1892 — Sep 21, express and freight trains collide, fire, Fort Wayne road, Shreve, OH–11-13

–13 Eastern State Journal, White Plains, NY. “History of 1892.” 12-31-1892, p. 1.
–13 NYT. “Killed or Buried Alive; Many Dead…Injured on…Fort Wayne Road,” 9-22-1892.
–13 Ohio Memory. “Ohio Train Wrecks.” 7-13-2012. Accessed 2-14-2022.
–13 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 95.
–12 Portsmouth Times, OH. “General News.” 9-24-1892, p. 11.
–11 New York Times. “Eleven Killed In The Wreck,” Sep 23, 1892, p. 8.

Narrative Information

Sep 21: “Wooster, Ohio, Sept. 21. – The Chicago express train crashed into a freight train on the Fort Wayne Road at Shreve, Ohio, this morning. The express was known as Train No. 8, and it ran into the first section of Freight Train No. 75.

“The express was approaching at full speed when the freight, which had been lying on a siding, suddenly pulled on to the main track in front of it. Before either train could stop they had collided. It is thought the engineer of the freight train did not understand his orders….

“Both engines were ditched and ground into a shapeless mass. They were followed by six cars of the express, including the postal car, two express cars, the baggage car, the smoker, and one coach, together with five of the freight cars….The wrecked cars were totally destroyed by fire. One coach and the sleeping cars on the express train were not wrecked, and escaped the flames.

“The force of the collision was terrific, and the postal, express, and smoking cars were completely telescoped. There were five clerks at work in the postal car, and of these four were instantly killed. The fire communicated from the fire box of the engine to the postal car, and in a short time the car was a blazing mass. From there the flames swept to the two express cars, and before the fiery element was checked the baggage car, the smoker, and a day coach were reduced to ashes. The only cars that escaped the flames were the three Pullman coaches and a special car which was attached to the rear. The Pullman cars were not wrecked….

“Shreve Station, the point near where the disaster occurred, is a small hamlet about 145 miles west of Pittsburg on the main line of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Road….

“Attention was at first paid to the passengers imprisoned in the burning smoker and day coach. Two or three of them were pinioned by broken timbers, and were powerless. They made desperate efforts to free themselves as the flames swept toward them, and their cries for help were heartrending. All that could be was done by those outside, but the fire swept upon them so quickly that the workers finally had to stand back while the helpless victims perished before their eyes….” [13 listed as dead.] (NYT. “Killed or Buried Alive; Many Dead…Injured on…Fort Wayne Road,” 22 Sep 1892, p. 1.)

Sep 22: “Pittsburg, Sept. 22. – The wreck at Shreve, Ohio, on the Fort Wayne Road, yesterday, was caused by a blunder, but who was responsible for it has not yet developed. Superintendent Starr said to-day:

‘There was no confusion of orders, as there were no orders. No one knows why the freight pulled out, but the supposition is that a fast freight, running between the limited east and No. 8, went by, and the freight crew mistook it for No. 8.’

“It is now definitely known that there were but two women and one child burned in the wreck, instead of three women, as at first reported. This reduces the number of dead to eleven. The charred remains of the women have been identified….The only body not yet recovered is that of F.C. Mann, the postal clerk, of Chicago.” (New York Times. “Eleven Killed In The Wreck,” Sep 23, 1892, p. 8.)

Sep 22: “The accident on the Fort Wayne Road yesterday morning seems to have been due to a piece of criminal negligence on the part of somebody. ‘Accidents’ are much rarer on American railroads than they used to be, and are becoming more and more strictly limited to accidents, properly so called, and not to accidents that are properly called crimes. This is perhaps not because the perpetrators of the accidents have been punished as criminals, for juries in most cases show a fatuous reluctance to punish men for mere carelessness, no matter how gross it may be in itself or how disastrous in its consequences. On the other hand, they show a great readiness to mulct railways in the heaviest possible damages for the carelessness of men in their employ. This comes to the same thing as punishing the men themselves, because corporations can be touched only through their pockets. When, in addition to the direct material loss of a smash-up, a railroad has to pay for the lives of all who are killed and for the injuries of all who are wounded, the company has the strongest motives for requiring its servants to be careful. Its only method of doing this is by discharging those who are careless, whether or not any disaster results from their carelessness. But it is a very serious punishment for a railroad man to be deprived of his livelihood, and we have therefore as great an incentive to caution as the criminal law could supply, even if it were much more energetically enforced than it is. The investigation on the part of the public that will be made of the disaster in Ohio will be less helpful to the public than the private investigation which the railroad will institute on its own account and for its own information. Legal pains and penalties for negligence ought, of course, to be superadded to those at the command of employers, but in any case they would be less effective. It is the pecuniary liability of the companies for accidents that has made travel safer than it used to be, and has rendered their infrequency on American roads, considering the amount of travel, truly astonishing. But the two accidents yesterday, both due to the negligence of engineers, indicate the need of additional vigilance and additional rigor.” (New York Times. “The Railway Wrecks,” Sep 22, 1892, p. 4.)

Sources

Eastern State Journal, White Plains, NY. “History of 1892 – The Chronological Record of a Memorable Year….Demons of Destruction.” 12-31-1892, p. 1. Accessed 2-6-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/white-plains-eastern-state-journal-dec-31-1892-p-1/

New York Times. “Eleven Killed In The Wreck,” Sep 23, 1892, p. 8. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9407EEDA1238E233A25750C2A96F9C94639ED7CF

New York Times. “Killed or Buried Alive; Many Dead and Injured on the Fort Wayne Road,” 9-22-1892, p. 1. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=990DEEDF1F31E033A25751C2A96F9C94639ED7CF

New York Times. “The Railway Wrecks (Editorial).” 9-22-1892, p. 4. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9501E7DE1F31E033A25751C2A96F9C94639ED7CF

Ohio Memory. “Ohio Train Wrecks.” 7-13-2012. Accessed 2-14-2022 at: https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/753

Portsmouth Times, OH. “General News.” 9-24-1892, p. 11. Accessed 2-14-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/portsmouth-times-sep-24-1892-p-11/

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC