Fatal Train Wreck Near Cle Elum
A freight train section breaks loose on a steep grade, colliding with a passenger train.
A section of the freight train going up the steep grade in the vicinity of Cle Elum broke away Tuesday night and ran nearly down to Ellensburg, where it collided with the west-bound passenger, wrecking the freight caboose and disabling the passenger engine. Sam Law, who was on the runaway, was killed and the fireman of the passenger seriously injured.
“A section of the freight train... broke away Tuesday night and ran nearly down to Ellensburg.”
Rail safety and the steep grades through the Cascade passes have been a constant challenge in Washington state transportation history. The incident reflects the dangers faced by 19th-century railway workers in the rugged terrain surrounding the I-90 corridor.
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