Train Jumps Rails Near Binghamton, Kills Two in Home
New York Times, January 9, 1966
Bainbridge, N.Y.: Mrs. Alice Johnson sat and smoked cigarettes, while a freight train box car encased her in her auto. Wreckage surrounded her and a man and wife lay dead in their crushed and burning home 150 feet away.
This was the scene last night after more than half of a 64-car Delaware & Hudson freight train jumped the tracks in the center of this village of 1,700, northeast of Binghamton. It wrecked two buildings, including the home of Anthony Delello, 73 years old, and his wife, Rose, 68.
Mr. Delello, a former D.&H. guard at the crossing where the wreck occurred, and his wife died in their flaming home, apparently while in the living room.
Mrs. Johnson, 28, of Bainbridge, who had been waiting in her auto at the crossing, suffered bruises when a box car smashed the roof of her auto. She was trapped more than an hour.
Investigators and crewmen, sought today in snow and cold to learn the cause of the derailment and clear the tracks. The wreckage included the cargo of propane, naphtha, furniture, sand, canned foods, bottles, lime, bricks, wood pulp and paper.
The tragedy at the Delello home might have been worse. Two of their nine children live at home, but were out at the time.
The cars also ripped away part of the Town Hall, housing the Police and Fire Departments. Firemen saved their trucks.
Officials said the train apparently was traveling about 60 miles an hour--the legal maximum for trains through here.
A silent witness to the fiery wreck was the Town Hall clock. It stopped at 6:35 P.M.
In the yards at Colonie, the Delaware & Hudson Railroad is seeking to deduce cause of the disastrous derailment at nearby Bainbridge. Under scrutiny are an estimated 130 feet of track, reconstructed just as they were on that bitterly cold Jan. 7 night in the Chenango County Community.
Scope of the investigation within sight of the State Capitol was revealed yesterday by Peter Naples of Oneonta, assistant trainmaster of the D&H. "We picked up the track at the point of derailment and reconstructed it in Colonie in an attempt to pinpoint what happened," he declared. Included in the trackage, he said, is a switch, which led to a siding at Eldred's Feed mill in Bainbridge. "We also picked up several pieces of equipment, anything that looked suspicious and could help us in finding the cause," Mr. Naples declared.
The investigation, unique in that it is under way more than 100 miles east of the point of derailment, is being conducted by D&H department heads. "We haven't come up with the cause as yet, but we're trying," Mr Naples said. "We're going over everything with a fine tooth comb." He said he was confident the cause ultimately would be determined, at which time the D&H undoubtedly will make its findings public.
Killed when burning and careening railroad cars crashed into their house and set it aflame were Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Delello, Sr., of 8 West Main Street, Bainbridge. In all 39 [sic] cars of the northbound train were derailed, extensively damaging the Bainbridge Firehouse, the police station, other buildings and several cars parked beside the right-of-way. Falling freight cars also flattened an auto, operated by Mrs. Leroy (Alice) Johnson, 28, which was waiting at the village crossing for the train to pass. Mrs. Johnson was pinned to the steering wheel for more than an hour before she could be removed by firemen and volunteers.
The D&H Trainmaster Gilbert Gillette of Scranton, Mr. Naples and Hubert Loucks of Oneonta RD, division general foreman, inspected the wreckage shortly after the derailment. Mr Gillette, who formerly was stationed in Oneonta, was unable to give an estimate of the loss, but emphasized that is would prove to be "an expensive wreck." "This is probably the biggest wreck the D&H has ever had in this area," he declared. Calling it "a humdinger," the trainmaster compared the Bainbridge derailment with the D&H wreck in the spring of 1963 at Starrucca, Pa.
Crewmen of the ill-fated train included George Vincent of Oneonta, engineer; George Laubmeier of Morris, fireman; Ben Hunt of Oneonta, head trainman; and Seymour Davis of Oneonta, swingman.
Last week the D&H announced contributions totaling $1,500 to Bainbridge fire and police agencies in appreciation of their assistance during the tragedy.
The Chenango County community of Bainbridge is continuing its restoration from an early January train derailment that caused several thousand dollars worth of damage, destroyed buildings and took two lives.
Repairs on the Bainbridge Police Department building have begun. One room of the building still remains boarded up, the last mute evidence of a night most village residents will not forget.
The repairs, being done by Frank L. Lewis & Sons, will include the replacement of a outside wall of a room that was formerly used as a communications and record room. At this time the door to the room remains closed. The room is used only for storage. Inside, cracked and chipped bricks and some pieces of ragged plaster remain from the fateful Friday evening.
Police Chief William Payne, whose offices are now located along with the communications and record center just to the east of the heavily damaged room, looked back on the fateful evening and said, "It was the first time I can remember that no one was in that room." The room was vacant when one of the derailed box cars came smashing into it.
Village workmen were still patching with asphalt, sections of what were once curbing around the old depot that is now used as a police station. Workmen will make other renovations to the building, located on the north side of the tracks, while they are at it. These will include the removing of several large doors used when the railroad occupied the building. The space will be filled in with cinder blocks.
The remains of the two-story frame house at 8 West Main Street have long since been removed. It was this home that took the brunt of the derailment. Anthony Delello, 73, and his wife, Rose, 68, died in the crash and fire than ensued.
