1940 — March 14, Train hits farm workers truck at Hwy 83 Crossing, Alamo, TX — 29
— 29 Brownsville Herald, TX. “Alamo Crash Toll Hits 29.” 3-18-1940, p. 1.
— 29 Cox, Mike. Texas Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. 2006, p. 221.
— 29 El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “Railroad Absolved in Crossing Crash.” 3-19-1940, p. 8.
— 29 Hutchinson News, KS. “Carnage on Texas highways…31 dead…accidents.” 7-4-1994, 13.
— 29 National Safety Council. Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.
— 29 San Antonio Express, TX. “Valley Crash Probed…No Laws Violated. ” 3-20-1940, 8.
— 29 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth. “Bus in crash…on road illegally; 16th persons dies.” 8-9-2008.
— 27 El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “Move to Erect Monument to Crash Victims.” 3-16-1940, p. 1.
— 27 San Antonio Light, TX. “Spanish Congress Asks O’Daniel to Act.” 3-17-1940, p. 7.
— 27 San Antonio Light, TX. “Train-Truck Death Toll Hits 27.” 3-15-1940, p. 1.
— 27 San Antonio Light, TX. “Valley Crash Suits Drafted for $100.000.” 3-17-1940, p. 7.
Narrative Information
March 15, AP: “McAllen, March 15. (AP) – Two eyewitnesses to Texas’ worst crossing crash said today Jose Ramon of Donna drove squarely in front of a Missouri-Pacific passenger train, the truck in which more than a score of Mexican laborers died.
“The crash occurred yesterday at Alamo, six miles east of this Rio Grande Valley city. The truck was going west on Highway 83.
“The slowly rising death toll reached 27 today, with four more of the 15 injured not expected to survive. All are in the McAllen city hospital.
“E. L. Simmons of Weslaco and G. W. Cook of Alamo, driving behind the truck, testified at on inquest that Ramon, driving the truck carrying 42 persons to work in a vegetable field, slowed to 20 miles an hour, made the turn in the highway and drove squarely in front of the oncoming train.
“Justice of the Peace H. L. Savage of San Juan returned an inquest verdict, of accidental death in all cases last night alter a day-long investigation by the Hidalgo county sheriff’s department, the district attorney’s office, Texas highway patrol and railway officials.
“After the hearing, relatives and friends were permitted to remove the bodies from the four Hidalgo county mortuaries to Starr county for burial.
“Al Wilson, the engineer, testified he did not see the truck, but Fireman J. J. Garrett said he saw it and yelled. Wilson jerked the emergency brake as the engine struck what he said “sounded like a lot of empty oil drums.” The truck gas tank apparently exploded.
“Flames shot over the engine forcing both Wilson and Garrett away from the cab window. Wilson said his train was traveling 45 miles an hour and stopped in 700 feet after carrying the truck on the engine pilot the entire distance.
“Officers found four survivors, Julio and Adolfo Garcia and Tiburcio Zarate, all of Donna, and an unidentified woman, who was unhurt, some distance from the scene. They had fled in terror.
“They testified all the laborers, except two or three sitting with Ramon, were sitting in the rear of
the truck which was covered with a tarpaulin. None saw the train.
“Two Catholic priests arrived a few minutes after the crash and began their last ministrations to the dying. Bodies were mangled horribly. Arms and legs were severed. Several were burned beyond recognition and all were smoked and charred.
“Three injured died last night. They were Juan Rosas, 32, and two girls, Adelfina Alanlz and Josefa Villarreal, both 13.
“Hidalgo county officers stated Friday morning that as far as they knew there would be no further investigations nor would any charges be filed.
“Train inspectors and insurance adjusters poured into McAllen late Thursday.
“A crew of 30 trainmen worked from mid-morning Thursday until late afternoon removing ties and laying sand and gravel over the portion of track that the train carried the truck.” (San Antonio Light, TX. “Train-Truck Death Toll Hits 27.” 3-15-1940, p. 1.)
