Pavilion, NY Train Wreck, Jun 1906

TRAIN WRECK NEAR PAVILION, NEW YORK

Pavilion, New York --- A big elm tree eighty feet tall and three feet in diameter, which was blown down during a severe storm last night, and across the tracks of the B. R. & P. railroad caused a fatal wreck at Gayton's Curve, one mile north of Pavilion at 3:52 o'clock this morning. A double-header freight train of thirty-nine cars going south, crashed into the obstruction, and Fireman LOUIS FRANKS of Salamanca was killed. Engineer THOMAS DONALDSON of the same place, probably fatally injured, and LOUIS LEWIS, a brakeman seriously hurt by being caught between two cars.

The freight train was running at a rate of fifty miles an hour as it rounded the curve, and the night being dark owing to the storm, it was impossible to see far ahead down the tracks. As the big tree was discovered, Engineer Donaldson reversed the lever, and made a desperate attempt to check the speed but slightly, and the crash came with great violence. Fireman FRANKS was thrown from the cab of the first engine, No 127, and under the wreckage. His body was not recovered until some time later. It was horribly crushed and beyond recognition. Engineer DONALDSON was pinned under the debris, but was still alive when extricated. When the crash came he was thrown high into the air, the wreckage falling upon him.

Rochester Union and Advertiser June 9, 1906
__________________

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