1897 — May 27, Trains Collide, American Falls station, ID — 9

— 9  Prospector. “From the Attic. Train Crashes,” Dec/Jan, 2009, p. 3.

— 9  Watertown Re-Union, NY. “Two Trains Collide. Nine Men Killed…Wreck.” 6-2-1897, p. 7.

Narrative Information

Prospector: “….There are many tales of train wrecks in Idaho, but one of the scariest happened early in the morning of May 27th, 1897 at American Falls. The American Falls station was in a small valley between two hills.

“On that morning, a freight train was approaching the top of the hill ready to descend to the station. Suddenly, the man in charge of the train’s brakes realized that they weren’t working properly. If the train couldn’t slow down, it couldn’t switch over to a second safe track that ran harmlessly beside the station. The engineer tried to get the men to use emergency hand brakes, but it was already too late. The train had missed the safe track and had started down the hill. Normally the hand brakes could stop a big train. Unfortunately, this one was carrying a load of heavy logs. The great weight of the train and the steep hill made the hand brakes useless. The train was out of control and headed towards the station at sixty miles per hour.

“Down in the station was a second train full of passengers on the same track. When the engineer of the passenger train saw the freight train coming, he jumped into action and tried to back his train out of the way. But the freight train was moving too fast. The two trains collided in a spectacular explosion of metal and wood. Both engines were destroyed and nine people died in the crash….” (Prospector. “From the Attic. Train Crashes,” Dec/Jan, 2009, p. 3.)

May 27: “Pocatello, Idaho, May 27. — A head-end collision between a freight and a passenger train at American Falls, 25 miles west of here, at 4:30 o’clock this morning, caused the death, so far as known, of nine men, and the serious injury of eight others. Two of the latter will die.[1] This is the worst wreck that has ever occurred on the short line in many years.

“The westbound passenger train was waiting for the freight at American Falls, standing in front of the station building. The freight coming east ran away on the hill west of the Falls. It is thought the airbrakes were tampered with. The freight, running 50 miles an hour, crashed into the passenger train, which was already backing up in front of the station. Two men were on the station platform and one was killed and the other fatally injured. The station building was shattered. Both engines were converted into scrap iron and 20 freight cars piled up in a heap.

“George Moore, the engineer of the freight, is seriously injured. The fireman, Dick Cosgrove, had a leg broken, and C. E. Peckham, engineer of the passenger train, sustained slight injuries. He stayed by his engine until he had reversed it. The conductor and brakeman were on top of the

freight setting the brakes and Fireman Cosgrove had climbed back to help when the crash came.

“The dead are C. W. Shields, about 35 years old, residence unknown; D. L. Thompson, Dayton, Wash.; John R. Cooper, Wellsville, Utah; J. Steffen, Dillon, Mont.; five unknown men, all sheep shearers…” (Watertown Re-Union, NY. “Two Trains Collide. Nine Men Killed…Wreck.” 6-2-1897, p. 7.)

Sources

Prospector. “From the Attic. Train Crashes,” Dec/Jan, 2009, p. 3. Accessed 12-15-2016 at: https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/pclub_railroad.pdf

Watertown Re-Union, NY. “Two Trains Collide. Nine Men Killed…Wreck.” 6-2-1897, p. 7. Accessed 12-15-2016 at: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn85054450/1897-06-02/ed-1/seq-5.pdf

[1] Have not seen a follow-up to indicate these two men died. The Prospector of 2009 notes only nine deaths.