Tragedy at the Crossing
A Grant County sheep rancher and his wife are struck by a Great Northern train near Ephrata in a harrowing vehicle collision.
Ray Hunter and wife were struck and possibly fatally injured by the Great Northern westbound train, the Oriental Limited, near Ephrata while crossing the track in an automobile shortly before 12 o’clock. The pilot of the engine struck the machine squarely, throwing them out. They were picked up and rushed to the hospital at Ephrata. The exact extent of their injuries is not known. Hunter was approaching the track on the left hand side, crossing north. According to the story of the fireman, the automobile had virtually stopped as it reached the track with the engine only 50 yards away. Suddenly the car shot forward and across the track, the engine striking the rear end and throwing it clear and to the left. The automobile was demolished and the couple thrown 25 feet. Engineer Allgreen did not see the auto until after the train struck it. The train was late and was going 45 miles the hour. Conductor Stedman was in charge of the train. Mr. Hunter is a member of the firm, Hunter & Allen, interested in sheep, and is well known throughout Grant county.
“The automobile was demolished and the couple thrown 25 feet.”
Railroad crossings remain significant hazards in the rural West, where train speeds and sightlines continue to be critical issues for local commuters. The incident reflects a transitional era when the speed of early automobiles began to regularly intersect with the unforgiving physics of transcontinental freight.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.