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| Train 321 and Engine 907 on bank of East Branch of Tioughnioga River between Loring Station and East Homer, Feb. 15, 1901. |
TRAIN DOWN A BANK.
Bad Wreck on Lehigh
Valley This Morning Near East River.Passenger Train with Two Engines Comes to Grief—First Engine has its Tender Torn Off—Engine Stays on Track but Tender is Upset—Second Engine Plunges Down Thirty Foot Embankment and Upsets in River-Smoking Car Turns Down the Bank— Engineer Cleveland Has Leg Broken also Cut About Head—Fireman Fox Cut and Bruised-No Other Serious Injuries—Twelve Passengers on Board were Shaken Up Considerably.
There was a bad wreck near East River on the
Lehigh Valley railroad this morning at 10:45. Passenger train No. 321 from
Elmira to Canastota left the rails and part of it went over a thirty foot
embankment down to the Tioughnioga river which flows at its foot. Engine No.
907 with Engineer Edward Cleveland and Fireman Nicholas
Fox on board tipped over and lay on its side in the river. The engineer had a
leg broken and was otherwise cut and bruised, but was able to crawl out without
aid. The fireman jumped just before the engine upset and was considerably cut
and bruised, but otherwise uninjured. The passengers were badly shaken up and
considerably scared but no one was hurt. The damage to the rolling stock was
considerable, but there was no loss of life. Considering the possibilities it
was a remarkably fortunate wreck.
The train left Cortland at 10:19 A. M., thirty-four
minutes late. It was made up of passenger coach 246, combination baggage and
smoking car 437, and was drawn by two locomotives. The forward locomotive was
527, Engineer Thomas Durrant of Elmira and Fireman Austin J. Esty of Cortland.
The second one was 907, Engineer
Edward Cleveland and Fireman Nicholas Fox of Cortland. The train was in charge
of Conductor Thomas Lynch of Elmira, with Charles Jorden of Elmira, brakeman,
and George Griffith of Elmira the baggage man. There were on board twelve
passengers, three of whom were ladies. Three of the passengers were in the smoker.
The only Cortland passenger was Miss Fern Markley of 42 Owego St. Superintendent
H. D. Titus was on board and occupied a seat near the rear of the coach.
At a point nearly a mile north of the Loring
Station crossing and adjoining the farm of B. R. Knapp the road runs at the
foot of a very steep and high embankment. The
Tioughnioga river makes a bend toward the bank here and for a distance of
several hundred feet runs close to the foot of the bed of the railroad and
about thirty feet below it. 
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Just ahead of the car lay the tender of engine No. 907 exactly bottom side up and with all its tracks torn off and piled up on the lower side of the baggage car. The engine proper lay flat on its right side and with its side in the water of the river. The ice was broken for a considerable distance out from the shore. Two hundred fifty feet further up the track lay the tender of engine No. 527 also off the track and turned bottom side up on the right side of the track. About three hundred feet further north stood engine No. 527 on the track, but without its tender.
At once the trainmen and passengers began a search for the engineer and fireman of engine No. 907. The fireman was found in the snow on the edge of the bank and about where the track should be. He had jumped from the engine just before it went over the bank and was somewhat cut and bruised and was bleeding profusely from wounds about the head. He was carried back to the coach and put inside of it.
When the passengers again went outside they found Engineer Cleveland sitting on the bottom of his overturned tender. Both bones of his left leg were broken below the knee. He had stuck to his post till the engine landed on its side and then finding that he was not confined in any way had crawled out without aid, even though his leg was broken and had drawn himself up to the top of the tender. He was taken back to the coach and made as comfortable as possible till help came.
Snow was at once thrown in upon the fires in both locomotives to extinguish them and after being first deadened they were drawn so that no explosion could occur, as both were disconnected from their water tanks.
Engineer Durant of the forward engine says that his first intimation that anything was the matter was when his engine received a tremendous jerk from the rear. He looked back and saw the second engine pounding along over the ties. Then the second engine swung off and plunged over the bank. This pulled the tender of the first engine off the track and broke the coupling between the first and second engines. The forward tender followed its engine though off the track till it suddenly upset and snapped the connection between itself and the engine proper. He stopped his engine as soon as possible.
