Wabash Railroad Newspaper Clippings
COLLISION ON THE TOLEDO AND WABASH RAILROAD
At Least Five Killed
Source: Alton Telegraph, July 28, 1871
From the Edwardsville Intelligencer - One of the most terrible and
terrific collisions that has ever taken place in the West, occurred
on the Toledo and Wabash Railroad, about a mile and a half from
Edwardsville, on Tuesday evening, at 5:30 p.m., between the
way-freight and a construction train loaded with sand. The two
trains were running at full speed, and the accident occurred at a
bend of the road where the timber was so thick as to prevent either
of the trains from being observed until within about two or three
hundred yards of each other. Two sharp and distinct whistles from
both engines were heard at the same time, and the driving wheels
were seen to reverse, but it was too late. Both engineers and
firemen were seen to jump into the ditch, and thus save their lives,
while the laborers, numbering some f25, on a flat car of the
construction train, were ignorant of approaching danger. The two
engines came together with a fearful crash, as though struggling for
the mastery, and they both together went over the embankment, the
most complete wrecks that were ever witnessed. There was not a
wheel, nor a single piece of machinery that could ever be recognized
as belonging to a locomotive. The only parts that remained intact
were the boilers.
As soon as the engines were released, the sand cars shot into the
freight cars like a bullet. Our readers can imagine the havoc which
such an occurrence would produce. Five of the men on the sand truck
were killed outright, and 16 or 17 wounded – some of whom have since
died.
Like wildfire, hundreds of our citizens were soon on the ground to
extricate the dead from the debris, and to assist the wounded.
Doctors Weir, Pogue, and Armstrong went down on a special train and
worked with their sleeves rolled up till midnight.
A little girl, living right where the collision occurred, was
standing at the point of the bend and could see the two trains
approaching each other. She ran a few steps and waved a handkerchief
as a signal of danger, but she was not heeded, as the people all
along the line are in the habit of waving handkerchiefs at passing
trains.
The conductor of the way-freight reported at the depot soon after
the accident, and it is rumored has not since been seen, nor can he
be heard from. Among the killed were John Younghaus of Edwardsville.
Michael Udig, also of Edwardsville, was badly wounded and is not
likely to recover.
RAILROAD ACCIDENT AT CARPENTER
Engineer and Brakeman Killed
Source: Alton Telegraph, September 11, 1879
A freight train on the Wabash Railroad was thrown from the track at
Carpenter in Madison County, at 1:40 o’clock a.m. Sunday. The
engineer, John Corcoran, and the brakeman, Charles Niemeyer, were
killed, and the fireman, James Fitzsimmon, was rendered a helpless
cripple, even should he survive his injuries. Thirteen loaded cars
were wrecked. The accident was caused by a misplaced switch, whether
accidental or by design is not certainly known.
ACCIDENT ON THE WABASH
Source: Alton Telegraph, September 15, 1881
From Edwardsville - A fearful accident occurred on the Wabash Road,
this side of Carpenter, this morning, by which the engineer, Mr.
John Bartholomew, on the westbound Decatur train due here at ten
o’clock, was seriously, if not fatally scalded, and the fireman
slightly injured. It seems that some part of the engine broke and
forced a hole into the side of the boiler, and let the water and
steam escape, which in turn was thrown forward by the driving wheels
into the cab and onto the engineer and fireman, both of whom jumped
or were thrown off the engine, while the train under full headway
proceeded on its journey until it stopped of its own accord. The
Conductor, Mr. Morgan, promptly discovered the condition of affairs,
and dispatched men back to look after the missing fireman and
engineer, while he came on foot with all possible haste to
Edwardsville Junction to report the disaster and procure medical
aid. The services of the plug train, which was at the depot, were
brought into requisition, and conveyed aid to the disabled train and
brought it and the injured fireman and engineer to Edwardsville. The
engineer is being attended to by Dr. Pogue, and it is thought that
his injuries, although very severe, are not necessarily fatal. The
firemen’s injury was not so great, but that he was able to be taken
to St. Louis. No other persons were injured, and the train, after
about an hour’s delay, was taken on to St. Louis drawn by the plug
engine.
