Litchfield, IL Train Wreck, Jul 1904

TWENTY KILLED IN WRECK.

Train Running Fifty Miles an Hour Dashes Into Open Switch.

The Chicago Limited on the Wabash railroad, due in St. Louis at 7 p. m., a half hour late and running fifty miles an hour, was wrecked Sunday night inside the city limits of Litchfield, Ills. The engine ran into an open switch and struck a freight train on a siding. The engine and the first three coaches were piled in a heap across the track, caught fire and were consumed.

It is believed that twenty persons perished in these coaches and that forty were injured. Three of the injured have since died.

The last car on the train a special from Wisconsin was pushed back and saved. Nearly all of the passengers were bound for St. Louis and many of them were delegates to the Democratic national convention.

American Eagle Murray Utah 1904-07-09
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!