The first news of the wreck came to Cortland by a telephone message from Dexter Pierce at East River. Mr. Pierce's farm and home is right across the river from the place of the accident on the east road. From his house he saw the train going up and suddenly saw the engine go down to the river and the cars pile up. His horses were hitched up at the time and he drove with all speed to the telephone office at East River and notified the Lehigh Valley office in Cortland.
Trainmaster W. H. Clark at once made ready an engine and car to go to the scene of the wreck, but did not dare start out till he got more information because he knew that the train had two engines, and he didn't know but one might have escaped and would be backing in and a collision might result. A short time later a telephone message came from Superintendent Titus who had walked up to East River and who told the particulars. The relief train then went up to the scene of the wreck being In charge of Conductor P. T. Carmody and brought back to Cortland the injured men and the passengers.
Beard & Peck's ambulance was summoned to be on hand when the train should return to be of assistance in taking the injured engineer to his home. This train reached Cortland about 12:30.
Dr. Dana was at the station to care for Mr. Cleveland's injuries. The train was run to the Owego St. crossing and Mr. Cleveland was taken to his room at the Owego House, 40 Owego St. An examination disclosed the fact that his left leg was broken and that he had sustained some severe bruises but it is not thought that he is injured internally. How he escaped is almost a miracle as he stuck to the engine which turned over and plowed along in that way till it reached the bottom of the embankment and landed in the river.
A wrecking train was started out as soon as the train returned with the passengers, and a gang of men under the direction of Master Mechanic George F. Richards began to clear up the wreck. As soon as the coach can be gotten out of the way the rails can be relaid and traffic can be resumed. The baggage car and the engine and tender that are down by the river can be attended to later. Superintendent Titus thought trains could go through tonight all right.
Trainmaster W. H. Clark was on hand with some wire men and electricians trying to get the wire into working order again. The engine in its mad flight down the bank had cut off one telegraph pole and broken the wire. Mr. Clark had begun to think something must be the matter with the train even before the first telephone message came. because it was not reported as having arrived at East Homer, though be thought it might be nothing worse than a snowbank.
CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT
Superintendent Titus was asked as to the cause of the accident. He replied that the best he could do was to surmise because he didn't know. But he thought something must have given way with the trucks of the second tender and let them off the track and let the tender down upon the track. The spreading of the rails could easily be produced as a result of a prior accident rather than because of the accident itself, in fact. If the tender and engine got off the track they would be likely to sweep that east rail clear out of place just as it was found.
MR. LOYSTER'S STORY.
Mr. J. A. Loyster, editor of the Cazenovia Republican, was one of the passengers on the wrecked train. He was on his way from Elmira to his home in Cazenovia. In reference to the accident he said: I was sitting at about the middle or the car on the left side. The train had been running at about the usual rate of speed after leaving Cortland. We had had two engines all the way from Elmira and got along through the snow without much trouble. The train was only about half an hour late at Cortland. A friend of mine who is familiar with the speed of trains says we were probably running about 25 or 30 miles an hour when the wreck occurred. I was thrown forward about the length of two seats, but the shock in the passenger coach was not so severe as to cause serious injury to the passengers. All were considerably shaken up and very much frightened. The car was tipped to an angle of about 30 degrees. Neither door could be opened. I smashed a window and crawled out. Was the first one of the passengers to get out of the coach. The first engine was four or five hundred feet in advance, still on the rails with the tender entirely off the tracks. Fireman Fox of the second engine had jumped as the crash came and was lying on the bank, his face covered with blood and he was generally shaken up. Conductor Lynch and myself picked him up and carried him into the coach. His face was cut and bruised and he was not able to stand when we reached him.
