1943 — Aug 30, Lackawanna Ltd. train collides with freight engine ~Wayland, NY    —     29

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-28-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–29  AP. “Death Toll in Two Railroad Wrecks Reaches 81; 130 Hurt.” Troy Record, 9-8-1943, 1.

–29  Rose. “Revisiting the…Lackawanna Limited train crash.” Case Western Reserve Observer. 2019.

–28  Associated Press. “DL&W Probes Wreck of Limited.” The Cornell Sun, NY. 9-2-1943, p.2.

–28  Kurek. The Troopers Are Coming:  NY State Troopers, 1917-1943, 2007. 183.

Narrative Information

Kurek: “On August 30, 1943, a serious train wreck occurred just south of the village of Wayland, Steuben County, NY.  The Lackawanna Limited struck the left side of a freight engine, tearing up three hundred feet of track and leaving a twisted mass of wreckage scattered along the right of way.  A steam jacket torn from the freight engine allowed escaping steam to enter some of the passenger coaches, causing agony and death.  Twenty-eight passengers and crewmembers were killed and 117 passengers were injured.

“Twenty-three troopers arrived at the scene along with Steuben and Livingston County sheriffs deputies. Dead were removed to local funeral homes in Wayland, Dansville, Bath, Hornell, and Corning. It took several days before all dead and injured were identified.”  (Kurek. The Troopers Are Coming:  NY State Troopers, 1917-1943, 2007. 183; cites 1943 NY State Police Annual Reports.)

Newspapers

Aug 31, AP: “Wayland (AP) – Twenty-seven persons were dead today, many of them from inhaling live steam, after the crack Lackawanna Limited passenger train and a switch engine crashed headon near this southwestern New York community late yesterday afternoon. Approximately 150 others of the 500 passengers on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western’s New Yori-to-Buffalo Express were injured, several of them seriously, in New York’s worst train disaster in more than three years.

Worst Since 1940

“Moans of the injured mingled with the escaping steam from the switch engine as scores of volunteers delved into the tangled debris to effect rescues and remove the dead. The toll was the state’s highest on a railroad since April 19, 1940, wh4en the Lake Shore Limited of the New York Central Lines crashed on a sharp curve at Little Falls, killing 31 and injuring 135.

“Railroad officials said 23 persons died instantly and four succumbed today. Of the dead 14 were identified. Dr. James Sanford, Steuben County Coroner, said very few of the persons who died suffered any pain, inasmuch as they inhaled steam.

“….At three undertaking establishments were the bodies of 18 women, three men and two small girls. Some of them were scalded and burned so severely that identification may be delayed for many hours….

“Fifty-six persons required hospitalization. They were taken to hospitals in Wayland, Bath, Dansville and Corning….

“The accident occurred about 5:45 P.M. EWT – James E. Leroy of Buffalo, engineer of the Limited, said the train was speeding through Wayland when he saw a switch engine on the siding paralleling the main line westbound track. ‘The engineer of the local freight locomotive, apparently was confused and thought the Limited had gone through and started to pull out on the main line to continue switching,’ he added. ‘When I saw the other engine pulling out I slammed on the Limited’s emergency brakes, but it was going too fast to avert a collision. The two locomotives met at the switch.’

“The Limited, a 13-car train, sheared off the front end of the switch engine and cracked the driving cylinder. The switch engine remained upright on the spur track. The locomotive of the Limited, hurled down the track and toppled broadside across two main line tracks and two spurs. Three coaches, the diner, a baggage car and mail car were derailed. Engineer Leroy and the Limited’s fireman, Theodore Paladino of Buffalo, suffered shock and bruises….

“B. J. Shields of Buffalo, coal freight engineer for the D. L. and W., described the scene in the coach as a ‘seething furnace.’ ‘Some of the persons were in such pain they begged to die,’ he added….” (Associated Press. “Deaths In Train Wreck Reach 27.” The Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. 8-31-1943, p. 1.)

Sep 2, AP: “Buffalo, N.Y., Sept. – (AP) – The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad today began an investigation behind closed doors to fix responsibility for the wreck Monday of the Lackawanna Limited at Wayland which brought death to 28 persons and injuries to 150….” (Associated Press. “DL&W Probes Wreck of Limited.” The Cornell Sun, NY. 9-2-1943, p.2.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Death Toll in Two Railroad Wrecks Reaches 81; 130 Hurt.” Troy Record, 9-8-1943, p. 1. Accessed 4-28-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/troy-record-sep-08-1943-p-1/

Associated Press. “DL&W Probes Wreck of Limited.” The Cornell Sun, NY. 9-2-1943, p. 2. Accessed 4-28-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ithaca-cornell-daily-sun-sep-02-1943-p-2/

Kurek, Albert S. The Troopers Are Coming: NY State Troopers, 1917-1943. Bloomington, IN:  Rooftop Publishing, 2007.  Partially digitized by Google at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=e3d9tTxg1N8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=true

Lockhart Post-Register, TX. “The Year in Review…Disasters,” 1-6-1944, p. 6. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=158478718

Rose. Halle. “Revisiting the deadly Lackawanna Limited train crash.” Case Western Reserve Observer. 11-1-2019. Accessed 4-28-2024 at:

Revisiting the deadly Lackawanna Limited train crash