Northfield, VT Train Wreck, Aug 1910

SEVEN TRAINMEN KILLED.

Others Injured In Freight Collision on the Central Vermont.

NORTHFIELD, Vt., Aug. 21.---Seven bodies, the greater number of them burned beyond recognition, have been recovered from the charred wreckage of two freight trains of the Central Vermont Railroad, which met head-on at Northfield Falls to-day, and others are thought to be still in the debris. Three other men were injured, one probably fatally.

The dead are:

Engineer J. W. BERRYMAN, north-bound train;
Fireman DUBEC, south-bound train;
Conductor WILLIAM BRUNELLE, south-bound train;
Brakeman LEON LA BUQUE, south-bound train;
two trainmen, names unknown.

The injured are: Engineer William A. Wynn, south-bound train;
Brakeman Jesse Smith, south-bound train;
Brakeman D. S. Hamel, south-bound train.

Twenty-two cars were burned, and the horror was intensified when two tank cars of oil exploded. So far as known no member of the north-bound train escaped. Responsibility for the accident has not been placed.

One of the trains, consisting of an engine, tender, and caboose, was bound south from St. Albans, and, it is said, had the right of way on the single track. The other train, a heavy freight of thirty-five of forty cars, was proceeding from White River Junction to Montpelier and St. Albans. The engineer of the northbound train ran by a signal a short distance past the Northfield Station, it is alleged, and a few moments later the collision took place. The engine and eight cars of the heavier train were piled up on top of the smaller train, and immediately the wreckage caught fire and caused the explosion of several tank cars containing oil.

There were several cars of live stock on the northbound train, but these were all left standing on the rails, although several valuable trotting horses were killed by the shock.

The New York Times, New York, NY 22 Aug 1910
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!