1959 — March 18, car hit by train at crossing, Beavercreek Girl Scouts, near Xenia, OH– 10

–10 Magan. “Crash Killed 10 Scouts, leaders 50 Years Ago,” Dayton Daily News, 3-18-2009.
–10 Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (1950-1999).”

Narrative Information

Magan: “Beavercreek Twp., Greene County….Eight sixth-grade Girl Scouts and two troop leaders [were] killed March 18, 1959, when a train plowed into their station wagon at the Factory Road crossing. They were returning to Beavercreek after working on a reading merit badge at the Xenia Public Library.” (Magan, Dayton Daily News, March 18, 2009.)

Wikipedia: “March 18, 1959 – Beavercreek, Ohio A car with 8 Girlscouts and 2 troop leaders of the Beavercreek Girlscouts got struck by a freight-train at the Factory Road crossing at Beavercreek, Ohio, killing all occupants. In memory of the victims of this tragedy a monument called Angels Pass Memorial was placed at the Beavercreek Community Park.” (Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (1950-1999).”)

Newspaper

March 19, AP: “Xenia, Ohio (AP) – A freight train plowed into a car carrying 10 passengers and ‘split it open like a tin can’ in a tragic railroad crossing accident near here Wednesday [March 18]. All 10 – including eight Girl Scouts – were killed.

“The ‘tin can’ description came from the Rev. Alvin Klotz, one of the first on the scene, who added: ‘People were strewn over the field. There were two or three near the car but the others were all over.’

“The car was dragged 50 feet along the tracks before being shoved to one side. One body, that of the driver, Mrs. Lucille White, 44, was found 75 feet beyond the car, indicating the force of the crash.

“The daughters of Mrs. White and the other adult in the car, Mrs. Jeanette Randall, 39, were among the eight girls who perished.

“The girls were returning home from a library here where they had been studying for merit badges. They lived in Beavercreek Twp., a rural suburb between Xenia and Dayton.

“The accident happened about 3½ miles west of Xenia.

“Kenneth Ward, father of one Girl Scout, is an auxiliary fireman. He was helping gather up the bodies, unaware that his daughter was a victim, when he recognized what was left of the car. After hunting around, he found the body of his 12-year-old daughter, Linda.

“The other girls were Sharon White, Cindy Moorman, Connie Laprise, Patricia Lapinski, Ann North, Paulnetta Randall and Anna Wilvert. All were 12 years old except Anna who was 11, and the last to die.

“Six were killed outright in the crash and three were dead on arrival at the hospital.

“W. R. Murray of Columbus, engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s three-diesel express freight, said he saw the car slow down as it approached the crossing, and he thought it was going to stop. But it kept coming into the train’s path, he said.

“State Highway Patrolman J. W. Smith said his investigation showed the freight was moving 60 to 70 m.p.h. but a Pennsylvania spokesman pointed out that the speed limit in that area is 50 m.p.h.

“The crossing is unprotected by flasher signals and has only a crossbar railroad sign.

“Vaughn Lewis, superintendent of Beavercreek Schools, commented: ‘The biggest tragedy was that there was no flasher light there. That’s a bad crossing and we (the school board) fought for flashers and didn’t get it. This is inexcusable in a populated area.’” (AP. “8 Girl Scouts, 2 Mothers Die In Train-Car Crash Near Xenia.” Wilmington News-Journal, OH. 3-19-1959, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “8 Girl Scouts, 2 Mothers Die In Train-Car Crash Near Xenia.” Wilmington News-Journal, OH. 3-19-1959, p. 1. Accessed 12-14-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wilmington-news-journal-mar-19-1959-p-1/

Magan, Christopher. “Crash Killed 10 Scouts, Leaders 50 Years Ago,” Dayton Daily News, 3-18-2009. At: http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2009/03/18/ddn031809angelspass.html

Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (1950-1999).” Accessed 7-18-2018 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1950-1999_rail_accidents