adjacent track. A westbound freight struck the object and derailed. Then two passenger trains piled atop the wrecked freight. In Conneaut General Hospital a spokesman said the first six injured persons had been brought in from the wreck. No Names She did not know their names. Their "injuries do not appear to be too serious," the hospital spokesman said. She added the patients "didn't seem to know what happened or how it happened." Relief trains, carrying Red Cross nurses, doctors and emergency equipment, were being prepared in Cleveland and Buffalo to proceed to the scene of the wreck, railroad officials in New York City said tonight. Passengers from the wrecked trains will be taken by the relief train to either Cleveland or Buffalo, the officials said. Officials said the line's westbound traffic was being detoured north of Lake Erie through Michigan to Chicago. Eastbound trains are being rerouted on Nickle Plate tracks for a stretch past the scene. |
| Source: Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) Page: 1 Dated: Saturday, Mar. 28, 1953 12 DIE IN PILEUP ATOP RAIL WRECK Two Passenger Trains Hit First NYC Crackup CONNEAUT, Ohio, March 27 (AP) - Two passenger trains piled atop a wrecked New York Central freight train Friday night, killing 12 persons and injuring 20 four miles east of Conneaut. The Ohio highway patrol gave the dead and injured figures. "We are highway pretty sure of that figure," said patrolman E. L. Dennison. "We've had trouble getting information." The bodies of the dead were left at the scene while personnel of funeral homes in the area worked at the chore of getting the score of injured to hospitals. The weird wreck involved two crack New York Central passenger trains, a westbound freight and an eastbound freight. In New York, the New York Central said an object fell from one of hte cars of an eastbound freight, coming to rest on an adjacent track. The westbound freight struck the object and derailed. The two passenger trains piled atop the wrecked freight. The chief dispatcher at the railroad's Eastern office declared: "We do not know just how bad the wreck is except that there's an awful jumble of wreckage. All four of our main New York to Chicago tracks are blocked." The dispatcher said only meager information could be obtained because all communication lies near the wreck - close to the Pennsylvania-Ohio border had been torn down." The Cleveland Plain Dealer said a wreck scene report said a west bound freight train struck an automobile or truck at a grade crossing. The freight train, this report said, was derailed. No. 5, a fast westbound passenger train running on a parallel track, ran into the freight's wreckage, which was spread over four tracks. The passenger train was wrecked. Then came the Southwestern Limited, eastbound, which plowed into the wreckage of No. 5. Since all three trains were on different tracks, automatic signals didn't stop them. Conneaut General hospital reported receiving four injured persons, the first to be brought in from the wreck scene. The hospital did not immediately know their condition. |
| Source: Omaha World Herald (Omaha, NE) Dated: Wednesday, Apr. 8, 1953 New Rail Wreck at Conneaut, O. Conneaut, O. (AP) - Eighteen cars of a westbound New York Central mail, express and baggage train were derailed beside the depot here Tuesday night. The train carried no passengers and a brakeman was injured, New York Central officials said. The derailment followed by 10 days a New York Central three-train wreck four miles east of here in which 21 persons were killed. Cause of Tuesday night's derailment was not determined, railroad officials said. The express train No. 137, bound for Chicago from New York has no scheduled stop at Conneaut and was traveling about 60 miles an hour. |
| Source: Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH) Page: 34 Dated: Saturday, Sept. 28, 1974 Engine stops runaway train Plain Dealer Special CONNEAUT - Part of an 87-car section of a runaway freight train was stopped here last night by allowing it to plow into a diesel locomotive and several cars. Conneaut police said the engineer and fireman leaped form the locomotive before the runaway cars crashed into it near Dorman Rd. in the southeast section of the city. There were no injuries. Seventy coal filled cars jumped the track, tearing up about 500 feet of rail and damaging a trestle bridge. Conneaut police said they were called about 6:30 p.m. by the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad in Albion, Pa., warning them of the runaway cars and asking them to try to stop them. A train was sent east from here to head off the runaway cars. Railroad officials said each car has a capacity of about 100 tons of coal. The coal was to have been stored here then shipped elsewhere. The tracks from Albion, about 10 miles from here, lead to the Pittsburgh-Conneaut Dock. The runaway cars might have damaged loading and storage facilities in the dock area or ended in Lake Erie, officials said. |