1947 — Feb 18, Pennsylvania RR Red Arrow Train Derails, , near (west of) Altoona, PA– 24

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard 10-15-2023 for upload to: https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 24  Altoona Mirror. “Locals tell story of the Red Arrow 70 years after railroad disaster.” 10-10-2023.

— 24  Chester Times, PA. Railroad accident article continued from p. 1., 2-28-1947, p. 2.

— 24  Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” 

Narrative Information

Wikipedia: “February 18, 1947 – Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States: The Red Arrow, a Pennsylvania Railroad express passenger train, jumped off the track on the Bennington Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania and tumbled down a large hill. 24 killed, 131 injured.”  (Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”) 

Newspapers

Feb 18, The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA: “Altoona, Pa., Feb. 18. – The Pennsylvania Railroad’s Red Arrow express, speeding downhill through the Allegheny Mountains an hour and six minutes behind schedule, plunged from the winding tracks today. At least 17 persons lost their lives. Seven additional bodies arrived here aboard a relief train shortly after noon. Ten arrived previously. The railroad reported that about 85 were injured when the two locomotives and five cars hurtled over a steep 90-foot embankment and ground into an awry, twisted wreckage. Three other cars toppled on their sides. Railroad officials feared the toll would rise. Rescue workers, using acetylene torches, cut through a maze if girders, jammed doors and broke compartments seeking dead and injured. Railroad officials said determination of the cause of the derailment must await completion of the rescue task and examination of wrecked equipment and ripped out rails.

“Many of the injured, brought here in hospital trains, were reported in critical condition. Ten of those hurt were Naval personnel en route to Bainbridge, Md., Naval Training Station.

“The wreck occurred five miles west of famed Horseshoe Curve, according to the railroad, when the two big steam locomotives leaped the track at a bend. Ten cars of the 14-car crack train careened off the rails. Three sleepers, a diner and a baggage coach rolled down the embankment after the engines. A combination passenger-baggage coach and a passenger coach toppled onto their sides along the winding roadbed. Three sleepers left the tracks but remained upright. Only four cars, including two sleepers, remained on the tracks.

“The wreck occurred at 3:25 a.m. – three hours and 24 minutes after the Red Arrow pulled out of Pittsburgh. Wreck and hospital trains were sent from Altoona, Conemaugh and Cresson.

“Meanwhile, uninjured passengers and crewmen worked frantically to extricate the injured. They were sheltered in the upright coach from the sub-freezing weather, until the rescue trains arrived.

“Altoona’s two hospitals filled rapidly as the relief trains began bringing in the injured. Taxicabs were used to supplement ambulances in hauling the hurt from the railroad station to the hospital.

“Nearly seven hours passed before railroad officials announced that 10 bodies had been recovered. The announcement identified only the three crewmen. They were: J. L. Parasock, Altoona, fireman of the first engine; M. E. McArdle, of Scottdale, Pa., engineman of the second locomotive; and R. K. Henry, of Derry, Pa., fireman of the second engine.

“The wreckage was strewn across three of the four tracks of the right-of-way hampering rescue efforts. Railroad officials said communication lines were torn down, delaying reports.

“ ‘The cause of the accident is being investigated,’ J. A. Appleton, vice president of the PRR’s central region, said ‘It might be several hours before anything definite can be learned.’

“A 14-car hospital train, loaded with all available nurses and doctors arrived at the scene. Many of the injured were reported in extremely serious condition. Arriving here, most of the victims appeared dazed and unable to talk….

“The Red Arrow pulled out of Detroit at 5:20 p.m. last night with a ‘normal load.’ It was due in New York at 8:50 this morning.

“Rain threatened as the rescue workers hunted through the wreckage. The temperature hung in the low thirties….

“The scene of the wreck was deep in one of the most rugged ranges of the Alleghenies – Bennington Curve. The nearest improved highway was a mile and a half away. Red Cross disaster crews pushed mobile relief units over narrow, winding mountain roads to reach the wreck….” (The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “PRR ‘Red Arrow’ Wrecks West of Altoona; 17 Bodies Recovered, At Least 85 Injured.” 2-18-1947, p. 1.)

Feb 19, The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA: “Altoona, Pa., Feb. 19. – The Pennsylvania Railroad disclosed today that its Cincinnati Limited, carrying more than 200 passengers, sped over Bennington curve just 14 minutes before the Red Arrow express leaped from the same looping track to carry 22 persons to death….[when] its two locomotives and five coaches careened down a steep 90-foot embankment of crash in a twisted maze….

“More than 50 of the 128 persons reported by the railroad company to have been injured in the derailment were still under treatment in Altoona’s two hospitals. Several were reported in serious condition.

“One of the injured, George C. Bowman, 47, Tyrone, Pa., mail clerk, died during the night. Ronald File, 17, of Toledo, was reported in critical condition with a fractured skull.

“Another of the injured was Larry English, 20, Midland, Mich., who was en route to New York on his honeymoon. His bride, Dorothy, whom he married in Midland Saturday, was killed….

“The railroad fixed the death toll at 22, all identified at local morgues, but Coroner Daniel M. Replogle said he counted 23 bodies taken from the wreckage. The dead included 13 passengers, six mail clerks and three crew members of the two locomotives. Twenty-one persons were killed instantly in the wreck and the 22^nd victim, George C. Bowman, 47, Tyrone, Pa., a mail clerk, died last night….” (The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Three-Way Investigation of PRR Wreck Opens; 22 Dead, 128 Injured.” 2-19-1947, p. 1.)

Sources

Altoona Mirror (Sean Sauro), PA. “Locals tell story of the Red Arrow 70 years after railroad disaster.” 10-10-2023. Accessed 10-15-2023 at: https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2017/02/locals-tell-story-of-the-red-arrow-70-years-after-railroad-disaster/

Chester Times, PA. Railroad accident article continued from p. 1., 2-28-1947, p. 2. Accessed 10-15-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chester-times-feb-28-1947-p-2/

The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “PRR ‘Red Arrow’ Wrecks West of Altoona; 17 Bodies Recovered, At Least 85 Injured.” 2-18-1947, p. 1. Accessed 10-15-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/huntingdon-daily-news-feb-18-1947-p-1/

The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Three-Way Investigation of PRR Wreck Opens; 22 Dead, 128 Injured.” 2-19-1947, p. 1. Accessed 10-15-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/huntingdon-daily-news-feb-19-1947-p-1/

Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” Accessed at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pre-1950_rail_accidents