Van Horn, IA Train Wreck, Feb 1909 - Locomotive Jumped Track

LOCOMOTIVE JUMPED

Track While Going Sixty Miles an Hour and Did Somersault.

BROKEN FLANGE GIVEN AS CAUSE.

Engineer Killed and Several Were Injured in the Coaches.

Des Moines, Ia., Feb 26 – One man was killed and several were injured by the derailment of the west-bound overland limited train of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul at 2:25 this morning at VanHorn, Iowa.

The train was making up lost time and going at a speed of nearly 60 miles an hour when the locomotive left the track and turned a complete somersault, fetching up facing the east, a complete wreck. The baggage and mail cars were piled on top of each other and several passenger cars were resting on their sides. C. H. BROWN, the engineer, was crushed to death. The names and number of the injured are not yet known. The cause of the accident is believed to have been a broken flange.

Engineer Killed.
Chicago, Feb. 26 – At the general superintendent’s office of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, it was stated that the Overland limited train had been ditched near Van Horn, Iowa, and that the engineer, C. H. BROWN, had been killed. There were no other fatalities, the officials of the company asserted. The wreck occurred at 2:25 this morning. The cause has not yet been ascertained.
It was stated here that no passengers were hurt.

Lima Times Democrat, Lima, OH 26 Feb 1909

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WRECK OF CHICAGO FLYER.

Locomotive, Running Nearly 60 Miles an Hour, Turns Somersault.

One man was killed and two were slightly injured in the wrecking of the west-bound Overland Limited of Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul train at Van Horn, Iowa. The train was making up for lost time and going at a speed of nearly sixty miles an hour when the engine left the track, turning a somersault. It is a complete wreck. The baggage and mail cars were piled up on top of each other, while the other coaches rested on their sides. C. H. BROWN, of Perry, Iowa, the engineer, was crushed to death. He was one of the oldest engineers in the service of the Milwaukee. The accident is believed to have been due to a broken flange.

The Iowa Recorder, Greene, IA 10 Mar 1909
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Transcribed by Jenni Lanham. Thank you, Jenni!