CHEYENNE MEN PERISH
REMARKABLE ACCIDENT
-------------
Freight Trains Crash Together on Eastbound Track Fifty Miles East and Car Hurled to Westbound Track Wrecks Los Angeles Limited.
-------------
BRAKEMAN A. A. MOORE, FIREMAN J. W. CRAWFORD KILLED; ENGINEER JOHN ULRICH SCALDED
-------------
Bushnell, Nebraska, Scene of Double Disaster In Which Several Passengers Receive Injuries – Special Train Brings Injured People Here.
-------------
Racing on adjoining tracks through the inky darkness of a heavy fog late at night, two Union Pacific trains and a light engine simultaneously collided in a double wreck near Bushnell, Neb., 53 miles east of Cheyenne at 10:20 o'clock last night. One member of each train crew was killed, another was seriously injured and several passengers sustained minor injuries, one being seriously hurt.
The trains which were wrecked were west-bound Union Pacific Los Angeles Limited No. 7, an east-bound freight train and the light engine of a west-bound freight train.
CHEYENNE MEN KILLED.
The dead:
W. A. MOORE*, 20, freight brakeman, Room 15, 1511 Carey avenue, Cheyenne.
J.W. CRAWFORD, 17, passenger fireman, 1013 East Fifteenth street, Cheyenne.
The injured:
JOHN ULRICH, passenger engineer, 1516 House street, Cheyenne, chest, back and arms badly scalded, cuts and burns over face and eye.
The wreck ranks as one of the most unusual in the history of American railroading.
ENGINE TAKES WATER.
A west-bound freight train drew into a siding at Bushnell for the joint purpose of taking water and to permit No. 7 to pass. This siding was between main east and west tracks. The freight drew into the siding successfully, and the engine was unoccupied and moved upon the main east-bound track for the purpose of taking water from an adjoining water tank.
A flagman was send out the required distance ahead of the locomotive for the purpose of flagging all east-bound trains which might be coming that way.
THROUGH DENSE FOG.
It was 10:26 when he took his lantern and started up the track. The enginemen observed that the lantern showed but dimly through the enshrouding fog.
With the light engine of the west-bound freight train on the main line of the east-bound track, its nose pointing west, the engine took water without incident.
Suddenly there was a hissing of steam and the roar of a train coming at high speed. A freight train was upon the engine before those in charge could comprehend what had happened. Those on the light engine jumped to places of safety. A roar and a crash followed as the east-bound freight crashed into the light engine.
HEAD ON COLLISION.
Freight cars telescoped and were shot in all directions. Moore, the head brakeman, was hurled a number of feet and was killed by flying wreckage.
Then came the unusual and the tragic incident of the all to unfortunate mishap.
A freight car from the east-bound train was shot across the tracks and on to the adjoining west-bound track.
And at the same moment the Los Angeles Limited was plunging its way through the dense fog.
PASSENGER TRAIN DITCHED.
The freight care reached the main track an instant ahead of the on coming passenger. The car was sideswiped by the passenger, and the passenger locomotive fairly bounded from the track.
The same deafening roar of steam and the grinding and pounding of cars, crashing into each other, followed. The two wrecks occurred within but a second apart.
As the Los Angeles Limited left the track and the engine fell over on its side with a deafening roar and crash. Fireman John Crawford was pinned to the cab and killed. Scalding steam poured over his lifeless body, cooking the flesh.
FOUGHT FOR HIS LIFE.
Engineer Ulrich, one of the beloved veterans of the road , clutched frantically for the throttle as the engine toppled. He was pinned down and would have been cooked to death by the scalding steam if it had not been for his efforts to free himself. He managed to work himself loose after the scalding steam had burned his chest and arms to a point almost beyond endurance.
A flying rod struck him over the eye, cutting the eye partially open. It is doubtful if he will recover the sight of his eye. The engineer sank into unconsciousness in a few minutes.
DEAD TAKEN TO KIMBALL.
The bodies of the two dead men were held at the scene of the wreck until the coroner of Kimball county arrived. The coroner took charge of the two bodies and removed them to Kimball, Nebr., this morning.
