1939 — Aug 12, sabotage, City of San Francisco derails, Humboldt Riv. Gorge ~Harney, NV–24

— 24 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 438.
— 24 Faith, Nicholas. Derail: Why Trains Crash. 2000, p. 96.
— 24 Haine. Railroad Wrecks. 1993, p. 108.
— 24 Nevada State Journal, Reno. “Carlin Trial Blames Wreck on Sabotage.” 8-22-1939, p. 1.
— 24 Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents… 1961, pp. 328 and 483.
–15 train employees
— 9 passengers
— 23 Reno Gazette, NV. “Widespread Inquiry Launched Into Wrecking of Streamliner.” 8-15-1939, p.1.
–14 crew
— 9 passengers
Narrative Information

Faith: “Twenty-four people were killed in August 1939 when the Union Pacific’s City of San Francisco was derailed after a rail had been deliberately misplaced on the outside of a curve.” (Faith 2000, 96)

Shaw: “What is undoubtedly the most infamous example of train-wrecking in this country was…an event only of the recent past. Early on the evening of August 12, 1939, at an isolated spot in the Nevada desert, some person or persons unknown approached the southern Pacific tracks, where they silently and efficiently performed their diabolical task, covered all clues that might have given them away, and vanished into the gathering twilight. An hour or so later, at 10:32 p.m., the speeding fourteen-car westbound City of San Francisco, still twelve hours away from its namesake city, encountered at this spot, just 165 feet east of a steel truss bridge over the Humboldt River, on a 3⁰ curve to the right with four inches of super-elevation, a facing rail end shifted four and one-half inches out of alignment. The three-unit locomotive and first two cars nevertheless remained on the roadbed and threaded the narrow opening of the bridge, but when Engineer E. F. Hecox brought the Diesel to a halt, 865 feet beyond the point of initial derailment, a scene of destruction and carnage lay behind him. The power units alone of the forward end of the train remained upright and on the roadbed. The two following cars had slued down the embankment, coming to rest on their side and roof respectively. The next two cars, a kitchen and a diner, had sideswiped the girders of the bridge, causing it to collapse, and were then precipitated as a crumbled mass into the bed of the river, where the next three cars piled up on top of them. The eighth car came to rest tilted down the east bank of the stream. Three more cars were derailed but remained upright, while only the last three held the track. The steel bridge was torn to shreds. There had been 149 passengers aboard the wrecked train; under the circumstances it is remarkable that the death toll was as low as twenty-four (nine passengers, fifteen employees).

“Subsequent investigation made it clear that the…crime had been most carefully executed, obviously by person(s) familiar with railroad operation. The remote site, more than a mile distant from the nearest highway and two miles from the nearest dwelling, afforded the opportunity of making the necessary preparations entirely unobserved. The track characteristics – the curve, the bridge, the embankments leading to it on both sides – all made it certain that a derailment at that spot would have particularly serious consequences. And presumably the deed was planned specifically to wreck the City of San Francisco, the road’s crack, two-million-dollar train.

“The precise method of sabotage revealed the handiwork of an expert. The inside spikes had been pulled from eleven ties, the joint bar at the rail end removed, and the last tie plate moved inward 4 5/8 inches, in which position the rail end was neatly respiked. Care was taken not to loosen the bonding wire which carried the track signal circuit and which, if broke, would have set the signals at danger.

“No concrete motive for this crime was apparent, and it could only be assumed that it was perpetrated by some person with a grudge, real or fancied, against the railroad. However, the investigation of primary suspects, persons believed to have been disaffected, proved fruitless. Subsequently, the inquiry was broadened, and a total of 1500 clues have been followed up, all with negative results. The case remains open…” (Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents… 1961, pp. 327-328.)

Newspapers

Aug 13: “Elko, Aug. 13 – Twenty persons are known to be dead as a result of the worst train wreck in the history of Nevada, forty miles west of Elko on the Southern Pacific main line last night at 9:33 o’clock. Seventeen of these bodies have been recovered and three are visible but cannot be moved until cars are taken from the river bed of the Humboldt river.

“Thirty-three are injured and were rushed to Elko in a special Southern Pacific rescue train five hours after the crash.

“The train of seventeen cars had capacity of 220 people and it was understood all reservations were taken.

“As rescue work was rushed, T. J. Foley, assistant superintendent of the Southern Pacific, J. H. Mahan, Southern Pacific traffic agent, and S. P. Roadmaster Williamson declared the wreck was clearly a case of sabotage with murder intended.

“They showed this writer where an entire rail had been moved four inches inward, thus causing a derailment of the flying City of San Francisco. Those doing the job had moved the tie plate inward 4½ inches and had spiked it to the track again. They had removed all of inside spikes so that engine left track when it struck this rail about one hundred feet in front of bridge through which five cars plunged, carrying most of the victims to their death. The bond wires on the track had been kept intact by the saboteurs so that the signal was still in the clear.

