Farmer City, IL Head On Train Collision, Oct 1909

1 KILLED, 25 HURT IN HEAD COLLISION.

ILLINOIS CENTRAL LOCAL AND FAIR SPECIAL WRECKED NEAR FARMER CITY -- DECATUR PEOPLE SLIGHTLY HURT.

Farmer City, Oct. 6. -- One is dead and many are injured, some gravely, as the result of the head-on collision between two Illinois Central trains, one a regular local and the other a state fair special, two miles west of Farmer City last night.
The Dead:
MISS CAROLINE WATSON, Farmer City.
The Injured:
Engineer JACK CLARK, Clinton, right ankle torn apart in jump from engine.
Engineer McCUE, Clinton, right leg broken in three places.
FRANK McKINLEY, Farmer City, probably fatally cut and mashed in collision; three ribs broken.
BEN BARNES, Farmer City, cut and hurt internally.
DARIUS WALTERS, Farmer City, leg broken.
JOHN BATEMAN, Farmer City, forehead gashed, bruised and cut.
MRS. JOHN BATEMAN, Farmer City, hurt internally, may die.
Two MISSES McCORD, daughters of JOHN T. McCORD, near DeWitt, seriously cut and bruised.
MISS BELLE ROLOFSON, Clinton, injured about head and chest.
MRS. FRANK MAPLE, Clinton, bruised above right eye.
JAMES WATSON, Clinton, cut above eye.
C. L. MORSE, Clinton, seriously hurt about face and head.
Ex-Mayor E. S. McDONALD, Decatur, ankle sprained.
L. W. LARGE, baggageman of the regular train, scratched and badly bruised through lungs.
Fireman BOGGS, of train 525, left shoulder hurt by falling tank.
CHARLES SUMMERS, Chicago, minor cuts and bruises.
P. L. BOBB, Clinton, injured about eyes.
MRS. F. N. MAPLE, hurt about face and eyes.
Conductor DOCKENS of the special, severely cut and bruised.
The collision was between local No. 525, south bound from Chicago and a special state fair train from Springfield to Gilman. The regular train was pulled by Engineer CLARK with Conductor CARPENTER in charge. The special was pulled by Engineer McCUE with Conductor DOCKENS in charge.
As far as can be learned, the blame of the wreck lies on Engineer McCUE, who misread his watch and thought he had fourteen minutes more than he really had.
The trains met on a curve west of Farmer City at 9:50 o'clock. Both engineers applied emergency brakes when they saw the collision coming. The regular train came to a stop just an instant before the special, still tearing along the track, struck it.
Both engines were demolished and laid across the track. In the special the combination baggage car and smoker telescoped the first day coach, catching the unfortunate excursionists in a trap. The other coaches were unhurt, but all were jarred from the track.
In the regular train the baggage car was completely wrecked and the smoker was also wrecked. The day coach, one of the new steel coaches, recently adopted as the standard by the Illinois Central, stood the shock and stayed on the tracks. It was hardly damaged beyond being battered at the end. An ordinary wooden coach would have crumpled up like cardboard and doubtless taken lives with it, for the train was crowded.

The Daily Review Decatur Illinois 1909-10-06
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!