Golden Triangle Wreck Blocks Tracks in City
Pennsy Tracks are Torn Up for Nearly Four Blocks as 11 Coaches
of Speeding Train Leaves Its Rails at Interlocker
Howard Wyland, Crossing Watchman at Detroit Street, Most Seriously
Injured, When Tower is Demolished; Several on Train Sustain Injuries;
147 Passengers Aboard.
The Pennsylvania Railraod's speeding Golden Triangle passenger
train piled up in mid-Warsaw at 5:36 oclock (CDT) Monday morning,
injuring nine persons, two seriously and destroying the road bed
and hurling wreckage for blocks.
Miraculously none of the 147 passengers were killed as the coaches
of the flyer churned and smashed ahead at about 90 miles an hour
for three blocks, from Hickory street, east of the Big Four crossing,
to a point beyond Indiana street. Virtually all aboard were shaken
and bruised.
The eleven steel cars jumped the tracks at the Pennsylvania-Big
Four interlocking switch and demolished the Detroit street crossing
tower, seriously injuring Howard (Dutch) Wyland, 43, the watchman.
Railroad men speculated that the wreck was caused when a rail
came out at a cross-over switch just east of the interlocking
system. The rail was tossed for half a block and narrowly missed
the Harry Kepler home on the south side of the tracks.
The crippled engine flashed on through Warsaw, dragging its tender
and tearing out everything between the tracks, although the locomotive
itself remained on its rails. It was brought to a stop near the
western city limits. The tender's undercarriage nosed into the
dirt of the road bed just west of Indiana street. Crossings were
torn up from the point of derailment clear through the city.
Watchman is Injured
The injured included four railway employees and five passengers.
Wyland, the watchman, of 953 East Fort Wayne street, stationed
in his tower when the speeding train began to tumble down the
tracks, said he had only a moment to observe the impending disaster-then
the flyer struck his tower. Wyland was catapulted to the ground
amidst the tangled steel and wood of the tower.
Wyland was pulled from the debris by three Warsaw men, Eugene
Davis, Charles McClintic and Ed Cartwright and was taken to the
McDonald hospital suffering severe back and internal injuries.
Jesse Miller, 729 North Lake street, operator on duty at the interlocking
tower between Hickory and Detroit streets, was struck by flying
wreckage as he stood at his post on the ground to inspect the
train as it flashed by. He was taken to the Murphy Medical Center
and released after treatment for a bruised hip.
Others in Hospitals
Evelyn Huchro, 19, 2212 West Belden avenue, Chicago, was taken
to the McDonald hospital in the automobile of a naval officer,
having sustained a skull fracture and head and body lacerations.
George Harris, 50, colored waiter, was dug from the wreckage of
the diner and taken to the McDonald hospital where he was found
to have injuries to his head, hands and leg.
Brakeman Howard L. Morrison, of Columbia City, stayed with the
wreck until all passengers were cared for, then permitted himself
to be taken to the McDonald hospital for treatment of a sprained
back.
Taken to the Murphy Medical Center in addition to Miller, the
tower operator, were:
Elmer J. Rogers, 653 South Throop street, Chicago, a leg injury.
Mrs. Joseph Shedwell, 516 Riley Road, East Chicago, Ind., minor
head cuts; and Paul Rainhold, of Pittsburgh, Pa., a back injury.
None of those hospitalized with the exception of Wyland and Miss
Huchro were believed to be seriously injured. Those taken to the
McDonald hospital were there at mid-morning, but those taken to
the Murphy Medical Center were released soon after treatment.
Attaches at the McDonald hospital at 1 p.m. Monday announced that
the two most seriously injured victims were in "good condition".
Mr. Wyland, the crossing watchman, sustained internal injuries
while Miss Huchro sustained a skull fracture on the right side.
Conductor Morrison and George Harris, waiter, were dismissed after
treatment, Morrison had sustained a rib fracture and a sprained
back and Harris having suffered a concussion, cut on the head
and sprained hand.