The brief investigation made as to the responsibility of the wreck is said to have been assigned either to the failure of the flagman for the light engine to flag the east-bound freight train, or for the failure of the crew of the east-bound to see the flagman's signals. Owing to the fog, the latter reason is generally accepted.
ARE GRIEF STRICKEN.
News of the death of Brakeman Moore and Fireman Crawford was received in Cheyenne with grief. Relatives of the two were prostrated from grief. The fact that the reports of the wreck were meagre for a considerable time caused them to entertain hope that the news was incorrect.
Moore who would have celebrated his 21st birthday in a few days, was rooming with his father, B. F. Moore, at 1511 Carey avenue. Young Moore entered the services of the Union Pacific last May. His father has a farm near Hillsdale.
The young brakeman's father could not become reconciled to the loss of his son this morning. He wept pitifully when he learned definitely that his son was among the dead.
WAS TO HAVE RETIRED.
"My boy was to have quit the railroad game when became of age." the man said. "He promised me that he would. We were to work on the farm together. It would have been only a few more days until he would retire."
The father went to the scene of the wreck late this forenoon. He went on a special train for General Manager William M. Jeffers of the Union Pacific. Jeffers was in the western part of the state last night when the wreck occurred. The moment the news was sent to him, he started for the wreck on a special train. The train passed through Cheyenne at 11 o'clock this morning, stopping only long enough to allow Mr. Moore to board the train.
While relatives of the two dead men have not made arrangements as yet, it is the supposition that their bodies will be brought to Cheyenne. An investigation will be held at the wreck soon.
Last night's catastrophe probably ranks as the most unusual in the history of American railroading. It is the fourth wreck ever to have occurred in the United States where trains on opposing tracks and running in opposite directions collided. Strange to say, the third wreck of this kind occurred on the Wyoming division of the Union Pacific near Rock Springs some years ago, at which time one man, an engineer, was killed.
© Excerpts from Wyoming Tribune no. 254 October 24, 1916, page 1 & 8
* All articles regarding the accident refer to him as A. A. Moore or W. A. Moore for unknown reasons.
Obituary located by Lostnwyomn June 2014.
REMARKABLE ACCIDENT
-------------
Freight Trains Crash Together on Eastbound Track Fifty Miles East and Car Hurled to Westbound Track Wrecks Los Angeles Limited.
-------------
BRAKEMAN A. A. MOORE, FIREMAN J. W. CRAWFORD KILLED; ENGINEER JOHN ULRICH SCALDED
-------------
Bushnell, Nebraska, Scene of Double Disaster In Which Several Passengers Receive Injuries – Special Train Brings Injured People Here.
-------------
Racing on adjoining tracks through the inky darkness of a heavy fog late at night, two Union Pacific trains and a light engine simultaneously collided in a double wreck near Bushnell, Neb., 53 miles east of Cheyenne at 10:20 o'clock last night. One member of each train crew was killed, another was seriously injured and several passengers sustained minor injuries, one being seriously hurt.
The trains which were wrecked were west-bound Union Pacific Los Angeles Limited No. 7, an east-bound freight train and the light engine of a west-bound freight train.
CHEYENNE MEN KILLED.
The dead:
W. A. MOORE*, 20, freight brakeman, Room 15, 1511 Carey avenue, Cheyenne.
J.W. CRAWFORD, 17, passenger fireman, 1013 East Fifteenth street, Cheyenne.
The injured:
JOHN ULRICH, passenger engineer, 1516 House street, Cheyenne, chest, back and arms badly scalded, cuts and burns over face and eye.
The wreck ranks as one of the most unusual in the history of American railroading.
ENGINE TAKES WATER.
A west-bound freight train drew into a siding at Bushnell for the joint purpose of taking water and to permit No. 7 to pass. This siding was between main east and west tracks. The freight drew into the siding successfully, and the engine was unoccupied and moved upon the main east-bound track for the purpose of taking water from an adjoining water tank.
A flagman was send out the required distance ahead of the locomotive for the purpose of flagging all east-bound trains which might be coming that way.
THROUGH DENSE FOG.
It was 10:26 when he took his lantern and started up the track. The enginemen observed that the lantern showed but dimly through the enshrouding fog.
