Miscellaneous, Wreck on the D.&H. at Bainbridge

Wreck on the D.&H.

Rear End Collision One mile and a Half above the Village

Engineer and Fireman Killed

Bainbridge Republican, June 20, 1907

 



A bad wreck occurred on the D.& H. Tuesday morning about fifteen minutes past seven o'clock, one mile and a half above this village [Bainbridge, Chenango Co., NY].  In which two men were killed.  The scene of the wreck was just back of the Alvin Hayes farm residence above the Beatty crossing.  A fast freight going east overtook another train going in the same direction, causing a rear end collision, the engine of the second train crashing into the caboose of the first train.  The impact was so great that the engine was thrown from the track down a fifteen foot embankment and rolled over once and a half.  The engineer and firemen were crushed beneath the engine and instantly killed.  It is believed that just before the collision the engineer jumped and the engine rolled onto him, and that the fireman was caught while at work near the tender and went down with the engine.  The caboose of the first train was smashed into splinters and a steel coal car was rendered shapeless.  A coal car next to the derailed engine was thrown across the west bound track and together with the wreckage of the caboose, burned.  The remainder of both trains were left on the track.  It was a terrible accident considering the fact that from the spot where it occurred extended a straight and clear stretch of track for some distance.  The train ahead could have been seen by the engineer of the approaching train and it almost seems that the collision could have been averted.  It was stated at the scene of the wreck that the crew of the engine which caused the collision had been on duty continuously for twenty-five hours and that the engineer had fallen asleep only awaking in time to jump.  It was also said that the air brakes on the train failed to work which was the cause of failure to check the speed of the train.  That the engine struck the caboose with great force was seen by its position afterward, some distance from the track.  Two members of the first train crew who were in the caboose saved their lives by jumping.  The engineer who was killed was Charles Craig, age 25 years, and lived at Carbondale.  He was married and had one child.  His wife and child were in the west on a visit.  The fireman was Morris Keglar, aged 21, who was unmarried and also lived at Carbondale.  The news of the wreck reached this station soon after its occurrence and many people hastened to the scene.  Both tracks were blocked for some time.  The Oneonta wrecking crew arrived and the tracks were cleared at 11 a.m., so as to resume the running of trains.  Coroner Johnson, of Oxford, was sent for and viewed the bodies of the dead engineer and fireman.  They were placed in charge of Undertaker Hastings and brought to this village and shipped to their homes in Carbondale on the evening train. 

 

The above shows the freight engine in Tuesday morning's wreck.  It lies down a steep embankment where it rolled after the collision.  The body of the fireman was dug out from the corner of the tender seen in the picture, and the body of the engineer was found just back of where the three men are standing, having been crushed into the ground by the engine as it went over.