Culver Cadets Aboard
A group of cadets from Culver Military academy were taken from
Warsaw to Culver in taxi-cabs. None of the boys were hurt.
Most of the 147 passengers of the train were sent back to Columbia
City on Pennsylvania trains, to be routed around the wreckage.
Members of the train crew were S. R. Smith, engineer, Fort Wayne;
C. P. Freeman, conductor, of Fort Wayne, a former Warsaw resident;
Morrison, the injured brakeman; Harry Hrake, brakeman, Fort Wayne;
flagman Clyde A Burrel, Fort Wayne and O. F. Cress, fireman, Fort
Wayne.
Engine on Rails
The engine remained on the tracks but all eleven of the cars were
derailed and damaged, rending and jolting for three blocks along
the churned-up roadbed.
Two damaged coaches still hooked together, smashed to a point
just past Indiana street. The pullman car Hunt, blocked High street,
and another coach, only one of the cars to turn completely on
its side, slid to a stop with the back part partially blocking
High street. The seven rear pullman cars zigzagged across the
tracks, nosing into each other, many tearing loose from their
under-carriages. Hugh chunks of wreckage were strewn along the
roadbed. Flying rocks and debris broke windows along the right-of-way.
From Hickory street west, the pullmans piled up in this order:
Hess, New Omaha, Rowland, Larue, Summit Lake, Southern College,
Mar Brook and Hunt.
Both east-bound and west-bound tracks were destroyed and it was
believed that traffic would be halted during the day and probably
for 24 hours.
All Ambulances Respond
In the early dawn, sleepy residents tumbled from bed at the rending
sound of the crash, giving what assistance they could to the passengers.
All ambulances in town responded to calls and city and state police
were called to handle the crowd which appeared on the scene within
an hour and milled around the wreckage.
Automobiles of sight-seers lined the curbs for blocks in the wreck
area and thousands of spectators viewed the wreckage. Shortly
after 7 a.m. railroad officials swarmed over the scene and state
and city officers under direction of railroad detectives roped
off the last eight cars and pushed spectators back off the roadbed
in preparation for salvage work.
Big Four Rerouted
An hour before noon workers of the Northern Indiana Public Service
company put up floodlights borrowed from the Warsaw softball field
to facilitate night salvage work.
The Big Four tracks were damaged and blocked by the wreck and
the southbound morning passenger train was backed up to Milford
Junction, was routed west via the Baltimore & Ohio road to
Walkerton then down on the Nickel Plate to Claypool, where it
returned to the Big Four tracks.
Pennsylvania railroad officials said the Golden Triangle was enroute
from Pittsburg to Chicago, and that the cause of the accident
was unknown. It was said that the line would be tied up only until
Monday evening, and that in the meantime trains would be rerouted
42 miles from Columbia City over the Butler branch of the Pennsylvania
to Logansport, to join another main line of the Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania's Southland, one of the two trains following
the Golden Triangle, carried the passengers back to Columbia City
and will take them on in to Chicago.
Mayor Frank O. Rarick took over the duties of the injured towerman,
Miller, for several hours after the accident, it was learned.
Among houses damaged along the right-of-way was that of Miss Miriam
Kutz, south of the tracts on Detroit Street. She reported that
a piece of brake shoe and a large metal screw were hurled through
a window.
Warsaw Daily Times Monday April 28, 1947 front page
Broken Rail Hurled Near Home
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Kepler, who live on the south side of the Pennsylvania
tracks at 410 East Jefferson street and their three children had
a very narrow escape when 45 feet of rail torn loose by the derailment
of the Pennsylvania's Golden Triangle skidded through the yard
within a few feet of the house and when stones were hurtled through
windows of the home.
Mr. and Mrs. Kepler were sleeping in a room on the east side of
the house when the rail snaked throught the yard near their room.
