Bellwood, PA Train Accident, Jun 1891

DOWN THE GRADE

Brakemen Lose Control of Their Train and Loss of Life Results

While coming down the Alleghany Mountains from Lloydsville, Penn., to Bellwood, on the Pennsylvania and Northwestern Railroad, about midnight a heavy coal train got beyond the control of the trainmen, and dashing down the grade, the heaviest in America east of the Rocky Mountains, was piled up and smashed into kindling wood at a curve about three miles north of Bellwood.

The engine and twenty-five cars lay piled up in a mass of broken wood and twisted iron at the bottom of the ravine, and among the debris were the bodies of the conductor, engineer and one brakeman, with almost all semblance to humanity crushed out of them. The other train hands escaped with their lives, but all were more or less injured. The accident is supposed to have been caused by wet rails and the air brakes refusing to work properly.

The Cranbury Press New Jersey 1891-06-19
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!