Gas Tank Explosion Wrecks Passenger Car
A train car was reduced to twisted wreckage near Puyallup by a high-pressure gas explosion; authorities believe it was fortunate the train was empty at the time.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A passenger car on the Northern Pacific was completely ruined near Puyallup about 6 o'clock last night by an explosion of a gas tank beneath the floor. The train was an empty one which meets the Eastern overland at Auburn, and was running at a high rate of speed when the explosion happened. The gas is used for lighting the cars, and is contained in a small tank under 1,000 pounds pressure. Had the accident occurred an hour later, when the train was hurrying back to Tacoma with its load of passengers, a number of casualties would have resulted. The car was brought to this city today a mass of twisted and burned wreckage.
“Had the accident occurred an hour later... a number of casualties would have resulted.”
Rail safety and the volatile nature of pressurized fuels remain a critical infrastructure concern for the region, echoing today's debates over the transportation of hazardous materials through Tacoma's industrial corridors.
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