COLLISION ON THE WABASH NEAR EDWARDSVILLE
Engineer and Conductor Killed
Source: Alton Daily Telegraph, December 26, 1882
A terrible collision took place Saturday night on the Wabash
Railroad near Edwardsville, between the passenger train from St.
Louis and a southbound engine and caboose, resulting in the death of
engineer George Silsbee, and Conductor Henry Dresser, and the
serious injury of Henry J. Hyde and Ed Bramble, postal clerks. It
appears that the express had orders to meet the engine and caboose
at Carson, while the engine and caboose had orders to meet the
express at Carpenter, and so ran by Carson, through Edwardsville,
towards Carpenter. Just beyond Carpenter, the two trains me, both
running at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and the collision was
terrific. The two engines smashed into each other, and with the cars
were thrown from the track. It is said that the cause of the
accident was that the telegraph operator, in writing the order for
the running of engine and caboose, made a mistake in writing
Carpenter for Carson as the place of meeting of the two trains.
Conductor Dresser was formerly proprietor of the Union Depot Hotel
in Alton, and had many friends in Alton who regret his untimely end.
His family resides in Decatur.
Mr. Henry J. Hyde was for many years a resident of Godfrey, and is
well known to our citizens. His collar bone is broken, and he
received other injuries. We trust he will soon recover.
WABASH ACCIDENT KILLS BAGGAGE MASTER
Source: Alton Telegraph, January 22, 1885
Monday, the westbound passenger train No. 43 on the Wabash Railroad
struck a broken rail at Venice. The baggage car and smoker were
precipitated down a steep embankment into the ditch below.
Fortunately, the coupling broke and the rear cars did not leave the
track, but passed safely over the place where the accident happened.
The express messenger, J. J. Matlocks, was killed outright, and 10
or 15 passengers were injured. There is no estimate of the damage to
the rolling stock, but it is heavy.
WRECK ON THE WABASH RAILROAD
Baggageman Killed; Brakeman Seriously Crushed
Source: Alton Telegraph, November 4, 1886
Thursday morning, one of the most disastrous railway wrecks of
recent months occurred on the Wabash Road, a few miles west of
Edwardsville. The wreck was a head-on collision between the regular
Decatur Accommodation NO. 46, which leaves St. Louis Union Depot
daily at 11 p.m., and the second section of freight train No. 77,
coming into St. Louis. There is apparently no excuse for the
carelessness which brought about the death of William Ballon, the
baggage expressman, and the almost fatal injury of S. A. Bauman,
head brakeman of the freight train.
The passenger train left the Union Depot on time, and was composed
of one combination baggage, express, and smoking car, and two
passenger coaches. The freight train consisted of about thirty
loaded cars. The trains had orders to meet at Venice at 11:35
o’clock, when all was in readiness for a start. Thinking that the
passenger train would run ten minutes behind its order, which is the
rule on that road, the conductor of the freight train pulled out of
Edwardsville at 11:30p.m., with the intention of heading in on the
siding at Gillham, equal distance between Edwardsville and Mitchell.
The trains met each other at a point just halfway between Gillham
and Edwardsville. In other words, the freight train had only moved
two miles when the collision occurred. The freight train was then
running at the rate of thirty miles an hour, at least ten miles
above the schedule allowed, and the passenger train was running at
the rate of at least forty miles an hour, the grade at that point
being a little downhill. The engineers and firemen of both engines
jumped and saved themselves, and it is well they did, for the
engines were the most complete wrecks imaginable. Neither engine
left the rails, but were jammed tightly together, the pilots of both
being crushed to kindling, the stack and cabs of both knocked off,
side rods broken and gone, cylinder heads mashed in, and steam
chests knocked off.