After getting him to a place of safety, and making him as comfortable as possible we turned our attention to Engineer Cleveland who had gone to the bottom of the embankment with his engine. He had crawled from under the overturned machine and had managed to climb up on the wrecked tender. Conductor Lynch got a door from the combination car and with this for a stretcher we carried the injured man up the steep embankment. We could not get the improvised stretcher into the passenger coach, so, laid him in a sheltered place beneath the combination car and made him as comfortable as possible with cushions and blankets until the train from Cortland arrived.
So far as I am able to judge the accident was caused by the spreading of the rails; I went back along the track for some distance. The rails were spread but the whole train seemed to have passed this point before leaving the track. The second engine was first to leave the track, and evidently took both tenders with it. The engine looks as though it had literally rolled over and over before reaching the bed of the river and I do not see how Mr. Cleveland got out alive. The tender is the most complete wreck I ever saw and is all smashed to pieces. With the possibility of so much destruction and loss of life the accident was indeed a most fortunate one.
MISS MARKLEY INTERVIEWED.
Miss Fern Markley, 42 Owego St , was one of the passengers on the Lehigh train this morning. She had started for Canastota, where she was to meet her father. Mr. S. C. Markley, and go on with him to Oneida. Miss Markley says that she was sitting on the opposite side of the car from the river and reading a very interesting book at the time the train left the rails. She heard someone cry out, "hold on to your seats," and she made a grab and clung to the seat till something hurt her arm, making her feel faint. When she came to her senses, she was on the opposite side of the car, that is the side next to the river, and the train had stopped. The car was tipped up so far that it was almost impossible to get a place to sit down and standing up was even harder. By bracing her feet firmly against the side of the car and sitting on the arm of a seat, she kept fairly comfortable till the door could be opened. Miss Markley received no serious injuries, but was very much frightened.
The news of the wreck was received at The STANDARD office at a few minutes after 11 o'clock and a STANDARD man at once drove out to the scene of the wreck arriving there at a little after 12 o'clock. The snow banks were deep, but by the time he was ready to return the road was well broken out, for teams from Cortland were beginning to arrive by the score, every one hurrying to see the sights. And it was indeed a sight.
One passenger in the coach says that the ladies are entitled to much credit for their coolness during the few moments of anxiety. Not a scream was heard and some of the men afterward seemed to be much more frightened than the ladles. This passenger said that when the bumping began which indicated that the car was derailed Superintendent Titus called aloud, "stick to your seats, hold hard to your seats," and most of the passengers obeyed.
In the front seat of the smoking car was a man pretty well loaded with something other than cold water. When the smoking car concluded its course down the bank this individual lay on his back on the seat upon which he had been sitting with his feet braced against the top of the water tank.
Mr. V. C. Lowe of Groton, son of Mr. Zach Lowe of Cortland was also on the train. He was considerably shaken up, and with the others on the train was a good deal frightened when it seemed as though the coach was going to tip completely over. He is congratulating himself upon his escape and does not care to have the experience repeated.
E. & C. N. Y. R. R. NOW OPEN.
Train Got In from Cincinnatus at 3:30 - Schedule Time Resumed.
The Erie & Central New York railway was cleared at 3:30 this afternoon throughout its whole length. The train that came from Cincinnatus and reached Cortland at this time was started early this morning. A train will leave Cortland for Cincinnatus at 6:30 this evening, and after that the trains will doubtless run on time.
WRECK CLEARED UP
Section Heads Worked till 2 a.m. to Clear the Tracks.
Twenty men worked steadily from about 12:30 o'clock yesterday noon till 2 o'clock this morning to clear up the wreck on the Lehigh Valley R. R. near East River. The first thing to do was to relay the track from the south end up to the rear coach. This coach was then hauled back upon the rails and about 5 o'clock was ready to be brought back to Cortland and gotten out of the way.
It was a greater task to get the combination car upon the track. Fortunately there was a large tree conveniently located upon the bank on the upper side of the road. Snatch blocks were attached to this and the wrecking locomotive hauled away at the rope, dragging the car up the bank to the track. Then it was jacked up and the forward trucks were restored to their original position.
