Eastern Railroad Discussion > Southern Railway Head On Collision

This head on collision happened about 32 miles west of Salisbury,NC on the S-Line June 21,1963.

*The photos and Story are from the Statesville Record & Landmark.

Routine Rail Run Ends With Sudden Tragedy


The night was dark, with intermittent showers.

At Spencer,the crew of Southern Railway's No.50 climbed aboard for a routine run to Asheville,a trip that got underway about 11:30p.m.

At Asheville,the crew of Southern's No.153 climbed on another sleek diesel unit and pulled out about 9:20p.m. another expected routine trip over the silvery rails.

Little did either crew realize that between their points of destination was tragedy and that a veteran railroader was on his final run.

No.50 had T.A. Steele, 64, at the controls of the diesel units. Steele a railroader for 46 years,had a five unit diesel,two extra units in tow, and 70 boxcars. He was east-bound.

No. 153 was engineered by B.L. Clement, 65, who like Steele,was working with the Asheville Division. Clement is also a veteran railroader, with some 45 years of service. He also had a five unit diesel witch was pulling 137 cars west-bound.

At 1:35a.m. today, both freights met head on at Eufola, just east of a slight curve in the main line.

Blinding Collision

In the blinding Collision, H.T. Turner of Morganton, a fireman on the west-bound No.153, was Killed.

Turner,like the other trainmen on the diesel units, jumped. He didn't make it.

The lead, diesel of No.153 glanced off to the left,the top part of the cab wound up on top of the east-bound No.50 and was headed eastward. Turner's body was found under the wreckage after a frantic search by crew members of the two freights.

The diesel unit had bridged the ditch,filled with diesel oil and Turner's body was barely visible. He was lying facedown in the soft embankment and ambulance attendants later said the body was not crushed to any great degree, as might be expected. Dr. Harry Underwood, county coroner, said this morning that the death was due to multiple crush injuries.

Steele, who spoke of the diesel units with the tenderness of a child with a new toy, told of his first reactions.

The east-bound fright came around the curve and Steele saw the light of the west-bound train.

Speed Is Slow

"I didn't know it (the west-bound freight) was on the main line. I was supposed to be on the main line," he related. He said his train was moving at some 8-10 miles per hour. "I was figuring on stopping up there at that switch," he added.

"That was the biggest headlight I ever saw," Steele continued.

"Just the minute I saw he was on the main line, me and the fireman(E.C. Earwood)I was yelling at him and he was hollering to me that he was on the main line jumped. I put the brakes on emergency and blew the whistle one time to try to whistle him down. The fireman jumped and I was right after him,"Steele related.

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Stories like this is a good reminder that the trains we love so much are very unforgiving sometimes.....always think safety. The routine trips the crews expected was anything but....

Thanks for sharing!

Randy