The baggage expressman, William Ballon, was killed outright while at
his post of duty in the baggage-express division of the telescoped
coach. The wound that caused his death was a large cut at the back
of his head, about the base of the brain. S. A. Bauman, the head
brakeman of the freight train, was thrown under the debris of the
wreck, and received very serious injuries.
The most remarkable escape was made by a tramp, who gave his name as
Edward Wilkinson. He was stealing a ride, and had stowed himself
away between lumber piled in one of the stock cars. The car he was
in was about third from the engine, and when the crash came, it left
the rails, going over several other cars, and finally landing
without trucks on the top of the pile of cars which covered the
wrecked freight engine, almost forty feet in the air. Wilkinson
howled for help, and some of the train men, with the aid of a saw,
released him from his perilous position.
The caboose of the freight train was left standing on a low trestle.
It was still connected to the other cars that had formed the rear
end of the train. All of the freight cars, not derailed, were jammed
closely together, the drawheads being mashed in and drawbars broken.
Had the collision occurred on the trestle where the caboose was
standing, the loss both of life and property would have been much
larger.
The trains met at the foot of a little hill, which the passenger
train had just descended. The passenger train, after the collision,
was left standing on a fifteen-foot fill. If any of the coaches had
left the rails, they would certainly have plunged down the
embankment, and have been upset, which would have caused an awful
loss of life. AS it was, the passengers were thrown from their seats
into the aisles, suffering only from scratches, bruises, and a
lively shaking up.
As soon as the train men picked themselves up and found out what had
happened, the work of looking for the missing ones was commenced.
The conductor of the passenger train sent a messenger back to
Gillham, and the wrecking train was sent for the clear away the
debris from the road, so that it would be open for traffic. The
wrecking train and crew had to come from Litchfield, but made a good
run, arriving at the wreck shortly before 3 o’clock.
The body of Ballon was removed to another car, where it lay until 9
o’clock in the morning, when it was removed to Edwardsville for an
inquest. The trainmaster, Mr. L. M. Smith, went immediately to the
scene of the wreck and commenced an investigation. The decision
arrived at was that the collision occurred from the fact that
Conductor Bigelow was running extra train No. 77 on the time of
train No. 46 without orders.
DEPOT BADLY NEEDED IN EDWARDSVILLE
Source: Alton Daily Telegraph, September 8, 1887
If the patrons of the Wabash Railroad, who live in Edwardsville, and
desire shelter from the wind, rain, heat and cold while waiting for
the arrival or departure of trains, when there possibly may be half
a dozen people in the 6x9 affair of a depot ahead of them, they will
have to lodge complaint with the State Railroad Commissioners, or
put up the “dust” to build one. The latter plan would suit the
company better. The poor, old Wabash has “pulled” Edwardsville for
so much money in years passed, that it has given the managers cheek
enough for them to ask “assistance” in building a depot. The State
can compel the company to provide suitable quarters, and we hope it
will be done.
WABASH WRECK NEAR NAMEOKI
Sixty People Injured
Source: Alton Telegraph, October 12, 1893
A most disastrous wreck occurred Monday on the Wabash Railroad, just
beyond Nameoki. The Columbian Banner, a solid vestibuled Wabash
train, with five coaches and a palace buffet car, came thundering
along at a high rate of speed, when the rails spread and the entire
train, with the exception of the engine, was sent hurling into the
ditch on both sides of the track. The train instantly caught fire,
and a panic among the maimed and badly shaken passengers ensued. For
awhile, the wildest excitement prevailed. Four coaches were hurled
to the right side of the track, and the other two went to the left,
while the engine kept the rails. The heavy vestibule car, which
brought up the rear, turned completely over twice in its descent.
The strangest part of the accident is that no one was killed
outright. Several are so badly injured that they will die. Relief
trains arrived shortly after, with physicians and ambulances, and
the work of attending to the worst injured was commenced. Every
passenger either got out himself or was helped out before the flames
gained much headway. A Chicago & Alton and Big Four train passed by
without offering to aid the sufferers. The flames of the burning
train illuminated the sky for miles around, and presented a wild
spectacle. Among the list of the injured is given the name of Mark
Ruden of Alton, but no such person can be located here.