A daughter, Stella, 21, was sleeping in a small bed by the window
at the front of the house. Stones crashed throught the window,
scattering broken glass over the bed. Fortunately, she was lying
with her head turned away from the window and was uninjured.
Boy Sees Wreck
A son, Frank, aged 13 had been sleeping in a cot downstairs. He
was awakened some 15 minutes before the wreck, preparing to go
on his paper route. The boy was looking out of a west window when
the cars hurtled down the track. He screamed loudly as the terrible
noise of crashing wreckage caused the small house to tremble.
Another son, Eddie, 17 was asleep in the house. Mr. Kepler rushed
from his bed and said that he was the first to reach Mr. Wyland,
crossing watchman injured in the wrecking of the crossing tower
at Detroit street.
When Kepler offered to lift Wyland, who was lying on the ground,
Wyland cried: "Please don't touch me. I think my back is
broken."
Kepler shouted at some men running toward the injured man to call
an ambulance, but one was on the way and soon rushed Wyland to
the McDonald hospital.
Warsaw Daily Times Monday April 28, 1947 front page.
In the grey light of this early spring dawn, the lonely train
whistle shivered and hung on the air. The tower man, stiff from
his night's work at the telegraph key, automatically noted on
his report "train 63 cleared Warsaw at 4:36 a.m. (CST)."
He walked down the steps to the side of the tract and watch the
approaching engine, swaying from side to side, wheels beating
an 80-mile per hour tattoo on its iron road.
A second later, he was caught in a storm of flying steel and stone
as the mightly monster, suddenly crippled, screamed and screeched
its agonizing way through four or five blocks, leaving chaos in
its wake.
Residents Hear Crash
Sleeping residents awakened to the sound of the worst train-wreck
ever to occur in Warsaw. Some had cause to be frightened as giants
steel rails twisted around like angry snakes, great pieces of
steel buzzed through the air and the sound of tingling glass,
as windows shattered, added a soprano key to the wreckage symphony.
Steam hissed softly in the air, an excited voice or two broke
the quiet as the first ambulance could be heard wailing in the
distance. Crew members were assisting passengers to alight and
people were tumbling out of their berths, thankful to be alive
as the first newspaper man on the scene, stepped grumbling and
sleepy-eyed from his car.
He looked three blocks down the track, eyes popped open, sleep
was gone. There was one comment, "Holy Cow, what a mess."
Witnesses Horrified
Several men standing at the small railroad station were watching
with the usual small-town interest as the train approached and
saw the neat row of cars disintegrate before their eyes. A moment
later, the damaged engine, still on the tracks, slid by them,
tearing up ties, snorted to a stop.
Horrified they had watched the watchman's tower at High street
disappear as a giant and powerful hand slapped it to the ground,
wrenched and tore its strong supporting girders apart. The men
ran. Panting and fearful, they pulled apart the debris. The watchman,
in pain and shock, looked up from under his covering of dirt and
boards and iron and asked dazedly, "Where is my watch?"
Things had now begun to move. Those first few excited people were
breathing easier and thankful that no one had been killed. There
were no mutilated humans.
Police Take Charge
The train wreck had become suddenly a delightfully interesting
hunk of metal that one could not tell his grandchildren about
without shuddering.
Police had hardly tied their protective ropes around the large
area until holiday crowds began to mill around, duck under the
rope, dodge watchemen, snap pictures and the cry, "Wait until
I tell you what happened down here," became the by-word.
School was probably in session, but the greater number of smallfry
were getting their lesson in railroading this morning, standing
along the tract long after the last bell had rung.
One business man walked into The Times and Union office and said,
"You people are the only ones working this morning. Everyone
else is at the train-wreck."
Warsaw Daily Times Monday April 28, 1947
Traffic is Resumed Through City at 7 p.m. Monday
It still looked like a train wreck in Warsaw Tuesday, with seven
battered coaches of the wrecked Golden Triangle lining three blocks
of the Pennsylvania's main line, but traffic had been resumed
and plans were made to remove the damaged pullman cars and coaches
on Wednesday. Trains still moved through Warsaw at slow speed.
