Tuesday, December 31, 2013

"Along the Blue" #24 | 1 Comments - Click Here :

Occurring 110 years ago today:

Breckenridge Bulletin; Jan 3, 1903
Engineer Dan Williams Killed.
    Early on Monday morning December 31st, word was brought to town by Conductor G.W. Miller, of the 4 o'clock a.m. train, that there was a wreck of his train at Pittsburgh switch, about four miles from town.
    On the return of the engine which had helped the wrecked train over the range and had gone ahead to Dickey, Coroner Condon had a jury of six citizens summoned.  They went on the 11:30 train and viewed the remains and wreck and heard the evidence of Conductor Miller and Brakemen C.J. Selby and S.S. Cheney, whose testimony varied but little from the following statement:
    About 3:50 a.m. the train was moving downgrade at a rate of from ten to thirteen miles an hour. The two Brakemen were on the fifth car from the engine and heard and felt no jar or other collision, greater than the breaking apart of the train.Thinking that had happened, they and the conductor went forward and found the engine No. 47, tender and three cars in a wreck with the engine on its right side, lying flat and the left side engine going like lightning, letting steam escape.
    The Conductor and one of the Brakemen stepped on the tender trucks and saw the fireman, Frank Young, coming out between the tank and trucks, badly scalded and bruised up. They assisted him to the passenger car and returned going around the engine found that engineer, Dan Williams had crawled out between the cab and tender, having been scalded from head to foot. He asked them to get him out of there as quickly as they could, which they did. Getting him to the car as quickly as they could, he only lived about two hours, his injuries covered his whole body.
    The jury examined the track, and there seemed to be no spreading or other thing wrong with the track, and the witnesses said in their evidence that these accidents are wholly unexplainable and apparently unavoidable and will be as long as cars run on two trucks. After gathering the information, the train returned to town with the jury, coroner and passengers, and the jury being in consultation at 3:30 in the afternoon agreed upon a verdict of said accident, occurred from causes unknown to this jury.
    The train from east and west transferred their passengers and express in the afternoon, and the body of the dead Engineer was brought to town and turned over to Undertakers Huntress & Rogers, for preparation for burial.
    The deceased, Daniel Williams, was a widower and it has not been known whether he has any children living or not. He was a member of the order of Elks, and will probably be looked after by that order.

Conductor Miller and Dr. Condon??
Maureen Nicholls
1 Comments - Click Here :
  1. I have posted additional information concerning this accident here:

    http://coloradosouthern.blogspot.com/2014/01/additional-wreck-photograph.html

    ReplyDelete