With the light engine of the west-bound freight train on the main line of the east-bound track, its nose pointing west, the engine took water without incident.
Suddenly there was a hissing of steam and the roar of a train coming at high speed. A freight train was upon the engine before those in charge could comprehend what had happened. Those on the light engine jumped to places of safety. A roar and a crash followed as the east-bound freight crashed into the light engine.
HEAD ON COLLISION.
Freight cars telescoped and were shot in all directions. Moore, the head brakeman, was hurled a number of feet and was killed by flying wreckage.
Then came the unusual and the tragic incident of the all to unfortunate mishap.
A freight car from the east-bound train was shot across the tracks and on to the adjoining west-bound track.
And at the same moment the Los Angeles Limited was plunging its way through the dense fog.
PASSENGER TRAIN DITCHED.
The freight care reached the main track an instant ahead of the on coming passenger. The car was sideswiped by the passenger, and the passenger locomotive fairly bounded from the track.
The same deafening roar of steam and the grinding and pounding of cars, crashing into each other, followed. The two wrecks occurred within but a second apart.
As the Los Angeles Limited left the track and the engine fell over on its side with a deafening roar and crash. Fireman John Crawford was pinned to the cab and killed. Scalding steam poured over his lifeless body, cooking the flesh.
FOUGHT FOR HIS LIFE.
Engineer Ulrich, one of the beloved veterans of the road , clutched frantically for the throttle as the engine toppled. He was pinned down and would have been cooked to death by the scalding steam if it had not been for his efforts to free himself. He managed to work himself loose after the scalding steam had burned his chest and arms to a point almost beyond endurance.
A flying rod struck him over the eye, cutting the eye partially open. It is doubtful if he will recover the sight of his eye. The engineer sank into unconsciousness in a few minutes.
DEAD TAKEN TO KIMBALL.
The bodies of the two dead men were held at the scene of the wreck until the coroner of Kimball county arrived. The coroner took charge of the two bodies and removed them to Kimball, Nebr., this morning.
The brief investigation made as to the responsibility of the wreck is said to have been assigned either to the failure of the flagman for the light engine to flag the east-bound freight train, or for the failure of the crew of the east-bound to see the flagman's signals. Owing to the fog, the latter reason is generally accepted.
ARE GRIEF STRICKEN.
News of the death of Brakeman Moore and Fireman Crawford was received in Cheyenne with grief. Relatives of the two were prostrated from grief. The fact that the reports of the wreck were meagre for a considerable time caused them to entertain hope that the news was incorrect.
Moore who would have celebrated his 21st birthday in a few days, was rooming with his father, B. F. Moore, at 1511 Carey avenue. Young Moore entered the services of the Union Pacific last May. His father has a farm near Hillsdale.
The young brakeman's father could not become reconciled to the loss of his son this morning. He wept pitifully when he learned definitely that his son was among the dead.
WAS TO HAVE RETIRED.
"My boy was to have quit the railroad game when became of age." the man said. "He promised me that he would. We were to work on the farm together. It would have been only a few more days until he would retire."
The father went to the scene of the wreck late this forenoon. He went on a special train for General Manager William M. Jeffers of the Union Pacific. Jeffers was in the western part of the state last night when the wreck occurred. The moment the news was sent to him, he started for the wreck on a special train. The train passed through Cheyenne at 11 o'clock this morning, stopping only long enough to allow Mr. Moore to board the train.
While relatives of the two dead men have not made arrangements as yet, it is the supposition that their bodies will be brought to Cheyenne. An investigation will be held at the wreck soon.
Last night's catastrophe probably ranks as the most unusual in the history of American railroading. It is the fourth wreck ever to have occurred in the United States where trains on opposing tracks and running in opposite directions collided. Strange to say, the third wreck of this kind occurred on the Wyoming division of the Union Pacific near Rock Springs some years ago, at which time one man, an engineer, was killed.
© Excerpts from Wyoming Tribune no. 254 October 24, 1916, page 1 & 8
* All articles regarding the accident refer to him as A. A. Moore or W. A. Moore for unknown reasons.
Obituary located by Lostnwyomn June 2014.