Four wreck trains and scores of section workers cleared the tracks
at 7 p.m. Monday evening, 13 hours and 24 minutes after the wreck
occurred. The first passenger train, No. 58, moved east along
the rebuilt tracks at 7:37 o'clock, 14 hours and a minute after
a broken left front spring hanger on the streamlined locomotive
derailed the flyer, which was traveling 90 miles an hour.
A dense throng of onlookers from all over this part of the state
watched the traffic jam dissolve, with train after train crawling
slowly through the wreck area from the Big Four intersection to
Indiana street. Near-normal traffic was resumed about 9:30 o'clock.
Passengers on the trains inspected the damage from open coach
windows and from observation platforms. It appeared that virtually
every resident of Warsaw and Kosciusko county, able to move around,
visited Warsaw some time Monday or Monday night. Some appeared
on the scene soon after the derailment at 5:36 a.m. and remained
all day, watching the track-clearing operations. Traffic, which
was heavy all day, redoubled at night, with virtually unbroken
strings of autos entering Warsaw. Lawns in the vicinity of the
derailment were tramped almost bare of grass.
Four Cars on Track
Four pullman cars with usable undercarriages were placed back
on the tracks and moved onto the "Y" transfer link with
the Big Four. The rest of the eleven coaches were nudged from
the rails over onto Jefferson street. Undercarriages will be repaired
and replaced on the scene to permit removal of the coaches to
the Pennsylvania shops at Fort Wayne.
Clearance operations on a coach just east of Indiana street crossing
early Monday afternoon resulted in considerable damage to the
home of Jesse Hay at 221 South Indiana street. As the coach was
being moved to the north side of the track by railway cranes,
it got out of control and rolled up against the south side of
the house, shoving the back part of the structure six inches.
Linoleum on the floors of the kitchen and back porch broke, doors
were jammed so they wouldn't shut and the south walls of the room
cracked. Several persons, including Mrs. Hay, her daughter, Jane
Faris, Mrs. Glenn Hatfield, of Burket, and Mrs. Robert Breading,
of Warsaw, were in the house when it was jarred by the impact.
Crossings Are Repaired
The rest of the crossings torn up when the streamlined locomotive
broke loose from the train and pulled its wheelless tender through
town, were to be repaired and opened to traffic Tuesday, it was
announced. Some were opened late Monday night.
Railway officials said that the broken spring hanger of the locomotive
permitted the spring to fall down and lodge in a switch a short
distance east of the Pennsylvania-Big Four interesection. The
coach wheels, when they struck the spring wedged in the switch,
left the tracks and tore them from their moorings.
Injured Show Improvement
Attaches at the McDonald hospital Tuesday reported that Howard
(Dutch) Wyland, Detroit street crossing watchman, and Evelyn Huchro,
19, of Chicago, a passenger, both injured in the derailment, were
in an improved condition.
Wyland, who lives at 953 East Fort Wayne Street, sustained painful
back and internal injuries when a pullman coach sideswiped and
demolished his tower. Miss Huchro sustained a skull fracture and
head and body lacerations. The seven other casualties of the derailment,
three railway employees and four passengers, were released from
the McDonald hospital and the Murphy Medical Center after receiving
treatment for minor injuries. One of these was Jesse Miller, of
North Lake street, operator on duty at the interlocking tower
between Hickory and Detroit streets, who was struck by debris
as he stood at the foot of the tower just south of the point of
derailment.
A few telephone subscribers at Winona Lake lacked service Tuesday
as an indirect result of the derailment. An operator said that
a line to Winona was inadvertently cut by workers during repair
operations.
Warsaw Daily Times Tuesday April 29, 1947
South Bend Tribune, Monday evening April 28, 1947 front page.
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