Eastern Railroad Discussion > Train Wrecks

I am trying to locate some information on a train wreck that occured somewhere around January 4,1897. The information I was given indicates the wreck occured on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in or about the town of Republic, Ohio. Can someone tell me where I can look to find information on that incident? Thanks.

Jim

Apparently the wreck occurred in the vicinity of the Republic interlocking, and rumor has it that a few of the victims were buried in the adjacent cemetery. Maybe someday I should take a look at the headstones and see if I can find that date.

Your comments are appreciated as the information I received about this accident appears on the headstone of a grave in a cemetary in Camp Hill, PA. Speciffically in addition to the information I supplied before was the following also on the headstone, "Killed in the B&O RR wreck- Republic, Ohio Jan 4,1897- Age-26". The individuals name was given but I prefer not to disclose it here for privacy sake.

Jim

this site shows an accident in 1887. http://www.railroadextra.com/wkohio.html hope this link works Scott B.

Thank you Scott for your information. That is exactly what I was looking for. Although the name on the gravestone here in Camp Hill, PA is not shown on the newspaper writeup, I assume he was a passenger on the train. Once again, thank you so much.

Jim

That article just doesnt make sense. Scipio is east of Republic, and A half mile west of Republic the curve isn't very sharp, its a wide sweeping curve. Now a half mile east of Republic is a sharp curve. Let me read it again...

rickrailrd wrote:

> That article just doesnt make sense. Scipio is east of
> Republic, and A half mile west of Republic the curve isn't very
> sharp, its a wide sweeping curve. Now a half mile east of
> Republic is a sharp curve. Let me read it again...

That's interesting, as Shaw's book on railroad accidents has a short paragraph on the incident. The account is similar to the newspaper article, though it mentions 13 people were killed. It also describes the freight as an eastbound, and the passenger as a westbound.

The point of collision was supposedly 200 yards beyond the west switch at Republic. Yet Scipio siding is indisputibly east of Republic. I presume Shaw got most of his information from ICC accident reports, so the information would be from different sources?

Dont forget everyone, this accident occured over 100 years ago so any differences in the curvature of the track and it's location could have changed within that time. Thanks again.

Jim

I wonder if the ICC was reporting on accidents back then even though they were around (since 1887?). Unfortunately, an ICC report would be the most relaible source.

If you go to a library in the area and find the local newspapers on microfilm, there should be plenty but perhaps sometimes not accurate info. If you compare articles from various newspapers, you might be able to sift out more accruate facts.
But this might be your most colorful source including names and extent of injuries.

Also, no doubt the state of Ohio had a railroad commisioner or other other official body that investigated the accident. Perhaps a major university or historical society has an officail document.

Privacy of what or whom? This happened 105 years ago.