Springfield, MA Train Runs off of Bridge, Mar 1907

BIG ENGINE JUMPS THE TRACK.

Goes Off the Rails Near Baldwin-Street Dry Bridge in West Springfield.

Locomotive 2831, in charge of an Albany crew, came to grief about 9 o'clock yesterday morning as it was proceeding into the Merrick yards with a long train of coal cars. Owing to a misunderstanding of signals, the engine jumped the track near the Baldwin-street day bridge and careened over at a hazardous angle close to the bridge abutment. The engine when it left the rails and plowed into the ties and dirt for a distance of about 35 feet, and had it gone a few feet further would have rolled down the embankment. As it was the cow-catcher was directly over the masonry that supports the bridge. Engineer Boucher and Fireman Layton, fearing that the engine would crash down the embankment, jumped and avoided injury.

The locomotive, which is one of the large battleship type and one of the largest freight engines now in use in the country, was derailed in such a position that the wrecker in the Merrick yard was not sufficient to get it back on the track, and a second wrecker was called from Pittsfield, which arrived on the scene shortly after noon. After several hours' work the combined wrecking crews succeeded in getting the monster engine again on the rails. During the hours that the engine was derailed the east-bound main passenger track and also the freight main track used by trains coming from the west were blocked. Trains coming in from the west were delayed, and the east-bound freight and passenger trains had to be switched to the west-bound track during the day. All trains were single-tracked from Mittineague to the Merrick yards until the wreckage was cleared away.

Springfield Republican, Springfield, MA 24 Mar 1907
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!