March 16, UP: “McAllen, March 16. (UP) – Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley, accommodating an increasing automobile traffic on its highways, had a new safety slogan today — “Remember Alamo.” Coined by a Harlingen newspaperman, the phrase reminded motorists of the state’s worst train-truck accident, the deaths of 27 fruit pickers near Alamo.
“While inspectors of the Interstate Commerce Commission pushed a new investigation into the tragedy, ministers of the citrus orchard area announced they would ask for public donations to erect a monument to the memory of those killed in the grade crossing crash.
“The Rev. M. C. Ehlert, Baptist Missionary among the valley’s Latin-American population, said an interdenominational memorial service for the victims would be held Sunday. “The monument will impress valley people that horrible calamity can happen here and will warn motorists to be careful,” he said.
“Fifteen injured still were being treated in a McAllen hospital. Three remained in critical condition.” (El Paso Herald-Post. “Move to Erect Monument to Crash Victims.” 3-16-1940, 1.)
March 16: “Alamo, Texas, March 16. — Eleven suits seeking damages of more than $100,000 will be filed in Hidalgo County District court as a result of the train-truck crash here Thursday which took the lives of 27 Mexicans and injured 14 others. Such was the announcement today of Walter G. Weaver Jr., Donna attorney, who said he has been retained by relatives of 11 of the victims. Amount to be sought in each suit has not been determined, he said.
“Meanwhile, two interstate commerce commission Inspectors had arrived in the Valley Saturday and were conducting an Investigation. They were P. G. Bailey and Guy E. McClure of San Antonio. G. W. Cook of Alamo, eye-witness of the accident, told the Inspectors the truck was traveling at a speed of about 40 miles an hour and slowed down to about 20 miles an hour to make the turn across the railroad tracks. He said he did not hear the train whistle.
“E. L. Simmons of Weslaco, traveling by automobile, told the Inspectors he kept parallel with the train from Donna and that the whistle was blown at each crossing, including the Tower crossing where the tragedy occurred.
“Adolfo and Julio Garcia, two survivors, said they heard the train approaching but did not hear it
whistle….” (San Antonio Light, TX. “Valley Crash Suits Drafted for $100.000.” 3-17-1940, 7.)
March 17: “Imitation immediately of a detailed and thorough investigation of the train-truck crash at Alamo, Texas, which took the lives of 27 Mexicans Saturday had been asked of Governor W. Lee O’Daniel by the Congress of Spanish Speaking People of Texas.
“The resolution, passed at a meeting here Friday night at Union hall, Pecos and Matamoras streets, also asked Red Cross and financial aid for the victims and demanded compensation from those parties responsible for the tragedy. “The brief investigation that has been held does nothing to prevent recurrence of such tragedies,” the resolution asserted, adding:
The very nature of this accident reveals the unsafe conditions in which workers are transported to the fields; men, women and children being crowded into old trucks. Those who hire agricultural workers at subsistence wages reveal their callousness in exposing workers to such dangers.”
“The resolution cited the railroad company and the employer of the workers should assume “full share of their responsibility in giving compensation” to the victims and their families.” (San Antonio Light, TX. “Spanish Congress Asks O’Daniel to Act.” 3-17-1940, p. 7.)
March 18: “McAllen – The death toll in Texas’ worst train crash in history jumped to 29 when two victims of the Alamo truck-train collision died early Sunday in McAllen hospital, it was learned Monday. Manuel Villarreal, 19, and Anastasia Rosas, 17, died from injuries received in the crash Thursday morning when a Missouri Pacific passenger train plowed into the side of a truck carrying more than a half-dozen families to pick vegetables near Edinburg….As their deaths brought the fatality total to 29 for the accident, 12 other persons remained in hospitals, two of them critically injured.” (Brownsville Herald, TX. “Alamo Crash Toll Hits 29.” 3-18-1940, 1.)
