Kelly Station, PA Train Wreck, Aug 1907

SIX ARE DEAD; EIGHTEEN HURT

Derailed Freight Car Cause of Frightful Wreck

CATASTROPHE ON KEYSTONE ROAD

Accident Occurs at a Sharp Curve.

Without a Moment’s Warning, the Titusville Flyer Crashes into the Obstruction and Death and Suffering Follow – Mother and Son Killed and Three Daughters Seriously Injured – Pathetic Incidents.

Kittanning, Pa., Aug 6 – Titusville express, southbound, was wrecked near Kelly station, ten miles from here, about 11:30 today, by being sideswiped by a freight car that had broken away from a northbound freight train. The engine was derailed. Two baggage cars, a smoker and a passenger car were wrecked. At least six persons are dead and about eighteen injured.

The Dead.

Mrs. Alonzo Huff, Johnstown.

Son of Mrs. Huff, Johnstown.

M.B. Irwin, engineer of the passenger train, residing at Oakmont; body cut in two and found under the tender.

__________ Chritznore, Titusville.

__________ Haffey, Kittanning.

Unidentified man.

Among the Injured.

Among the injured are three daughters of Mrs. A. Huff; John Gizzlar, Emlenton; Samuel Bing, Pittsburg; Robert Michelton, Emlenton.

The train on leaving Kittanning was behind time and it is said was running at high speed. The accident occurred at a sharp curve, preventing the engineer from seeing any considerable distance ahead. In some manner a big freight car that formed part of a freight train, northbound, had broken away from the train and had landed some distance from the northbound track. It projected over the southbound track. The express, as it rounded the curve was struck by this car, derailing the engine and wrecking the four cars. The train was well filled. Nearly all the passengers suffered from shock.

Pathetic Feature.

One pathetic feature of the wreck was the tragedy in the Huff family. The father, Alonzo Huff, at the time the accident happened, was walking up and down the platform at Kiskiminetas junction, waiting to board the train and join his wife and family. As a result of the wreck, however, his wife and son are dead and his three daughters are among the seriously injured. When word of the tragedy reached Huff, he collapsed.

Coroner F.B. Stone of Armstrong county, went direct to the scene. Two trainloads of people were taken to Kelly station and rendered all the assistance possible. The dead were laid out at Kelly station.

Injured List Growing.

Pittsburg, Pa., Aug 6 – At the office of the superintendent of the road late this afternoon it was stated that word had been received that three bodies had been taken from the wreck and that the list of injured would be from twenty to twenty-five persons.

The Marion Daily Star, Marion, OH 6 Aug 1907

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THE TITUSVILLE EXPRESS

Was Side Swiped By a Runaway Gondola Coal Car.

PITTSBURG, Pa., Aug 6 – Four persons were killed and twenty-five injured in a railroad wreck on the Buffalo & Allegheny division of the Pennsylvania railroad at Kelly, about thirty-five miles from this city. The wrecked train was the Titusville express No. 76, which left Titusville, Pa., for this city at 7:10 this morning. At 11:30, while passing through Kelly, the train was side-swiped by a gondola coal car and the engine, tender, baggage, and express cars with the three day coaches were derailed.

The dead:

MRS. ALONZO HUFF and male infant, of Johnstown, Pa.

M.B. IRWIN, of Oakmont, Pa., engineer of the passenger train.

GEORGE COCHRAN, of Rimesburg, Pa., injured about the head, died at Kittaning [sic] hospital to-night.

The gondola car was loaded with coal and had broken away from a train and rolled down over a switch extending over onto the main track. The passenger train, running about sixty miles an hour, came around a curve and before the speed could be reduced had struck the gondola. The engine was thrown about thirty feet from the track and landed on its side. Engineer Irwin was caught beneath his engine. The tender was likewise turned over and the cars broken and battered were strewn along the track on their sides. Most of the injured were in the second day coach. The majority of these were cut by glass and received bruises in the tumbling over of the cars.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN 7 Aug 1907

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4 KILLED; 25 HURT

Train Going 60 Miles an Hour Hits Coal Car.

BABY IN ARMS CRUSHED

Mother with Infant Clasped to Bosom Also Dies.