The heavily damaged fire station was razed earlier this month and last week the Bainbridge fire commissioners let bids for the construction of the new fire station. The station, to be located on the site of the old two-story building will be completed within 120 days. Architects reported that the total construction cost, $124,187, was somewhat less than their original estimates. Contracts were let to Frank Lewis & Sons, general contracting, $88,900, John J. Henehan Co., heating and ventilating; $14,000, John J. Henehan Co., Plumbing, $9,870, and Miske Electric inc., electrical, $10,477.
Bainbridge's forced urban renewal moves slowly, but surely, while residents still cast fleeting glances as Delaware & Hudson Railroad trains continue to move through the center of the village. Chief Payne, looking out of his office at the then empty but still nearby tracks, said, "The people seem to think the trains are a lot longer these days, but they aren't. They just move at about half the speed they did before the accident."
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Everything Combed for Cause of Wreck
Binghamton Press, February 25, 1966
In the yards at Colonie, the Delaware & Hudson Railroad is seeking to deduce cause of the disastrous derailment at nearby Bainbridge. Under scrutiny are an estimated 130 feet of track, reconstructed just as they were on that bitterly cold Jan. 7 night in the Chenango County Community.
Scope of the investigation within sight of the State Capitol was revealed yesterday by Peter Naples of Oneonta, assistant trainmaster of the D&H. "We picked up the track at the point of derailment and reconstructed it in Colonie in an attempt to pinpoint what happened," he declared. Included in the trackage, he said, is a switch, which led to a siding at Eldred's Feed mill in Bainbridge. "We also picked up several pieces of equipment, anything that looked suspicious and could help us in finding the cause," Mr. Naples declared.
The investigation, unique in that it is under way more than 100 miles east of the point of derailment, is being conducted by D&H department heads. "We haven't come up with the cause as yet, but we're trying," Mr Naples said. "We're going over everything with a fine tooth comb." He said he was confident the cause ultimately would be determined, at which time the D&H undoubtedly will make its findings public.
Killed when burning and careening railroad cars crashed into their house and set it aflame were Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Delello, Sr., of 8 West Main Street, Bainbridge. In all 39 [sic] cars of the northbound train were derailed, extensively damaging the Bainbridge Firehouse, the police station, other buildings and several cars parked beside the right-of-way. Falling freight cars also flattened an auto, operated by Mrs. Leroy (Alice) Johnson, 28, which was waiting at the village crossing for the train to pass. Mrs. Johnson was pinned to the steering wheel for more than an hour before she could be removed by firemen and volunteers.
The D&H Trainmaster Gilbert Gillette of Scranton, Mr. Naples and Hubert Loucks of Oneonta RD, division general foreman, inspected the wreckage shortly after the derailment. Mr Gillette, who formerly was stationed in Oneonta, was unable to give an estimate of the loss, but emphasized that is would prove to be "an expensive wreck." "This is probably the biggest wreck the D&H has ever had in this area," he declared. Calling it "a humdinger," the trainmaster compared the Bainbridge derailment with the D&H wreck in the spring of 1963 at Starrucca, Pa.
Crewmen of the ill-fated train included George Vincent of Oneonta, engineer; George Laubmeier of Morris, fireman; Ben Hunt of Oneonta, head trainman; and Seymour Davis of Oneonta, swingman.
Last week the D&H announced contributions totaling $1,500 to Bainbridge fire and police agencies in appreciation of their assistance during the tragedy.
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Bainbridge Still Rebuilding
Binghamton Press, July 20, 1966
The Chenango County community of Bainbridge is continuing its restoration from an early January train derailment that caused several thousand dollars worth of damage, destroyed buildings and took two lives.
Repairs on the Bainbridge Police Department building have begun. One room of the building still remains boarded up, the last mute evidence of a night most village residents will not forget.
The repairs, being done by Frank L. Lewis & Sons, will include the replacement of a outside wall of a room that was formerly used as a communications and record room. At this time the door to the room remains closed. The room is used only for storage. Inside, cracked and chipped bricks and some pieces of ragged plaster remain from the fateful Friday evening.
Police Chief William Payne, whose offices are now located along with the communications and record center just to the east of the heavily damaged room, looked back on the fateful evening and said, "It was the first time I can remember that no one was in that room." The room was vacant when one of the derailed box cars came smashing into it.
Village workmen were still patching with asphalt, sections of what were once curbing around the old depot that is now used as a police station. Workmen will make other renovations to the building, located on the north side of the tracks, while they are at it. These will include the removing of several large doors used when the railroad occupied the building. The space will be filled in with cinder blocks.
The remains of the two-story frame house at 8 West Main Street have long since been removed. It was this home that took the brunt of the derailment. Anthony Delello, 73, and his wife, Rose, 68, died in the crash and fire than ensued.
The heavily damaged fire station was razed earlier this month and last week the Bainbridge fire commissioners let bids for the construction of the new fire station. The station, to be located on the site of the old two-story building will be completed within 120 days. Architects reported that the total construction cost, $124,187, was somewhat less than their original estimates. Contracts were let to Frank Lewis & Sons, general contracting, $88,900, John J. Henehan Co., heating and ventilating; $14,000, John J. Henehan Co., Plumbing, $9,870, and Miske Electric inc., electrical, $10,477.
Bainbridge's forced urban renewal moves slowly, but surely, while residents still cast fleeting glances as Delaware & Hudson Railroad trains continue to move through the center of the village. Chief Payne, looking out of his office at the then empty but still nearby tracks, said, "The people seem to think the trains are a lot longer these days, but they aren't. They just move at about half the speed they did before the accident."
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