Great Barrington, MA Trolley Wreck, May 1903

Posted November 9th, 2007 by Linda Horton

FATAL TROLLEY ACCIDENT

A Motorman Killed, and His Wife and Child and Several Passengers Injured in Vermont.

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass., May 20.----By the derailing of a trolley car on the Berkshire Street Railway at a point three miles north of here this evening Motorman Gladwin was almost instantly killed, his child probably fatally injured, and his wife and five or six other passengers, together with Conductor Ward, were severely hurt. The accident is believed to have been caused by a stone that had become wedged between the car track and a guide rail on a curve.

As is customary, the car was running at a good rate of speed. When it shot around the curve the car left the rails at a tangent and crashed into a tree. Motorman Gladwin was hurled against the tree and his wife and child, who were on the front seat, were hurled into the front end of the car by impact.

The New York Times, New York, NY 30 May 1903
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!

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