Husband and Father, Six Miles Away, Was Waiting for Travelers – Learning of Wreck, He Walks to Scene of Disaster and Collapses When He Finds Two Bodies – Engine Thrown Thirty Feet and Engineer Cut in [illegible].

Pittsburg, Aug 6 – Four persons were killed and twenty five injured in a railroad wreck to-day on the Buffalo and Allegheny division of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Kelly, about thirty five miles from this city. The wrecked train was the Titusville express, No 6, which left Titusville, Pa., for this city at 7:10 o’clock this morning. At 11:30 o’clock while passing through Kelly the train was sideswiped by a gondola car and the engine, tender baggage and express cars with the three day coaches, were derailed.

The dead are

Mrs. ALONZO HUFF and male infant, of Johnstown, Pa., both crushed to death.

M.B. IRWIN of Oakmont, Pa., engineer of the passenger train, body cut in two.

GEORGE COCHRAN of Rimesburg, Pa., injured about the head, died at Kittanning Hospital to night.

The gondola car was loaded with coal and had broken away from a train and rolled down over a switch extending over on to the main track. The passenger train running at about sixty miles an hour, came around a curve and before the speed could be reduced, had struck the gondola. The engine was thrown about thirty feet from the track and landed on its side

Engineer Beneath Engine

Engineer Irwin was caught beneath his engine. The tender was likewise turned over and the cars, broken and battered, were strewn along the track on their sides.

Most of the injured were in the second day coach. The majority of these were cut by glass and received bruises in the tumbling over of the cars.

When the heavily loaded gondola car struck the engine it scraped the cab, and upon coming in contact with the first car, the entire roof of the coach was ripped off. The coach tipped toward the bank of the Allegheny river and the occupants who were mostly men and boys rolled out of the top. With the exception of bruises, none of these passengers was seriously injured.

The dead and injured among the passengers were in the second day coach. It was in this car that Mrs. Huff with her daughters and infant, was riding. The side of the car was crushed in and only two women, who were seated on the side toward the gondola car, escaped injury.

Threw Child Out of Window.

They were Mrs. Maud Whitworth and Mrs. Chalfant, wife of the Rev. Mr. Chalfant, both of Kittanning. Mrs. Whitworth, when the crash came, threw one of her two children out of the car window on the sand. The other child was thrown on the floor but escaped harm. The child thrown from the window was uninjured. Three children accompanied Mrs. Chalfant, and they escaped injury.

Mrs. Huff who was returning to her home in Johnstown, Pa., from a visit was almost instantly killed with the infant in her arms. With her were three daughters, who were among the most seriously injured. Abbie Huff and Ruth Huff each sustained a fractured limb, while Mary Huff, the third daughter, was seriously bruised.

Alonzo Huff, the husband and father had gone to Kiskiminetas Junction about six miles from the scene of the accident, to meet his family and when he learned of the wreck, he walked up the track to the scene. He found his three daughters upon the ground where tender hands had placed them after taking them from the wreck.

Finds Wife and Baby Dead.

Huff asked for his wife and, learning she was near by among the dead, sought out her body which was lying alongside that of her babe. Upon catching sight of the bodies, Huff collapsed.

Physicians and assistance were summoned from Kittanning ten miles away, and two wrecking trains, with another corps of physicians, were sent from this city. The dead were taken to Kittanning where they were prepared for burial and the injured that needed hospital attention were also taken to Kittanning. A number of the injured were able to proceed to their destinations after having their injuries dressed at the scene of the wreck.

Telegraph lines were carried down by the cars falling against the telegraph poles, and accurate news of the wreck was difficult to obtain until a late hour. Reports of large numbers of dead were spread broadcast, but as soon as communication was restored, the railroad company issued an official list of dead and injured. All the victims were residents of Western Pennsylvania. Late to-night traffic was restored at the scene of the wreck.

The Washington Post, Washington, DC 7 Aug 1907

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-- Alonzo Huff, of Johnstown, whose wife and little son were killed and whose two little daughters were seriously injured in a wreck at Kelley’s station on August 6th last, has settled with the railroad company for $12,000 damages. Mrs. Huff, accompanied by her son and two daughters, was a passenger on the ill-fated train when the wreck occurred.

The Wellsboro Agitator, Wellsboro, PA 18 Dec 1907
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Transcribed by Pam Whitmer. Thanks Pam!