March 19/AP: “Austin, March 19. (AP) – Railroad Commission inspectors reported today there was no infraction of State laws or railroad rules in connection with the train-truck crash in the Rio Grande Valley which claimed 29 lives last week.
“Member Ernest 0. Thompson said the investigation raised for consideration the question of whether the public would favor a law requiring, all vehicles to stop at railroad crossings. “There is no doubt that such a measure would save lives, but the question arises whether the public, in its haste, would favor it,’ he said. Thompson pointed to a Louisiana statute which requires traffic
to come to a full stop at railroad crossings.
“In Texas, passenger buses must stop and test the door of the vehicle when approaching a crossing….” (San Antonio Express. “Valley Crash Probed…No Laws Violated. ” 3-20-1940, 8.)
March 19/UP: “Austin, March 19. (UP) – A report of an investigation of the train-truck crash at Alamo, Tex., on March 14 in which 29 Rio Grande Valley farmer workers were killed and others injured, was filed today with the State Railroad Commission. The report signed by C. T. Boulden, commission engineer, makes the conclusion that the accident was caused by the truck being driven upon the railroad crossing immediately in front of the oncoming passenger train.
“The crossing was found to be in good condition, the train brakes working and the train operating within the permitted speed of 45 miles an hour. A standard warning sign was reported at the crossing. There was a finding also that the train engineer blew the proper whistle signals for the crossing. ‘It is obvious the driver of the truck did not see the train in time to avoid the accident,’ the report said.” (El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “Railroad Absolved in Crossing Crash.” 3-19-1940, p. 8.)
July 4, 1994: “….The state’s single deadliest traffic accident occurred on March 14,1940, when a train hit a truck at a Hidalgo County railroad crossing, killing 29 people…..” (Hutchinson News, KS. “Carnage on Texas highways…31 dead…accidents.” 7-4-1994, 13.)
2006, Cox: “March 14, 1940. At 8:06 A.M. on U.S. Highway 83 in the Hidalgo County community of Alamo, a truck loaded with Mexican farm workers attempts to cross in front of an approaching Gulf Coast Lines passenger train. The train strikes the truck at 45 mph, killing twenty-nine people and injuring fifteen. This is the deadliest traffic crash in Texas history to date.” (Cox, Mike. Texas Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. 2006, p. 221.)
Sources
Brownsville Herald, TX. “Alamo Crash Toll Hits 29.” 3-18-1940, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/the-brownsville-herald/1940-03-18/page-1/
Cox, Mike. Texas Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2006.
El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “Move to Erect Monument to Crash Victims.” 3-16-1940, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-herald-post/1940-03-16/page-1
El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “Railroad Absolved in Crossing Crash.” 3-19-1940, p. 8. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-herald-post/1940-03-19/page-8/
Hutchinson News, KS. “Carnage on Texas highways leaves 31 dead in three separate accidents.” 7-4-1994, 13. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/hutchinson-news/1994-07-04/page-13/
National Safety Council. “Greatest Number of Deaths in a Single Motor-Vehicle Accident.” Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.
San Antonio Express, TX. “Valley Crash Probed…No Laws Violated. ” 3-20-1940, 8. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-express/1940-03-20/page-8/
San Antonio Light, TX. “Spanish Congress Asks O’Daniel to Act.” 3-17-1940, p. 7. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=68933973&sterm=spanish+congress+asks
San Antonio Light, TX. “Train-Truck Death Toll Hits 27.” 3-15-1940, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-light/1940-03-15/page-1/
San Antonio Light, TX. “Valley Crash Suits Drafted for $100.000.” 3-17-1940, p. 7. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-light/1940-03-17/page-7/
Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX. “Bus in crash was on road illegally; 16th persons dies.” 8-9-2008. Accessed at: http://www.saferoads.org/bus-crash-was-road-illegally-16th-person-dies