CHEYENNE MEN PERISH
REMARKABLE ACCIDENT
-------------
Freight Trains Crash Together on Eastbound Track Fifty Miles East and Car Hurled to Westbound Track Wrecks Los Angeles Limited.
-------------
BRAKEMAN A. A. MOORE, FIREMAN J. W. CRAWFORD KILLED; ENGINEER JOHN ULRICH SCALDED
-------------
Bushnell, Nebraska, Scene of Double Disaster In Which Several Passengers Receive Injuries – Special Train Brings Injured People Here.
-------------
Racing on adjoining tracks through the inky darkness of a heavy fog late at night, two Union Pacific trains and a light engine simultaneously collided in a double wreck near Bushnell, Neb., 53 miles east of Cheyenne at 10:20 o'clock last night. One member of each train crew was killed, another was seriously injured and several passengers sustained minor injuries, one being seriously hurt.
The trains which were wrecked were west-bound Union Pacific Los Angeles Limited No. 7, an east-bound freight train and the light engine of a west-bound freight train.
CHEYENNE MEN KILLED.
The dead:
W. A. MOORE*, 20, freight brakeman, Room 15, 1511 Carey avenue, Cheyenne.
J.W. CRAWFORD, 17, passenger fireman, 1013 East Fifteenth street, Cheyenne.
The injured:
JOHN ULRICH, passenger engineer, 1516 House street, Cheyenne, chest, back and arms badly scalded, cuts and burns over face and eye.
The wreck ranks as one of the most unusual in the history of American railroading.
ENGINE TAKES WATER.
A west-bound freight train drew into a siding at Bushnell for the joint purpose of taking water and to permit No. 7 to pass. This siding was between main east and west tracks. The freight drew into the siding successfully, and the engine was unoccupied and moved upon the main east-bound track for the purpose of taking water from an adjoining water tank.
A flagman was send out the required distance ahead of the locomotive for the purpose of flagging all east-bound trains which might be coming that way.
THROUGH DENSE FOG.
It was 10:26 when he took his lantern and started up the track. The enginemen observed that the lantern showed but dimly through the enshrouding fog.
With the light engine of the west-bound freight train on the main line of the east-bound track, its nose pointing west, the engine took water without incident.
Suddenly there was a hissing of steam and the roar of a train coming at high speed. A freight train was upon the engine before those in charge could comprehend what had happened. Those on the light engine jumped to places of safety. A roar and a crash followed as the east-bound freight crashed into the light engine.
HEAD ON COLLISION.
Freight cars telescoped and were shot in all directions. Moore, the head brakeman, was hurled a number of feet and was killed by flying wreckage.
Then came the unusual and the tragic incident of the all to unfortunate mishap.
A freight car from the east-bound train was shot across the tracks and on to the adjoining west-bound track.
And at the same moment the Los Angeles Limited was plunging its way through the dense fog.
PASSENGER TRAIN DITCHED.
The freight care reached the main track an instant ahead of the on coming passenger. The car was sideswiped by the passenger, and the passenger locomotive fairly bounded from the track.
The same deafening roar of steam and the grinding and pounding of cars, crashing into each other, followed. The two wrecks occurred within but a second apart.
As the Los Angeles Limited left the track and the engine fell over on its side with a deafening roar and crash. Fireman John Crawford was pinned to the cab and killed. Scalding steam poured over his lifeless body, cooking the flesh.
FOUGHT FOR HIS LIFE.
Engineer Ulrich, one of the beloved veterans of the road , clutched frantically for the throttle as the engine toppled. He was pinned down and would have been cooked to death by the scalding steam if it had not been for his efforts to free himself. He managed to work himself loose after the scalding steam had burned his chest and arms to a point almost beyond endurance.
A flying rod struck him over the eye, cutting the eye partially open. It is doubtful if he will recover the sight of his eye. The engineer sank into unconsciousness in a few minutes.
DEAD TAKEN TO KIMBALL.
The bodies of the two dead men were held at the scene of the wreck until the coroner of Kimball county arrived. The coroner took charge of the two bodies and removed them to Kimball, Nebr., this morning.
