Miscellaneous

 MHD Collection

 

 

Bainbridge Mechanic Gets Ride Free as Two D. and H. Trains

Hit Car; Carry Him 3,140 Feet

 

Jay Smith Suffers Broken Ribs, Cuts as Freight Takes

Auto 500 Feet One Way; Second Returns Him Half-Mile the Other

 

Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY]:  Jay Smith, 53-year-old Bainbridge mechanic, was taken 3,140 feet out of his way today by two D. and H. freight trains, then dropped with minor injuries on the outskirts of this village.  Struck as he attempted to drive his two-door sedan across the railroad tracks at the Beatty Crossing shortly before 7 a.m., Mr. Smith was dragged 500 feet north by an Oneonta-bound freight train, dropped, and then picked up and carried south a half-mile by a second train.  On his way to work at the American Separator Co., Mr. Smith suffered several broken ribs, cuts and lacerations in the scrimmage with the two long freights.  The first train struck him at the Beatty Crossing, and carried him north where it dropped him on the south-bound track.  A second train, coming along almost immediately afterwards, picked him up and carried him to the Freiot avenue crossing, a half-mile south.  Mr. Smith was attempting to extricate himself from the ruins of his car when Moritz Roehlk, a village milkman, Frank Dilello, who lives next to the tracks at Freiot Avenue, and Henry Pratt a garageman helped him from the car.  He was taken to the Bainbridge hospital in Mr. Pratt's car where he was attended by Dr. Edward Danforth, who said the man was badly dazed.  Because of prior poor health, the doctor said his condition was considered serious.  On the way to the hospital, Mr. Smith told Mr. Pratt:  "I knew I was going to get it, but how did I get it?"  Mr. Smith lives a short distance outside the village, is married and has three children.  He is employed as a mechanic at the American Separator Co.  [Binghamton Press, Jan. 19, 1940]