Monday, February 9, 2015

Train Wreck


Exciting days when the big black locomotives ran through Crittenden County, wheels turning and black smoke bellowing from the smoke stack.  So much history lost when the rails were removed forever in 1999.  

I'm sure there were many accidents and incidents caused by the big trains, but few were reported or written about in the local paper.  A few photos were taken of some of the wrecks and here is one of them.

Crittenden Pres, Feb. 1938.  Broken Rail Causes Wreck.  Six cars leave track early in the morning on thru freight from Evansville to Princeton.

A broken rail was the cause of a wreck of a thru freight on the Illinois Central lines about one mile south of the city early Monday morning.

Six cars left the track and three of them overturned.  The cars leaving the track and not overturing were loaded with coal while those overturning were loaded with starch, wheat, and potatoes.

None of the train crew were injured as the freight was reportedly moving at a slow rate of speed when the accident occurred.

The train, a thru freight from Evansville to Princeton, had left the local yards about two in the morning and the derailment occurred several minutes later.

A wrecking crew and crane were on the scene within a short time and traffic was not delayed as a result.

The damage was estimated at several thousands of dollars.

No comments: