The purpose of this post is to determine if anyone recalls a wreck in Glendon, PA in May, 1961. It really did happen & I have 5 very poor quality photographs documenting it. (I was a kid at the time & used my Brownie Duoflex).
Three of the pictures are of the caboose ("Hack" per my Dad) that was hit. None with any identifying numbers. One of these does show the 2, round end-windows & the single-piece rail of the "U" style roof ladder. There may be other clues to the idenity as well, to an experienced eye.
Really interesting to me, is another of the pictures shows a style of LV locomotive with engineer forward/rounded front. The first number is a "5". There is a middle power unit (fuel?). I do not know why it is in the picture - either part of the crashed main-line freight or perhaps used to deliver clean-up equipment & crew? It seems to be upright on the track, alongside the wreck?
How was I involved? and how did I come to stand on the tracks about 2-4 hours after the collision? My Dad drove home to assure us that he was fine, then needed to return to the scene to recover his duffle, lunch box, & Thermos from his caboose locker, & asked if I wanted to come. His Thermos came out of the twisted & mangled wreckage unscathed, including warm coffee
A short form of his side of the story was that his work train/switcher had to enter the main line to return to a yard in Easton. He sensed something was wrong. His fellow crewmen mocked him. He said he would walk back to the yards, but he needed to get off & investigate his feeling of danger. It was real as the high-speed freight rounded the curve. Dad had broken railroad rules, having left his flags on the hack. He used a newspaper to attempt to flag the freight. Many lives were saved because his crew was watching "crazy Jarvis" running along the track waving a newspaper. Thats why they saw what was coming & got off in time. I don't believe radios were in use at that time, so there may not have been any way to warn their own engineer & fireman.
The part I don't understand is I seem to recall that the oncoming freight engineer was either hurt very bad or killed. You would have thought that would appear in some report? Also, there was considerable property damage. I remember quite a few cars laying around & over the embankment into the Lehigh canal. Certainly Dad's caboose was scrapped, the lead freight engine needed extensive repair. As this occured just prior to the sale of the LVRR, maybe it was hushed up?
I note that the typical wreck-report goes to great length to blame the trainmen employees. I seem to recall there may have been differening views as to cause of this one. It'd be interesting to hear if anyone recalls the event, as well as what their take was on the cause.
I'm working out details of just how to post the high-resolution scans of the wreck. Also, it turns out that my Dad had saved every scrap of his paperwork. I should be able to locate the date of the accident in his log & time records & perhaps provide his engine number & any other pertinent information.
All of this because of a recent train ride our local Berkshire Scenic Railway tourist ride - these
fabulous memories came flooding back.
Bob Jarvis
Three of the pictures are of the caboose ("Hack" per my Dad) that was hit. None with any identifying numbers. One of these does show the 2, round end-windows & the single-piece rail of the "U" style roof ladder. There may be other clues to the idenity as well, to an experienced eye.
Really interesting to me, is another of the pictures shows a style of LV locomotive with engineer forward/rounded front. The first number is a "5". There is a middle power unit (fuel?). I do not know why it is in the picture - either part of the crashed main-line freight or perhaps used to deliver clean-up equipment & crew? It seems to be upright on the track, alongside the wreck?
How was I involved? and how did I come to stand on the tracks about 2-4 hours after the collision? My Dad drove home to assure us that he was fine, then needed to return to the scene to recover his duffle, lunch box, & Thermos from his caboose locker, & asked if I wanted to come. His Thermos came out of the twisted & mangled wreckage unscathed, including warm coffee
A short form of his side of the story was that his work train/switcher had to enter the main line to return to a yard in Easton. He sensed something was wrong. His fellow crewmen mocked him. He said he would walk back to the yards, but he needed to get off & investigate his feeling of danger. It was real as the high-speed freight rounded the curve. Dad had broken railroad rules, having left his flags on the hack. He used a newspaper to attempt to flag the freight. Many lives were saved because his crew was watching "crazy Jarvis" running along the track waving a newspaper. Thats why they saw what was coming & got off in time. I don't believe radios were in use at that time, so there may not have been any way to warn their own engineer & fireman.
The part I don't understand is I seem to recall that the oncoming freight engineer was either hurt very bad or killed. You would have thought that would appear in some report? Also, there was considerable property damage. I remember quite a few cars laying around & over the embankment into the Lehigh canal. Certainly Dad's caboose was scrapped, the lead freight engine needed extensive repair. As this occured just prior to the sale of the LVRR, maybe it was hushed up?
I note that the typical wreck-report goes to great length to blame the trainmen employees. I seem to recall there may have been differening views as to cause of this one. It'd be interesting to hear if anyone recalls the event, as well as what their take was on the cause.
I'm working out details of just how to post the high-resolution scans of the wreck. Also, it turns out that my Dad had saved every scrap of his paperwork. I should be able to locate the date of the accident in his log & time records & perhaps provide his engine number & any other pertinent information.
All of this because of a recent train ride our local Berkshire Scenic Railway tourist ride - these
fabulous memories came flooding back.
Bob Jarvis