A Near-Fatal Train Wreck Averted by a Rooftop Signal
A head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train on the outskirts of Kennewick results in mass wreckage but miraculous survival.
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.
The Burlington train No. 5 and a freight smashed together in a head-on collision yesterday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. The accident occurred on the curve just west of town where it was impossible for the engineers to see ahead. No passengers were injured and no damage done to the coaches; the passenger engine had pilot and headlight knocked off. Eight freight cars were telescoped, derailed and crushed, one box car falling across the irrigation canal so that the water had to be shut off to prevent a break. It was exceedingly fortunate that no one was injured. The freight was slowed down on the hill by a signal from Geo. Crutchfield who was working on top of his house and could see both trains approaching each other from his position. The passenger was running slow on account of the steep grade and came to a complete stop before they struck. The passenger crew received a train order at Pasco to meet the freight extra at Kennewick but forgot their order and pulled out with these results.
“Had the freight been running at the speed the trains usually do down the grade many lives would have been lost and Kennewick would have been a hospital last night.”
Rail safety remains a critical civic issue in the Tri-Cities area today, where heavy freight and hazardous material transport through urban centers frequently ignites debate over infrastructure and public risk. Crutchfield’s quick-thinking intervention serves as a historical reminder of how vulnerable the town's geography—wedged between canals and rails—has always been to industrial error.
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