Last edit Dec 3, 2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–19 Adams and Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania. 1992, p. 179.

–19 AP. “Two Still Unidentified Among 19 Dead…” Lock Haven Express, PA. 6-16-1945, p. 1.

–19 Centralia Evening Sentinel, IL. “Crowd Views Train Wreckage.” 6-16-1945, p. 5.

–19 Valley Girl Views. “The Deadliest Train Wreck in Milton – June 15, 1945.” 6-15-2020.

Narrative Information

Adams and Seibold: “…another wreck caused by a “hotbox.” The express, Pennsylvania Railroad train No 575, which that day in June was pulling 14 cars from the nation’s capital to Buffalo, was rolling along at top speed when, without warning, its engine slammed into a derailed car in the middle of a southbound freight on the opposite tracks.

“The car had been knocked off the tracks after a journal had broken. The conductor of the freight train had stopped to assess the damage and post a warning flag when the express zoomed by. With a thunderous roar, the engine plowed into the afflicted car, and took 20 more freight cars and seven of its own coaches into a massive pileup.

“Private First Class Lester Calvert, who survived the wreck, said the resulting crash was, ‘louder than anything I heard on European battlefronts.’….

“…19…died in that train wreck.” (Adams/Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of E. PA. 1992, 178-79.)

Valley Girl Views. “The Deadliest Train Wreck in Milton – June 15, 1945.” 6-15-2020:

“At 1:08 am on June 15 1945, an “ore train”, 103 freight cars, was moving east, when one of it’s cars buckled throwing a number of the heavily loaded cars onto the west-bound track, in the area near the former Milton Airport, or slightly south of where the Cameron house in Milton sits. Just a minute later, before crew members could possibly set up a warning signal, A 14 car passenger train, the Washington to Buffalo Express, approached the same area. The Express crashed into the freight train at 55 miles per an hour, knocking 20 freight cars from the tracks and pulling seven cards behind it off the rails.

“Two express cars and a postal car plunged off the tracks behind the engine. The number four car, a passenger-baggage combination, nosed into the earth. The next coach telescoped the combination car. The mail car, was thrown into the air and landed approximately 50 feet in front of the wrecked locomotive. The six mail clerks miraculously escaped injury. A.P. Shearer was one of the clerks in the post office car. As he limped around the scene that morning, a reporter asked him what had happened. Shearer replied:

“What happened to me? you try and tell me you can do it almost as easily. We hit something, and hit is quick, that’s all I know. I can remember being jolted to the side, then the rood. Then the floor, and I don’t know where else. Believe me, I was lucky. DO you see where our car is, clear up here ahead of the locomotive? Well, it was 3rd in line on the train. We went right over the top of the others, and believe me, it was a ride.”

“Nearly 50 others were not as fortunate. Seventeen people died in the initial wreck, and 32 were injured. Of the injured, only 30 recovered, bringing the total dead to 19.”

Newspapers

June 15, AP: “Williamsport, Pa., June 15. (AP)–At least 17 persons were killed and 32 injured early today when the 34^th car of a freight train jumped the tracks and fell on adjoining tracks ahead of an onrushing Washington-Buffalo passenger train, Pennsylvania Railroad officials said.

“More than 200 persons were shaken up when the locomotive and the first six cars of the passenger train were derailed at Milton. Many of the passengers were trapped in the wreckage, where they remained until freed by railroad crews. Officials said 21 cars of the freight also left the track. Acetylene torches were being used to cut the passenger coaches and extricate bodies. Officials it would be at least several hours before all the dead were released and ‘maybe longer before they are identified.’….

“The wreck occurred shortly after 1 a.m. Officials said the freight train had stopped at Milton a few minutes earlier and was moving at a low rate of speed while the passenger train’s speed was estimated at its usual running rate — 55 miles an hour….” (Associated Press. “17 Persons Killed in R.R. Wreck.” Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, PA, 6-15-1945, p. 1.)

June 15, AP: “Freight Car Going Opposite Way Jumps Into Path of Express Near Milton, Pa.

“Milton, Pa., June 15 (AP) – Eighteen persons were killed and thirty-two were injured in a collision near here early today between the Dominion Express of the Pennsylvania Railroad and a freight train thrown into its path by a broken journal. Five members of the armed forces, four soldiers and a WAC, were among those killed.

“The railroad announced the list of identified dead as follows:

Pvt. William T. Christoff, 19, of Ridgeway, Pa.

Mrs. Francis Cheslock, of Shamokin, Pa.

N.E. Graeff, fireman, of Harrisburg [Pa.]

C. Stratton, engineer, of Camp Hill, Pa.
R. Hoverter, brakeman, of Harrisburg [Pa.}

Mrs. Catherine Innes of London, Ont.

Dorothy Reynolds, member of the Women’s Army Corps.

Pfc. Herbert E. Swan of Buffalo [NY]

Eldred P. Boland of North Tonawanda, N.Y.