The brief investigation made as to the responsibility of the wreck is said to have been assigned either to the failure of the flagman for the light engine to flag the east-bound freight train, or for the failure of the crew of the east-bound to see the flagman's signals. Owing to the fog, the latter reason is generally accepted.
ARE GRIEF STRICKEN.
News of the death of Brakeman Moore and Fireman Crawford was received in Cheyenne with grief. Relatives of the two were prostrated from grief. The fact that the reports of the wreck were meagre for a considerable time caused them to entertain hope that the news was incorrect.
Moore who would have celebrated his 21st birthday in a few days, was rooming with his father, B. F. Moore, at 1511 Carey avenue. Young Moore entered the services of the Union Pacific last May. His father has a farm near Hillsdale.
The young brakeman's father could not become reconciled to the loss of his son this morning. He wept pitifully when he learned definitely that his son was among the dead.
WAS TO HAVE RETIRED.
"My boy was to have quit the railroad game when became of age." the man said. "He promised me that he would. We were to work on the farm together. It would have been only a few more days until he would retire."
The father went to the scene of the wreck late this forenoon. He went on a special train for General Manager William M. Jeffers of the Union Pacific. Jeffers was in the western part of the state last night when the wreck occurred. The moment the news was sent to him, he started for the wreck on a special train. The train passed through Cheyenne at 11 o'clock this morning, stopping only long enough to allow Mr. Moore to board the train.
While relatives of the two dead men have not made arrangements as yet, it is the supposition that their bodies will be brought to Cheyenne. An investigation will be held at the wreck soon.
Last night's catastrophe probably ranks as the most unusual in the history of American railroading. It is the fourth wreck ever to have occurred in the United States where trains on opposing tracks and running in opposite directions collided. Strange to say, the third wreck of this kind occurred on the Wyoming division of the Union Pacific near Rock Springs some years ago, at which time one man, an engineer, was killed.
© Excerpts from Wyoming Tribune no. 254 October 24, 1916, page 1 & 8
* All articles regarding the accident refer to him as A. A. Moore or W. A. Moore for unknown reasons.
Obituary located by Lostnwyomn June 2014.
REMARKABLE ACCIDENT
-------------
Freight Trains Crash Together on Eastbound Track Fifty Miles East and Car Hurled to Westbound Track Wrecks Los Angeles Limited.
-------------
BRAKEMAN A. A. MOORE, FIREMAN J. W. CRAWFORD KILLED; ENGINEER JOHN ULRICH SCALDED
-------------
Bushnell, Nebraska, Scene of Double Disaster In Which Several Passengers Receive Injuries – Special Train Brings Injured People Here.
-------------
Racing on adjoining tracks through the inky darkness of a heavy fog late at night, two Union Pacific trains and a light engine simultaneously collided in a double wreck near Bushnell, Neb., 53 miles east of Cheyenne at 10:20 o'clock last night. One member of each train crew was killed, another was seriously injured and several passengers sustained minor injuries, one being seriously hurt.
The trains which were wrecked were west-bound Union Pacific Los Angeles Limited No. 7, an east-bound freight train and the light engine of a west-bound freight train.
CHEYENNE MEN KILLED.
The dead:
W. A. MOORE*, 20, freight brakeman, Room 15, 1511 Carey avenue, Cheyenne.
J.W. CRAWFORD, 17, passenger fireman, 1013 East Fifteenth street, Cheyenne.
The injured:
JOHN ULRICH, passenger engineer, 1516 House street, Cheyenne, chest, back and arms badly scalded, cuts and burns over face and eye.
The wreck ranks as one of the most unusual in the history of American railroading.
ENGINE TAKES WATER.
A west-bound freight train drew into a siding at Bushnell for the joint purpose of taking water and to permit No. 7 to pass. This siding was between main east and west tracks. The freight drew into the siding successfully, and the engine was unoccupied and moved upon the main east-bound track for the purpose of taking water from an adjoining water tank.
A flagman was send out the required distance ahead of the locomotive for the purpose of flagging all east-bound trains which might be coming that way.
THROUGH DENSE FOG.
It was 10:26 when he took his lantern and started up the track. The enginemen observed that the lantern showed but dimly through the enshrouding fog.
