1951 — Nov 25, New York and New Orleans trains collide head-on ~Woodstock, AL — 17

–17 Anniston Star, AL. “APSC Hearing Set on Crash.” 11-30-1951, p. 20.
–17 Anniston Star, AL. “PSC Postpones Wreck Hearing.” 12-19-1951, p. 7.
–17 Anniston Star, AL. “Total of Dead in Train Crash Hits Seventeen.” 11-27-1951, p. 1.
–17 Anniston Star, AL. “Train Crashes May Be Cause of Rail Laws.” 11-28-1951, p. 14.
–17 Daily Review, Hayward, CA. “News Highlights of 1951.” 12-26-1951, p. 4.
–16 Anniston Star, AL. “Train Crash Kills Sixteen. Streamliners Meet Head-on.” 11-26-1951, 1

Narrative Information

Nov 26: “Woodstock – (AP) – The crushing head-on collision of two New York-New Orleans streamliners killed 16 and injured 60 yesterday, and additional victims were hunted in the wreckage today.

“The silvery northbound Southerner pulled from a siding here into the path of the onrushing southbound Crescent. The sledgehammer crash turned the first car of the Southerner into a giant coffin. The trains met on a high railroad trestle 29 miles southwest of Birmingham. The Crescent was using the Southern tracks because a bridge was out on the Louisville and Nashville lines near New Orleans, 320 miles away. “The Southerner had stopped after pulling out from the siding. The Crescent rounded a curve and roared into it. ‘We slammed back 80 feet,’ said George Newton, Seminary, Miss., a passenger in the third coach of the northbound train. ‘Everybody was running through the train screaming.’

“Normally the Crescent operates over the Southern to Atlanta, over the West Point Route to Montgomery, and thence to New Orleans via the L & N.

“All of the known dead were on the Southerner, most of them in the first car, which was smashed
like an eggshell. Trainmen said P. J. Powers, Birmingham, engineer of the northbound train, was
killed and his body caught in the wreckage. It had not been recovered. Fifteen…dead were removed from the ill-fated car, the “Mississippi,” a combination baggage-passenger coach with 22 seats. It was telescoped by the car behind it.

“Rescue workers cut into the car with torches to bring out the victims. One of the first was a plump, unmarked little girl of 2 or 3. She was still warm, but dead.

“K. C. Shults, Division Superintendent of the Alabama Great Southern (a division of the Southern Railway) said there was no indication that safety signals which should have stopped the Southerner on its siding were not working.

“The northbound train had gone into the siding to allow its southbound companion to pass. The 13-car Crescent was a few minutes behind the other southbound train.

“Shults said the Crescent probably was running at about 60 miles an hour when it hit.

“Seven cars of the Crescent left the tracks, with four plunging off the 40-foot embankment. Almost miraculously, no one was killed in the cars which dropped to the ground.

“Next to the ‘Mississippi’ was an extra coach on the Southerner and few if any passengers were using it. The Southerner’s eight cars were crowded with 214 passengers. Only 119 were on the crescent.

“Fuel from the Crescent’s engine caught fire from the impact but was quickly out.

“Cecil Love, Birmingham, Southern engineer on the Crescent, was seriously injured. He told the ambulance driver who brought him to Bessemer to a hospital he ‘tried to jump out the cab door, but I couldn’t get it open in time.’

“Many thousands of curious jammed the single narrow highway from Birmingham to Woodstock, delaying rescue work.” (Anniston Star, AL. “Train Crash Kills Sixteen. Streamliners Meet Head-on.” 11-26-1951, p. 1.)

Nov 27: “Woodstock – (AP) – The death toll in Sunday’s streamliner collision here rose to 17 today with the death of one of the 60 injured. Sam Pape, Birmingham…died in a hospital there. He was a train foreman, and was in the cab of one of the diesel engines.

“The body of P. J. Powers, engineer of the Southerner, was recovered today. It was found under the wreckage of the Crescent, the other train involved in the crash.

“Three Interstate Commerce Commission investigators opened an inquiry into the cause of the wreck today. The Southerner and Crescent met head-on when the Southerner pulled from a side track into the path of the southbound Crescent on the main line. The Crescent was traveling as the second section of a southbound streamliner, which passed before Powers pulled his train off the siding.
Wetterau Makes Statement

“`It appears that the engineer of the Southerner (Powers) pulled off the siding in the face of a warning signal,’ L. F. Wetterau, Southern Railways general agent, said yesterday. ‘I cannot say if that it true, but it appears to be the case. A board of investigation will attempt to determine what happened.’ The ICC investigators will determine if a public hearing on the crash will be required.” (Anniston Star, AL. “Total of Dead in Train Crash Hits Seventeen.” 11-27-1951, p. 1.)

Nov 28: “Washington (UP) – Chairman Edwin C. Johnson of the Senate Commerce Committee said today that the “epidemic” of train wrecks this month may prompt legislation requiring safely devices on railroads. The Colorado Democrat disclosed that he has asked the Interstate Commerce Commission for a report on the six wrecks which occurred within two weeks, killing 42 persons and injuring scores more. “There’s almost no excuse today for a collision on a railroad,” Johnson said. “Preliminary reports indicate that most of the wrecks in this November epidemic were caused by human failure — like an engineer missing a signal.”

“Electronic safety devices now being tested by some railroads may be the answer to such tragedies, he said. These devices ring a bell or throw the brakes automatically when there is danger of a collision, reducing the chance of human failure to a minimum.