“The last train over the track had passed about four hours before and Roadmaster Williamson said it would take a strong man working fast to do the job in an hour causing the derailment.

“E. F. Hecox, engineer of the City of San Francisco since its inception three years ago, declared he saw a green tumbleweed upon the track at the point where the tie plate had been moved in, forcing the rail out of line. The engine left the track at that point and went several hundred feet, continuing without turning over. The two cars immediately behind the engine were the power cars and they stayed upright. The next was the baggage car, which turned over and the fourth was the chair car, which turned over, but which killed no one. This section of the train was hurtled down the embankment as the train broke in two as it crossed the bridge, with the club car striking the bridge and tearing giant girders into ribbons. This car was gutted and bodies of passengers who had been playing cards were town beyond recognition, some of them hurtling one hundred feet into the willow skirting the river.

“It was from the club car and the diner that the greatest number of dead resulted, although most of the victims were thrown from the club car, while the diner car victims were jammed into one end, mostly Negro held, where they had apparently been collected in the kitchen following the evening meal.

“Engineer Hecox declared that as soon as he passed the point where he saw tumbleweeds he felt the tracks begin to ‘give.’ He was proceeding at sixty miles an hour when the wreck occurred, he said, as this is a restricted area through the canyon.

“Five cars were piled in jumbled mass, where the bridge gave way. One of these rested upon a victim whose arms were visible, but it was impossible to remove him. Parts of bodies were strewn along right-of-way and victims were so badly mutilated that identification remained impossible in many instances.

“Behind these five cars was the remainder of train of five cars, with two of these off track and three remaining in place before the point where sabotage was alleged to have been committed.

“Steep embankments along the tracks at the wreck point made rescue work difficult. However, doctors and nurses were rushed from all nearby cities and opiates were administered where possible to alleviate pain….Darkness hampered rescue work….

“Western Pacific tracks parallel the Southern Pacific’s at that point and paths were cut down the steep embankment so that stretcher bearers could carry the wounded to a position where they could be placed in the train and carried to Elko for hospitalization. Some were seriously hurt, with doubt expressed as to their recovery.

“The rescue work and the recovery of the bodies of the victims started immediately with doctors and nurses being called from all surrounding towns. The hospital train from Sparks carried a number of Reno and Sparks doctors and nurses.

“When daylight came, the terrific force of the wreck became known. Before that time, rescuers were handicapped by darkness and worked with the aid of lanterns. It was expected that daylight would reveal that many more had perished although railroad officials said hours would elapse before the actual toll would be known….

“Hundreds of persons from Elko, Carlin and other nearby towns and communities as well as newspaper men and photographers from Reno rushed to the scene. They drove to Harney and then walked two miles to the scene of the crash….” (Reno Evening Gazette, NV. “Streamliner Wreck Toll Mounts to 20.” 8-13-1939, p. 1.)

Aug 14: “A grim manhunt for the saboteur who is believed to have wrecked the streamlined ‘City of San Francisco’ train near Carlin Saturday night, with a loss of 20 lives, was opened throughout the west by peace officers Sunday with the center of the search focusing on Reno and the western Nevada district.

“Last seen in the region of Fernley was a ‘man with mangled ears,’ whose clothing was covered with dust of the type found at the scene of the tragedy. He was sought for questioning.

“Meanwhile the investigation of Nevada’s most terrible train crash is being pushed by officers of the Southern Pacific Railroad, whose detectives are examining crowbars and a drift pin, found near the site of the streamliner’s plunge into the Humboldt river bed.

May Call in FBI

“Interstate commerce commission officials will probably join the investigation Monday, while latest advices are that the G-men of the federal bureau of investigation are to be called in for aid.

“southern Pacific as well as Union and Western Pacific railway officials who carefully looked over the wreck site, are positive in their opinion that the rails were deliberately tampered with to damage the luxurious streamliner. ‘Whoever it was,’ said one expert, ‘he knew his railroading.’ A rail had been completely lifted out of its base and moved in some distance, then set in a new position, with the spikes carefully hammered in.

4-Hour Limit

“The sabotage must have been accomplished within four hours before the wreck, it was indicated, since a heavier train passed over the same sector of track four hours before the streamliner hurtled across the bridge and plunged into the river. Railroaders estimate that it would take two men at least half an hour to remove the 44 spikes and reset the track.

“The ‘man with the mangled ears’ drew the suspicion of persons at Hazen, Nev., in Churchill county on the way from Carlin to Reno. He disappeared and was shortly afterwards reported in Fernley. At Fernley the man was again seen, and drew the suspicions of motorists stopping there by manner in which he inquired about the train wreck. Observing their inquiring attitude, the tourists reported, the man left them and disappeared. He had peculiarly injured ears, polic said. The man was described as wearing a dusty dark suit and cap, about 35, five feet seven, 135 pounds and light complexioned.

