by Pete Zizka
12-2-2023
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Railroad Mishaps - 1 by Pete Zizka 12-2-2023 |
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The February 3, 2023 train derailment in Ohio reminded me of the 2010
derailment in Willimantic in which six cars derailed and two turned over
on their sides. Fortunately, the ethanol (a hazardous chemical) did not
leak out and a dangerous situation was quickly mitigated. From its
beginnings, railroading has always been a dangerous occupation for those
who are engaged in it and it goes without saying that railroads pose a
danger to people, traffic and surrounding structures. Let’s look back a
few years. According to historian Tom Beardsley, the railroad arrived in
Willimantic in 1848 and by 1850, several trains were going through town
daily. This new mode of transportation brought with it the opportunities
for many new jobs for local people but presented new challenges and
dangers as well for these new, inexperienced workers. The general public
also needed to become accustomed to the hazards they faced. One
particular danger for the new workers was that many of them tended to
stand on top of moving train cars even as the train passed under low
bridges. Several news stories from the 1850s reported fatal accidents.
Orrin Vaughan of Willimantic, a brakeman on the Hartford and Willimantic
road was killed when the train went under a low bridge in Scotland.
According to the story, he was crushed between the train car and the
bridge timbers. Two months later, Christopher Backus of Windham, a
brakeman on the Willimantic and Palmer railroad, was killed when he was
knocked down by a bridge near Norwich. Tragically, the day he was buried
was supposed to have been his wedding day. A multitude of newspaper
stories from 1870-1920 tell of pedestrians being struck (and sometimes
killed) while crossing the tracks. An especially dangerous crossing,
evidently, was the one on Bridge Street since workers going to and from
the Windham Industries mills had to cross the tracks. The tracks also
passed dangerously close to the buildings on
Stone Row and all too often, children were hit as well. Country dwellers
too had to become used to this new hazard. An 1881 story mentioned that,
“Mr.
E.H. Hall had a very narrow escape while crossing the railroad at what
is called Phelps crossing, the hind wheels of his wagon being taken off.
It appears that he did not see the approaching train until it was close
upon him.“ Willimantic’s
original railroad depot was the site of many accidents. The original
depot sat between several sets of tracks and over the years, a number of
people were badly hurt and at least one person, Mr. Stutely Sweet was
killed after being caught between trains in a horrific accident at the
depot in April, 1882. An editorial shortly after said, ”The
rapid growth of Willimantic, and the general increase of railroad
business through the state have combined to make the present Willimantic
railway depot utterly unfit for its purposes. It is surrounded by
tracks, cars are almost constantly moving past it. To approach it is to
walk into danger. Every day sees narrow escapes there, and only recently
a well-known gentleman was killed there”.
In the first decade of the 1900s, stories of
train vs. automobile accidents began to appear. The worst car-train
accident was probably the one in 1912 when five Willimantic men were
killed as the car they were in collided with a train in Stafford. The
crossing was said to be, “one of the most dangerous on the
railroad”, and that not only was it impossible to see a train coming but
there were no warning devices at all at the crossing.
Back on the subject of derailments, other than the 2010
accident Willimantic was fortunate to have experienced only two more
minor derailments, one in 1938 and another at the Bridge Street crossing
in 1979. There were some minor derailments in Columbia as well. Andover
was not as fortunate. There were several major accidents there which
caused disruption of service on the rail line and “great losses” of the
railroad’s “rolling stock”. Fortunately, there were no deaths but
several serious injuries. South Windham too experienced several
accidents and derailments. The wreck in this week’s picture occurred on
April 21, 1940 The locomotive and tender of a Central Vermont train
derailed in South Windham due to a collapse of the road bed. Such a
large crowd gathered that State Police had to direct traffic on RT 32.
The train had been moving slowly - it was
backing up to some other cars.
(To be continued).
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