Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 6-9-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 13 Whelan. “History’s Headlines: Disaster on the Liberty Bell Line.” WFMZ.com. 6-6-2017.*

— 12 philleytrolley.org. “Liberty Bell High-Speed Line.” [Motorman and 11 passengers.]

— 12 The Morning Call, Allentown, PA. “Other Valley-area…Disasters…” 3-26-1992.

— 12 Wikipedia. “Lehigh Valley Transit Company.” 5-21-2011 modification.

— 11 Bradford Era, PA. “Motorman Freed on Bail…Death of 11 on Trolley.” 7-11-1942, 10.

— 11 Gettysburg Times, PA. “Death Toll in Trolley-Train Crash Now 11.” 7-10-1942, p. 8.

* My interpretation of “the head-on crash injured Struck [Liberty Bell motorman] fatally; he died at a hospital later. The heavier X-C 14 charged into the first five rows of seats, killing 12 passengers and seriously injuring 27.” [It appears though, from other sources that the toll was the motorman and 11 passengers.]

Narrative Information

The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, 1992: “July 8, 1942, Liberty Bell trolley line, three miles north of Norristown: Twelve died in a head-on collision of trolleys.” (The Morning Call, Allentown, PA. “Other Valley-area…Disasters…” 3-26-1992.)

Wikipedia: “A bad wreck occurred in July 1942 near northern Norristown. The motorman of a northbound lightweight 1003 was waiting at Brush siding near Norristown and had dispatcher’s orders to wait for both a southbound passenger car followed by a southbound freight motor, but he proceeded from the siding, violating the horizontal “stop” semaphore signal, and moved onto the main line after only the first passenger car had passed. He may have misinterpreted the “one-long and two-short” horn signal, indicating a following section, for the usual “two-toot” greeting that passing cars often signaled to each other. Alternatively, he may have been preoccupied in conversation with young females in the front vestibule. Alongside DeKalb Pike, the 1003 accelerated and rounded a hidden curve where it rammed head-on into a moving freight motor, C14. The heavier C14 “telescoped” into the lightweight and twelve people were killed, including the motorman of 1003. The motorman of C14 ran into the interior of the freight car, thus surviving, and had the presence of mind to first grab from the clipboard his train order authorizing his presence as the second southbound section.”[1] The wreck forced dispatching changes and a reduction in operating speeds.” (Wikipedia. “Lehigh Valley Transit Company.” 5-21-2011 modification.)

Newspapers at the Time

July 9-10: “(International News Service) Norristown, Pa., July 9. – Twenty-three persons, many of them in critical condition, lay in hospitals today as the aftermath of a tragedy in which nine others were killed when a jammed high-speed suburban trolley collided head-on with a freight trolley at Washington Square Gardens, four miles north of Norristown.

“The heavy freight car smashed nearly half-way through the Allentown-bound passenger trolley – the Liberty Bell Limited – loaded with war workers from Philadelphia plants. The passenger car was rounding a curve when the freight, speeding downgrade, plowed into it, crushing the victims in their seats, at 5:40 yesterday afternoon.

“Two ambulances shuttled back and forth between Norristown and the scene of the accident for more than an hour before all the casualties had been conveyed to Montgomery and Sacred Heart hospitals, both in Norristown.

“Spurred by the agonizing cries of the victims, volunteer workers and motorists extricated the dead, dying and injured from the telescoped cars. Acetylene torches were used to cut several of the victims from the wreckage. One of the first volunteer workers to reach the scene, Paul Stoudt of Skippack, said:

The seats had all been jammed back against their legs and they were wedged so tightly that we had to pull and tug before we could release those in the extreme rear of the trolley. In the front part of the car, almost down to the middle, men and women were lying on top of each other, screaming and yelling. It was terrible. Blood was everywhere, and we could not move some of them because they were wedged so tightly under the seats.

“Doctors attributed the saving of six lives to the quick action of the Red Cross which rushed 60 units of blood plasma from Philadelphia. The dead, four men and five women were [list of names and ages].

“Norristown, Pa., July 10 (AP) – Another passenger injured in the head-on collision of two interurban trolleys died today, bringing the total dead to 11, while authorities said the crash was caused by the failure of a motorman to obey running orders. The latest victim was Jacob Hollenback, 27, of Norristown, who died of chest and head injuries and a broken leg. Twenty-one others were injured when the crowded Philadelphia-to-Allentown passenger trolley collided Wednesday with a heavy freight car.

“Assistant District Attorney Edward B. Duffy of Montgomery county and Edward M. Hawes, attorney for the Lehigh Valley Transit Company, announced they had found a dispatch order on the body of Henry H. Strunk, motorman of the passenger car, which they said indicated he was to have waited on a siding for a southbound trolley and the freight car to pass. Strunk, 42, Allentown, who was fatally injured, waited for the passenger car but did not wait for the freight, they said. His car and the freight, operated by Grover Meckley, 54, of Allentown, crashed at a curve at nearby Penn Square, three and a half miles north of Norristown.

“The investigation of the crash is continuing, officials said, and Meckley remained in custody on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.” (Gettysburg Times, PA. “Death Toll in Trolley-Train Crash Now 11.” 7-10-1942, p. 8.)

July 10: “Norristown, Pa., July 10 (AP) – George S. Meckley, 54, of Allentown, motorman of one of the trolleys that collided headon Wednesday night, killing 11 and injuring 15, was released today on $5,000 bail. He was charged by the coroner with manslaughter, pending completion of the investigation.

“Meantime District Attorney Frederick Smillie conferred with Edward Hawes, counsel for the Lehigh Valley Transit company, in an effort to question in a private examination, Harvey Weikel, 57, train dispatcher.” (Bradford Era, PA. “Motorman Freed on Bail…Death of 11 on Trolley.” 7-11-1942, p. 10.)

Sources

Bradford Era, PA. “Motorman Freed on Bail…Manslaughter in Death of 11 on Trolley.” 7-11-1942, 10. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=140362696

Gettysburg Times, PA. “Death Toll in Trolley-Train Crash Now 11.” 7-10-1942, p. 8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2988999

New Castle News, PA. “Nine Killed in Norristown Wreck.” 7-9-1942, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=56882878

philleytrolley.org. “Liberty Bell High-Speed Line.” Accessed 6-9-2024 at: http://www.phillytrolley.org/liberty.html

The Morning Call, Allentown, PA. “Other Valley-area Mishaps and Disasters Have Taken Lives.” 3-26-1992. At: http://articles.mcall.com/1992-03-26/features/2835266_1_quarry-disaster-explosion

Whelan, Frank. “History’s Headlines: Disaster on the Liberty Bell Line.” WFMZ.com. Allentown, PA, 6-6-2017. Accessed 6-9-2024 at:

https://www.wfmz.com/station/contact/#tncms-source=Top-Navigation-Station-Contact

Wikipedia. “Lehigh Valley Transit Company.” 5-21-2011 modification. Accessed 10-25-2011 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehigh_Valley_Transit_Company

[1] Cites: McKelvey, Wm., Jr. Lehigh Valley Transit Company Liberty Bell Route- A Photographic History. 97 pp., 296 photographs. Canal Captain’s Press, Berkley Heights, NJ, 1989.

1942 — July 8, Liberty Bell Trolley and Freight Car Collide, 3M N of Norristown, PA– 12