Wilkins, WY Head-On Train Collision, Dec 1905

TEN LIVES LOST.

Wreck On the Union Pacific Railroad in Wyoming.

Cheyenne, Wyo. -- Ten persons were killed in a wreck at Wilkins, near Green River, Wyo., on the Union Pacific, at 2:15 a. m., when train No. 2, the east-bound Overland Limited, crashed into a Pacific Coast fast freight head on.
The dead:
BRINK, engineer, Rawlins.
JAMES BUSBEE, first cook, Omaha.
JOHN LAWLESS, fourth cook, Omaha.
FRANK McKENNA, electrician, Omaha.
J. A. NEWSON, mail clerk, Cheyenne.
FRANK PETERSON, mail clerk, Cheyenne.
J. E. PHILLIPAR, mail clerk, Cheyenne.
ED ROSENBAUM, second cook, Oakland, Cal.
______ STIGERS, electrician, Ogden.
______ SMITH, brakeman, Rawlins.
Of the dead, PHILLIPAR, PETERSON, STIGERS, McKENNA and two corpses which were being taken east were incinerated.
The following passengers were injured:
MISS EDNA MISHAK, San Francisco, internal injuries.
MRS. MAUD RILEY, San Francisco, slight injuries.
DENNIS F. McARTHUR, Oakland, New Zealand, dangerous.
M. C. McCOY, Kansas City, Mo., slight injury.
MRS. GERTRUDE COOK, San Francisco, serious.
F. M. HULITT, San Francisco, slight.
The cause of the wreck was said to be carelessness in reading orders on the part of the conductor and engineer of the freight train, the latter of whom was killed. This train had orders to wait for Nos. 10, 6 and 2, the Overland Limited. No. 10 was run in two sectons, and the freight crew, failing to note that their orders read for two sections of No. 10, waited until three trains had passed and then started on their run. The accident occurred at a sharp bend in the road around a hill, where an approaching train could be seen only a few hundred yards. No. 2 was running at full speed, endeavoring to make up time, as it was several hours late.
A train was quickly sent out from Green River and the dead taken to that point, while another train equipped with doctors and attendants, was started from Rock Springs and the injured were taken to the hospital at that point.
The first twelve laden cars of the freight train and the mail, baggage, composite and dining cars of the flyer were completely demolished and destroyed by fire. The postal clerks, dynamo-car electrician and his assistants were pinned down by the wreckage and burned to death, some of them in sight of the horrified passengers, who were powerless to render aid. The damage caused by the wreck is estimated at $130,000.

The Chateaugay Record New York 1905-12-15
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!