Conductor Ogan of the Chicago & Alton train that passed the burning
Wabash wreck at Nameoki Monday evening was interviewed by a
Telegraph representative last night. He said, “When our train passed
the Wabash wreck, there was only a small blaze. Of course, we were
under orders, and the magnitude of the disaster was not realized at
once. Were I to be placed in the same circumstances again, I would
stop the train.” There is but eight minutes time between Conductor
Ogan’s train and another. It would require quick thinking to take
the conditions in at a glance. Manager Chapp of the Chicago & Alton
has asked the Wabash for the particulars in the case, and received
the reply that the Chicago & Alton train employees had passed by
when their services would likely have saved the destruction by fire
of the vestibule train, and been of great aid to the injured
passengers.
WABASH RAILROAD
Source: Alton Telegraph, December 19, 1895
The Wabash Railroad to Edwardsville Crossing has been undergoing a
radical change lately. This branch, a part of what is known as the
“Dinkey,” is being greatly improved. Steel rails are being placed in
position, and 200 carloads of ballast have already been used in
improving the roadbed.
WRECK ON THE WABASH NEAR AT EDWARDSVILLE
Source: Edwardsville Intelligencer, January 13, 1909
The first train from Alton this morning over the Wabash-Terminal had
a disastrous wreck just west of town. The train consisted of two
cars, the first a combination baggage and smoker and the second a
passenger coach, pulled by Engine 405. At 7 o'clock this morning the
train was speeding for the Junction to make the early morning
connection from Chicago. It whirled around the curve at the
intersection of the Alton road near the place of Martin Drda, and
crashed into four cars of coal. The front end of the engine was
smashed, and the first coach ..... [unreadable] in the air and
reared across the tender of the locomotive. The first coal car was
crushed by the impact and the others were driven a hundred yards
down the track. How the cars came there is a mystery, but it is
supposed that they escaped from the yards south of town. It was said
at the Litchfield & Madison office this morning that one of the yard
crews had probably been switching there last night, but the office
force did not know whether any coal was left for transfer. At any
rate the runaways traveled over the "High Line" past Woodlawn, out
across the Wabash main line and then across Cahokia Creek to the
Alton road, where they came to rest. Today's wreck lies directly
across the wagon road. Engineer Andy Herrick, who was on the 405,
was painfully hurt, but according to reports received here none of
the other members of the crew were hurt, nor were the passengers
more than bruised. Inquiry at the main office of the Terminal in
Alton failed to develop the fact that they even knew there was a
wreck. There was only one chance of saving the train and it came too
late. Martin Drda, who lives in the neighborhood, went out of the
house and saw the coal cars just a moment before the passenger
struck. He heard the latter coming, but before he could get to the
place the crash came. Ben Bernius, carrier on Route Six, found the
road blocked by the wreck, so he drove back to the junction and
brought the accumulation of mail up town to the post office. Express
matter remained at the Junction until noon, when it was secured by
means of sleighs.
WABASH TRAIN HELD UP BY FIFTEEN MASKED MEN
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, February 5, 1920
Fifteen masked men this morning held up Wabash passenger train
number 6, two miles south of Nameoki, and secured $500 in cash and
valuable jewelry from the passengers. The masked men had six
automobiles waiting for them and after securing their loot dashed
off. It is believed they came in the direction of Alton. According
to information obtained today at Nameoki, the men first held up
freight train 91 of the Wabash. The watches and money of the crew
were taken, and the crew were forced to extinguish all lights on the
train. This was at 4:10 a.m. It was shortly afterward that the fast
passenger, number 6, one of the Wabash's finest trains on this
division, came through Nameoki. The train was stopped and the
passengers searched. According to reports about $500 in cash was
taken from the passengers, in addition to jewelry and other
valuables, the value of which was not learned.