The tender of the forward engine, No. 527, which lay beside the track was crowded further off the track out of the way and was left for the present. It was 2 o’clock when this was accomplished and the road was clear. Engine 907 and the tender are still in the river. It is the plan to get these out tomorrow. A niche will be dug out of the road bed leading down to this engine and temporary ties and rails will be laid down to it. By the use of snatch blocks attached to the tree this locomotive can be righted up and the rails will be so adjusted that when turned up it will land upon them. Without such a device as this it would require a steam derrick to hoist it up.
It seems more and more wonderful that the fireman and engineer escaped with such slight injuries as both received. The cab of engine 907 was swept off as it turned over the bank, and lay a mass of kindling wood at the water’s edge. The ponderous machine swept forward on its side and without its cab till it landed in the river. The tender turned bottom side up and shot in between the engine and the remains of the cab, the latter lying behind the tender.
Out of the water up to his waist the fireman crawled from a place behind the tender where he had landed. How he ever escaped death as the tender came to its final landing place is a marvel.
Engineer Cleveland had nothing whatever left when the cab was swept off but the iron flooring of his cab platform, but he clung to the throttle and lever for dear life and was holding on to them when the engine came to its last resting place in the water. Then he began to crawl out and found his leg broken.
Mr. A. J. Walling, superintendent of bridges, was in the last coach talking with Superintendent Titus all the way up from Cortland. Part of the time they were standing, looking out of the rear window and were commenting on the condition of the road. They had just taken their seats when there came a great jar. Mr. Walling called out to Mr. Titus "We're off the track." Both men seized hard hold of the seats expecting a shock, and Mr. Titus called out to the passengers to hold hard.
When the final shock came and the car stopped, Mr. Titus was holding so hard upon the arm of his seat that the wooden arm was torn loose from its fastenings. That was the only thing broken.
Mr. Walling says there was not an outcry from the three ladies but some of the men became very excited. The car was tipped up on its right side at an angle of about 30 degrees. The two doors pinched so that they could not be opened at first.
One of the men seized the broken arm of Mr. Titus' seat and started to break a window, but Mr. Walling prevented him, saying that all danger was now over and the car was at rest. Two of the trainmen on the outside were working at the forward door and in a few moments it was opened and all were able to go out of the car in safety.
Everyone on the train feels that it was a most marvelous escape, and no one is more thoroughly convinced of it than Engineer Cleveland, who was the most seriously injured of all and whose injuries consisted of the broken leg.
Cortland Evening Standard, Friday, February 15, 1901.
Syracuse Snowbound.
Same Condition Exists Throughout Central Portion of State.
SYRACUSE, N. Y., Feb. 15.
Syracuse and vicinity are snowbound. The blizzard which began Tuesday has abated somewhat, but snow is falling in large quantities and the railroads entering the city are badly paralyzed. The Auburn branch of the Central is the worst sufferer. The first train to reach here over that road yesterday came in at 5 p. m., after a tough experience, and was followed by another three hours later.
Only two trains were sent out from Syracuse over the Auburn road. Freight traffic on all the roads out of Syracuse is at a standstill and will continue so until the storm is over. Trains from the west on the main lines are from one and a half to two and a half hours late. A snowplow sent out over the Chenango branch of the West Shore yesterday morning encountered snowdrifts 15 feet high between this city and Cazenovia. A Cortland dispatch says: All the country roads are blockaded with snow to the depth of nearly 15 feet and as yet have not been opened, although it is understood that the farmers have been shoveling all day.
The Erie and Central New York train which was stalled Wednesday beyond Freetown was not shoveled out until yesterday at 1:30 o'clock.
Editor's note:
The train wreck occurred at 10:45 a.m. and “news of the wreck was received at THE STANDARD office at a few minutes after 11 o’clock and a STANDARD man at once drove out to the scene of the wreck arriving there at a little after 12 o’clock. The snow banks were deep….” The STANDARD man interviewed Superintendent Titus, Trainmaster W. H. Clark, Mr. Dexter Pierce, the crew and passengers. We don’t know when he returned to the STANDARD’s office with his detailed notes. If the STANDARD printed by 5:30 p.m. for distribution the same day, many journalists today would call the STANDARD'S achievement a tour de force.
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