Should have posted this a couple of weeks ago; the 50 year anniversary was on Feb. 2nd:
The Evening Standard
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
February 3, 1961
Page 34
6 Killed, 150 Hurt
In Train Accident
BOWIE, Md. (AP)—A train derailment which
turned a day at the races into a nightmare of death and
suffering in snow-covered countryside is being investi-
gated by Pennsylvania Railroad officials.
Six persons were killed and about 150 were injured
Thursday when seven cars—
of a special 11-car train from
Philadelphia left the rails while
making a left turn from the
main line onto a spur leading to
Bowie race course.
About 300 passengers were on
the train, three miles from the
race track, when the quietness of
the mid-winter afternoon was
shattered in a mass of twisted
steel, broken glass and uprooted
seats.
The double-unit diesel engine
tumbled over on its right side.
The seven derailed cars bounced
along over cross ties or open
ground, but did not topple over.
Police said two of the victims,
who included five passengers and
a dining car waiter, died when the
bottom of a car was ripped off
and the men dropped under the
train.
The engineer, Howard W. Homer,
62, of Camden, N.J. told police
the train was traveling at
about 30 miles an hour when the
brakes failed as he turned off the
main line.
Playing cards, evidence of how
the passengers whiled away the
time, were scattered along the
tracks.
"All we felt were two sharp
jerks," said a dining car steward
Eugene B. Webster. "One big sud-
den jerk, and then a small one.
One of the passengers, who es-
caped injury, Edward F. Janus,
48, of Philadelphia, said he
thought at first the train was just
making a sudden stop.
"There was one jolt after an-
other and the car was rocking
like a ship at sea," he said after
climbing from the last derailed
car.
I was on one of these Race Track Specials a week or two before this incident. The article doesn't mention that many of the passengers managed to walk to the track to get their bets in, many of them obviously injured and bleeding!
The Evening Standard
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
February 3, 1961
Page 34
6 Killed, 150 Hurt
In Train Accident
BOWIE, Md. (AP)—A train derailment which
turned a day at the races into a nightmare of death and
suffering in snow-covered countryside is being investi-
gated by Pennsylvania Railroad officials.
Six persons were killed and about 150 were injured
Thursday when seven cars—
of a special 11-car train from
Philadelphia left the rails while
making a left turn from the
main line onto a spur leading to
Bowie race course.
About 300 passengers were on
the train, three miles from the
race track, when the quietness of
the mid-winter afternoon was
shattered in a mass of twisted
steel, broken glass and uprooted
seats.
The double-unit diesel engine
tumbled over on its right side.
The seven derailed cars bounced
along over cross ties or open
ground, but did not topple over.
Police said two of the victims,
who included five passengers and
a dining car waiter, died when the
bottom of a car was ripped off
and the men dropped under the
train.
The engineer, Howard W. Homer,
62, of Camden, N.J. told police
the train was traveling at
about 30 miles an hour when the
brakes failed as he turned off the
main line.
Playing cards, evidence of how
the passengers whiled away the
time, were scattered along the
tracks.
"All we felt were two sharp
jerks," said a dining car steward
Eugene B. Webster. "One big sud-
den jerk, and then a small one.
One of the passengers, who es-
caped injury, Edward F. Janus,
48, of Philadelphia, said he
thought at first the train was just
making a sudden stop.
"There was one jolt after an-
other and the car was rocking
like a ship at sea," he said after
climbing from the last derailed
car.
I was on one of these Race Track Specials a week or two before this incident. The article doesn't mention that many of the passengers managed to walk to the track to get their bets in, many of them obviously injured and bleeding!
Ocala Mike (formerly Hillside Mike and Deer Park Mike)