With the light engine of the west-bound freight train on the main line of the east-bound track, its nose pointing west, the engine took water without incident.
Suddenly there was a hissing of steam and the roar of a train coming at high speed. A freight train was upon the engine before those in charge could comprehend what had happened. Those on the light engine jumped to places of safety. A roar and a crash followed as the east-bound freight crashed into the light engine.
HEAD ON COLLISION.
Freight cars telescoped and were shot in all directions. Moore, the head brakeman, was hurled a number of feet and was killed by flying wreckage.
Then came the unusual and the tragic incident of the all to unfortunate mishap.
A freight car from the east-bound train was shot across the tracks and on to the adjoining west-bound track.
And at the same moment the Los Angeles Limited was plunging its way through the dense fog.
PASSENGER TRAIN DITCHED.
The freight care reached the main track an instant ahead of the on coming passenger. The car was sideswiped by the passenger, and the passenger locomotive fairly bounded from the track.
The same deafening roar of steam and the grinding and pounding of cars, crashing into each other, followed. The two wrecks occurred within but a second apart.
As the Los Angeles Limited left the track and the engine fell over on its side with a deafening roar and crash. Fireman John Crawford was pinned to the cab and killed. Scalding steam poured over his lifeless body, cooking the flesh.
FOUGHT FOR HIS LIFE.
Engineer Ulrich, one of the beloved veterans of the road , clutched frantically for the throttle as the engine toppled. He was pinned down and would have been cooked to death by the scalding steam if it had not been for his efforts to free himself. He managed to work himself loose after the scalding steam had burned his chest and arms to a point almost beyond endurance.
A flying rod struck him over the eye, cutting the eye partially open. It is doubtful if he will recover the sight of his eye. The engineer sank into unconsciousness in a few minutes.
DEAD TAKEN TO KIMBALL.
The bodies of the two dead men were held at the scene of the wreck until the coroner of Kimball county arrived. The coroner took charge of the two bodies and removed them to Kimball, Nebr., this morning.
The brief investigation made as to the responsibility of the wreck is said to have been assigned either to the failure of the flagman for the light engine to flag the east-bound freight train, or for the failure of the crew of the east-bound to see the flagman's signals. Owing to the fog, the latter reason is generally accepted.
ARE GRIEF STRICKEN.
News of the death of Brakeman Moore and Fireman Crawford was received in Cheyenne with grief. Relatives of the two were prostrated from grief. The fact that the reports of the wreck were meagre for a considerable time caused them to entertain hope that the news was incorrect.
Moore who would have celebrated his 21st birthday in a few days, was rooming with his father, B. F. Moore, at 1511 Carey avenue. Young Moore entered the services of the Union Pacific last May. His father has a farm near Hillsdale.
The young brakeman's father could not become reconciled to the loss of his son this morning. He wept pitifully when he learned definitely that his son was among the dead.
WAS TO HAVE RETIRED.
"My boy was to have quit the railroad game when became of age." the man said. "He promised me that he would. We were to work on the farm together. It would have been only a few more days until he would retire."
The father went to the scene of the wreck late this forenoon. He went on a special train for General Manager William M. Jeffers of the Union Pacific. Jeffers was in the western part of the state last night when the wreck occurred. The moment the news was sent to him, he started for the wreck on a special train. The train passed through Cheyenne at 11 o'clock this morning, stopping only long enough to allow Mr. Moore to board the train.
While relatives of the two dead men have not made arrangements as yet, it is the supposition that their bodies will be brought to Cheyenne. An investigation will be held at the wreck soon.
Last night's catastrophe probably ranks as the most unusual in the history of American railroading. It is the fourth wreck ever to have occurred in the United States where trains on opposing tracks and running in opposite directions collided. Strange to say, the third wreck of this kind occurred on the Wyoming division of the Union Pacific near Rock Springs some years ago, at which time one man, an engineer, was killed.
© Excerpts from Wyoming Tribune no. 254 October 24, 1916, page 1 & 8
* All articles regarding the accident refer to him as A. A. Moore or W. A. Moore for unknown reasons.
Obituary located by Lostnwyomn June 2014.
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
