1959 — Dec 18, Car tries to beat train across road at crossing, Fowlerville, MI — 8

–8  UPI. “Train, Auto Crash Kills 8 Persons in Fowlerville.” Holland Sentinel, MI, 12-19-1959, 1.

Narrative Information

Dec 19: “Fowlerville (UPI) — Motorist Albert Simpson Sr., raced a speeding passenger train to a crossing here late Friday [18^th] and it ended in a tie. Simpson, 29, and seven others in his car, including three small children, lost their lives in the worst car-train accident in recent Michigan history. The Chesapeake & Ohio railroad’s ‘Streamliner’ smashed into the car broadside while traveling 65 miles an hour, dragged the wreckage for a quarter mile and strewed mangled bodies along the tracks for 150 feet.

“Witness Floyd Stewart, 44, saw the tragedy from his parked car 40 feet from the tracks. He said ‘I didn’t realize what had happened until the train had cleared the crossing. I didn’t see the bodies fly out of the car, but I saw them scattered along the tracks.’ Victory Epley, 37, was also at the scene. He said he tried frantically to stop Simpson from attempting to cross the tracks. Epley shouted and waved his arms in a vain effort to stop Simpson, but the driver just slowed down and then his car lurched forward and was hit broadside by the train. Epley, on his way home from work at 5:44 p.m., stood in the middle of the road trying to stop the car.

“Victims of the crash were Clyde E. Ballard, 22, his wife, Bertha, 24, and their seven month old son, Keith, of Fenton; Simpson, also of Fenton, his common-law wife, Mrs. Mildred E. Cameron, 26, Howell, their son, Albert Simpson’s daughter, Dawn, 7, and George E. Copeman, 40, of Howell.

“Engineer Grover Lamport, 60, of Grand Rapids, was stunned by the accident. He said simply, ‘It was awful.’ Lamport said he sounded the whistle on his Grand Rapids to Detroit train as he approached the obscure crossing. Nineteen-year-old John Hibbard, another witness, said the flasher lights at the crossing were working, but despite the train whistle, Epley’s waving and shorting and the warning flasher, the car was ground under by the train.

“Livingston County Sheriff Lawrence Gehringer said only that the driver of the 1959 Oldsmobile tried to beat the train to the crossing.

“Authorities said the victims had been to Howell to pick up Mrs. Cameron’ daughter shortly before the accident.

“The crash occurred two blocks south of the main intersection of this village in the agricultural area between Lansing and Detroit. Travel on the C&O tracks was held up for about two hours….” (UPI. “Train, Auto Crash Kills 8 Persons in Fowlerville.” Holland Evening Sentinel, MI, 12-19-1959, p. 1.)

Source

United Press International. “Train, Auto Crash Kills 8 Persons in Fowlerville.” Holland Evening Sentinel, MI, 12-19-1959, p. 1. Accessed 3-2-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/holland-evening-sentinel-dec-19-1959-p-1/