“Several hours before the ‘man with the mangled ears’ was reported at Hazen and Fernley, a person lurking near the wreckage site was observed. Bill Judice, Elko county sheriff’s deputy and a railroad officer said they saw a man watching the activity about the wrecked train from his position atop a nearby hill. When the man saw them point him out, the officers said, he immediately scurried into the nearby rocky terrain and eluded pursuit.” (Nevada State Journal, Reno. “Police Probe Streamliner Wreck; Alarm Broadcast.” 8-14-1939, p. 1.)

Aug 15: “Federal investigators joined with railroad company officials today at Harney, nine miles east of Beowawe, to continue their investigation of the wreck of the crack streamliner City of San Francisco Saturday night which killed twenty-three persons and injured 119, upon the theory that the wreck was caused by sabotage….The two FBI agents were operating under the authority of the statute giving the federal government jurisdiction in cases involving violence in interstate commerce….

“Returning from the wreck late yesterday, most of the investigators said they were of the belief that the wreck was plotted by a man with expert knowledge about railroads. They said forty-four spikes had been removed from twenty-two ties, the supporting angle bars removed, a thirty-nine foot rail weighing nearly one ton had been moved in four inches and the rail then spiked down again. All this was accomplished, they said, without disturbing the block signal electric cable between the tracks which would have warned Engineer E. F. Hecox that something was wrong….

“…The condition of Albert Johnson remained critical and members of his family were called to his bedside from Chicago. Johnson, at first reported to have perished, was found alive in the Elko hospital and required a blood transfusion. There was no time to find a donor and Dr. Donald Miller of Johns Hopkins spending a vacation at Elko, gave his blood….

“The bodies of Mrs. Henry P. Vaux of Port Ledge, Rosemont, Pa., and her daughter, Miss Susan M. Vaux were recovered from the demolished drawing room car ‘Twin Peaks’ late yesterday. The searchers acted on information from relatives who, not being able to find their names on either the casualty lists or the list of uninjured made inquiries. Railroad records showed the number of their section and coach, and the car was found to be in the center of the wreckage.

“Sam Wall of Alameda, a cook, died on the train en route to the hospital Sunday….

“Work of clearing the wreckage continued today in the Palisade canyon although it is believed it will be two more days before the line can be cleared. Maintenance crews have already taken pile drivers to the scene and are preparing to construct a temporary wooden bridge which will be two hundred feet in length. As soon as this is done construction will start on a steel bridge to replace the one demolished in the wreck….” (Reno Evening Gazette, NV. “Widespread Inquiry Launched Into Wrecking of Streamliner.” 8-15-1939, pp. 1 and 3.)

Aug 16: “A reward of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons ‘responsible for wrecking’ the Streamline City of San Francisco was offered by the Southern Pacific Company Tuesday, over the signature of J. H. Dyer, vice president in charge of operations….

“In Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, police Tuesday night searched for Albert Fry, escapee of a Washington insane asylum for questioning in connection with the wreck. The 47-year-old former inmate was implicated in a train wreck in the state of Washington several years ago, and was a suspect in an attempted train wreck near Carlin a year ago, police said. The wreck attempt was in almost the same place where the City of San Francisco left the tracks three days ago.

“In Reno, Police Chief Andy Welliver continued to hold in custody Bob La Duceur, ‘earless’ man who was arrested and held for questioning. Although Duceur is reported to have established an apparent alibi, Chief Welliver said he was listening in on the suspects conversation with a fellow prisoner by means of a loudspeaker connected with a Dictaphone hidden in the suspect’s cell….
(Nevada State Journal, Reno. “$5,000 Reward For Wrecker.” 8-16-1939, p. 1.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Faith, Nicholas. Derail: Why Trains Crash. London: Channel 4 Books. 2000.

Haine, Edgar A. Railroad Wrecks. New York: Cornwall Books, 1993.

Nevada State Journal, Reno. “$5,000 Reward For Wrecker.” 8-16-1939, p. 1. Accessed 8-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/nevada-state-journal-aug-16-1939-p-1/

Nevada State Journal, Reno. “Carlin Trial Blames Wreck on Sabotage.” 8-22-1939, p. 1. Accessed 8-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/nevada-state-journal-aug-22-1939-p-1/

Nevada State Journal, Reno. “Police Probe Streamliner Wreck; Alarm Broadcast.” 8-14-1939, p. 1. Accessed 8-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/nevada-state-journal-aug-14-1939-p-1/

Reno Evening Gazette, NV. “Streamliner Wreck Toll Mounts to 20.” 8-13-1939, p. 1. Accessed 8-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/reno-evening-gazette-aug-13-1939-p-1/

Reno Evening Gazette, NV. “Widespread Inquiry Launched Into Wrecking of Streamliner.” 8-15-1939, p. 1. Accessed 8-1-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/reno-evening-gazette-aug-15-1939-p-1/

Shaw, Robert B. Down Brakes: A History of Railway Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices in the United States. London & Geneva: P.R. MacMillan Limited, 1961.