“The fourteen-car Washington-to-Buffalo express drove at fifty-five miles an hour into the thirty-fourth car of the freight train, proceeding in the opposite direction along a parallel track, with a crash….No warning was possible as the locomotive ploughed into the car, derailing twenty other freight cars and pulling seven cars behind it off the rails in grotesque pile-ups

“Passengers in seven sleeping cars which remained on the tracks were shaken but joined in rescue efforts.

“Many bodies were wedged in the wreckage. Rescue workers used acetylene torches to cut through tangled steel.

“The injured persons, most of whom lived along the route of the train, were taken to hospitals at Lewisburg, Danville and Sunbury, where two died during the day.

“J. N. Gamble of Harrisburg, ticket collector, said, ‘there was one bump and I saw the glass of the door at the end of the car coming at me before I realized that I was flying through the air. The worst thing of all was the engine. It was still on the track, but the mechanical parts outside were stripped off and the tank had split away. Lying on the ground was the engineer. He was dead.’

“H. L. Nancarrow, general manager of the road’s Eastern region, said: ‘The conductor of the freight train stated that, feeling the application of the brakes and realizing there was trouble on his train, he had just stepped to the ground from his caboose on the rear of the freight to give warning to oncoming trains, when he heard and saw Train 575 (the express) drive into the derailed freight cars.’

“Trains were being detoured over a forty-mile stretch between Williamsport and Sunbury on the Reading Company lines and officials said they expected to have the tracks cleared tonight.

____

“Buffalo, June 15 (AP) – Private First Class swan was on his way home after two and one-half years in a German prison camp. His family went to the railroad station to meet the train after he telephoned his mother he was coming on the Washington-Buffalo express. Learning of the wreck, they went home and returned later to meet the relief train at 4 p.m. Again they went home disappointed, and there were informed of the soldier’s death. Inducted in May, 1941, Private First Class Swan was taken prisoner in North Africa in February, 1943.” (Associated Press. “18 Killed, 32 Hurt in Odd Train Crash.” New York Times. 6-16-1945, p. 19.)

June 16, AP: “Milton, (AP) — Pennsylvania Railroad officials continued their search for clues to the identities of two of the 19 persons killed yesterday in a freak collision here between a Washington-to-Buffalo express and freight train. A woman with a wedding ring engraved ‘FEC to ARF, 10-20-41’ and a soldier whose clothing bore only a laundry mark were the only persons still unidentified, a railroad spokesman said….

“Twenty-nine persons were injured and 200 shaken up when the 14-car Dominion Express thundered at 55 miles an hour into the 34^th car of the freight, which railroad officials said was derailed and thrown into its path by a broken journal….

The identified dead in the crash are:

Pvt. William T. Christoff, Ridgway, Pa.

Mrs. Francis Cheslock, Shamokin, Pa.

E. Graeff, fireman, Harrisburg, Pa.
C. Stratton, engineer, Camp Hill, Pa.
R. Hoverter, brakeman, Harrisburg, Pa.

Mrs. Catherine Ennes, London, Ont., Canada.

Dorothy Reynolds, member of the Women’s Army Corp (no address).

Pfc. Herbert E. Swan, Buffalo, N.Y.

Eldred P. Boland, North Tonawanda, N.Y.

Edward J. Seibert, Buffalo, N.Y.

William A. Lawrence, North Tonawanda, N.Y.

Mrs. W. D. Butler, Trumansburg, N.Y.

Mrs. H. E. Saylor, Montezuma, N.Y.

Sgt. Charles J. Finely, Camp Shanks, N.Y.

Miss Martha A Prentice, Washington, D.C.

A WAVE[1] whose identity was withheld pending notification of kin….”

(AP. “Two Still Unidentified Among 19 Dead in Wreck.” Lock Haven Express, PA. 6-16-1945, p. 1.)

Sources

Adams, Charles J. III and David J. Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania. Reading, PA: Exeter House Books, 1992.

Associated Press. “17 Persons Killed in R.R. Wreck.” Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, PA, 6-15-1945, p. 1. Accessed 9-20-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/indiana-evening-gazette-jun-15-1945-p-1/?tag

Associated Press. “18 Killed, 32 Hurt in Odd Train Crash.” New York Times. 6-16-1945, p. 19. Accessed 12-3-2023 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/06/16/102266378.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

Associated Press. “Two Still Unidentified Among 19 Dead in Wreck.” Lock Haven Express, PA. 6-16-1945, p. 1. Accessed 9-20-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lock-haven-express-jun-16-1945/

Centralia Evening Sentinel, IL. “Crowd Views Train Wreckage.” 6-16-1945, p. 5. Accessed 12-3-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-evening-sentinel-jun-16-1945-p-5/

Valley Girl Views. “The Deadliest Train Wreck in Milton – June 15, 1945.” 6-15-2020. Accessed 12-3-2023 at: https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-deadliest-train-wreck-in-milton.html

[1] U.S. Naval Reserve (Women’s).

1945 — June 15, Freight train car derails, hit by passenger train (cars derail), Milton, PA-19