The Day the Locomotives Derailed on the Black River
A morning commute goes wrong just outside Seattle when two coal trains collide head-on, sending steam engines into the mud.
A collision took place on the railroad this morning between the up and down coal trains, the former drawn by the locomotive Georgina, and the latter by the Modie. The accident occurred just this side of the Black River bridge, and both engines were thrown from the track and considerably damaged. The tenders were completely wrecked, as were several of the cars. On seeing the collision was inevitable, all the men on both trains immediately jumped off and fortunately escaped without injury. Both engines are in the ditch, together with several cars, the Georgina being upside down, with her trucks high in the air. Superintendent Colman, together with all available men, has gone up to the scene of disaster to remove obstructions, clear the track, and get the damaged engines to town as soon as possible. We cannot at present learn the cause of the accident, but it must have been due to some misapprehension of the new time table, which went into effect yesterday.
“Both engines are in the ditch... the Georgina being upside down, with her trucks high in the air.”
Rail infrastructure and scheduling mishaps remain a persistent tension in the Puget Sound region, much like this 1878 wreck on the Black River (near present-day Renton). The dramatic image of the 'Georgina' overturned with her wheels in the air mirrors the enduring anxieties of industrial transit and the physical dangers of a rapidly expanding regional network.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.