Rouses Point, NY Train Wreck, Aug 1903

TRAIN PLUNGES THROUGH DRAW

Fireman Killed and Engineer Seriously Injured in Wreck on Delaware and Hudson, Near Coopersville.

PLATTSBURG, N. Y., Aug. 1.---One of the worst freight wrecks in years in Northern New York occurred at Coopersville, between this city and Rouse's Point, N. Y., on the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, to-day when a freight train plunged at full speed through an open draw, killing the fireman, Ed Braw, and seriously injuring Homer Elliott, the engineer, both of Whitehall, N. Y.

The drawbridge spanning the Chazy Fiver[sic] at Coopersville was being closed after having been opened to allow a steam yacht owned by James Averill, Jr., President of the First National Bank of Champlain, N. Y., to pass through, and was being closed when the freight train came in sight. Before the draw could be completely closed the engine crashed into it, hurling the drawbridge into the river, bottom upward. Eight of the twelve cars that plunged into the river were loaded with livestock, calves, cows, and sheep, and the bellowing of the dying animals could be heard for miles.

Wrecking crews were sent from here and from Rouse's Point. It will take three days or more before the wreck can be cleared up and a temporary bridge erected. In the meantime all trains are running over the Rutland Road to Moore's Junction and from there to this city over a branch of the Delaware and Hudson Road.

The Delaware and Hudson officials were straining every nerve to complete the job of changing the gauge on the Adirondack Branch, from Lyon Mountain to Lake Placid, to-morrow from narrow to standard gauge, and this wreck, coming just at this time, causes serious inconvenience.

The New York Times, New York, NY 2 Aug 1903
__________________

Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!