“Johnson said the ICC may order new railroad safety devices. If it needs additional authority, he said, Congress many have to write legislation for the automatic devices. ‘We will look with a great deal of interest at whatever suggestions are made by the ICC to improve railroad traffic safety,’ Johnson said, ‘and will take whatever action is indicated.

“The six wrecks occurred:

“At Stuyvesant, N.Y., when seven cars of a 10-car Cleveland to New York passenger train of the New York Central Railroad were derailed. No one was seriously injured.

“Near Evanston, Wyo. When a Union Pacific passenger train traveling at high speed plowed into the rear of another Union Pacific passenger train which had slowed down because of a snowstorm. Eighteen persons were killed, and about 40 were injured.

“In New York’s Grand Central Terminal tunnel, where 27 persons were injured in a crash of two New Haven Railroad passenger trains.

“Near Vine Grove, Ky., where two were killed and 25 injured in the derailment of an Illinois Central passenger train.

“At Orchard, Ida., when a westbound Union Pacific freight collided with an eastbound freight standing on the same track. Five crewmen were killed.

“Near Woodstock. Ala., where 17 were killed and more than 50 injured when the Louisville and
Nashville’s crack “Crescent” hit a Southern Railway passenger train just leaving a siding.” (Anniston Star, AL. “Train Crashes May Be Cause of Rail Laws.” 11-28-1951, p. 14.)

Nov 30: “One of the news stories to come out of the tragic Woodstock train wreck this week told of the huge crowds which thronged to the scene, hampering rescue work. The roads were blocked in every direction, making it difficult for ambulances to get through either to or from the accident. Fire trucks, with sirens wide open, could make only slow progress through the sea of cars. Highway patrolmen from a number of towns, including Anniston, had to be called in to help clear the traffic jam.

“To any highway patrol officer or other person frequently working in emergency areas, this mob of curious onlookers is an old and exasperating story. Anywhere disaster strikes, a crowd gathers before the dust has settled. Many of the spectators are passersby who happen upon the wreck and naturally stop to see what is wrong, but others are mere sensation seekers who have heard about the tragedy through the neighborhood grapevine and dash to the scene to savor the excitement.

“It Is only natural for people to be concerned over an accident and to want to help. Many an accident victim has been saved from death by quick rescue on the part of someone passing by. In the recent train wreck, for instance, some of the most effective, rescue work was done by people who, living near the accident scene, rushed in to help the trapped and injured passengers.

“But the vast majority of the crowd was serving no useful purpose. Their assistance was not needed, as things were already under control. In satisfying their own morbid curiosity, they were merely making it more difficult for disaster teams to do their vital work.

“Thoughtful people who desire to be of real help at the scene of any accident can best serve by staying out of the way, unless it is immediately obvious that their active help might be needed. If they happen to be the first to discover a wreck, they are of course honor bound to stop and do what they can. When police and ambulances have already arrived on the scene, they should proceed on their way immediately, unless their assistance is asked by officers in charge.

“But we fear there always will be disaster-chasers who dash to the scene of any accident, bent on satisfying some strange, warped craving to view the pain and distress of others. Society could very well do without people of this kind.” (Anniston Star, AL. “Curiosity Carried Too Far.” 11-30-1951, p. 4.)

Nov 30: “Montgomery – (UP) – A formal report on the Woodstock train crash which killed 17 persons last Sunday will be heard by the Alabama Public Service Commission on Dec. 20. The crash occurred between the Southern Railroad’s Southerner and the L. & N. Crescent Limited.

“The commission announced yesterday that it has directed that the two railroads involved send representatives to “show cause why the commission should not prescribe certain new or additional safety devices. And certain new rules and regulations for further promotion of safety.”
The railroads will be asked to explain in detail the safety devices used on railroads in Alabama and if these are judged to be inadequate. the commission will prescribe additional ones, PSC President C. C. Owen said.” (Anniston Star, AL. “APSC Hearing Set on Crash.” 11-30-1951, p. 20.)

Dec 19: “Montgomery – (AP) – A hearing scheduled here Thursday on the recent train wreck which killed 17 persons at Woodstock, has been postponed indefinitely by Public Service Commission. The commission said it wants to wait until it receives written reports from the railroads involved, plus a transcript of testimony taken at a similar Interstate Commerce Commission hearing.

“Seventeen persons lost their lives and more than 60 were injured when the Southerner and the Crescent Limited, New York-to-New Orleans streamliners, collided head-on Nov. 25. The Southern Railways operates the Southerner. The Crescent, although normally a Louisville & Nashville train between New Orleans and Montgomery, was using Southern tracks on the day of
the wreck because of a damaged bridge near New Orleans.” (Anniston Star, AL. “PSC Postpones Wreck Hearing.” 12-19-1951, p. 7.)

Sources

Anniston Star, AL. “APSC Hearing Set on Crash.” 11-30-1951, p. 20. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=74806605

Anniston Star, AL. “Curiosity Carried Too Far.” 11-30-1951, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=74806597

Anniston Star, AL. “PSC Postpones Wreck Hearing.” 12-19-1951, p. 7. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=85589558

Anniston Star, AL. “Total of Dead in Train Crash Hits Seventeen.” 11-27-1951, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=85589306

Anniston Star, AL. “Train Crash Kills Sixteen. Streamliners Meet Head-On in State.” 11-26-1951, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=85589300

Anniston Star, AL. “Train Crashes May Be Cause of Rail Laws.” 11-28-1951, p. 14. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=74806577

Daily Review, Hayward, CA. “News Highlights of 1951.” 12-26-1951, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=47147648