A Narrow Escape on the Lake Shore Tracks
An evening train nearly derailed near Latona after striking a cow, mangling the animal and providing a terrifying ride for the passengers.
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 evening train west-bound on the Lake Shore line had a narrow escape from being derailed yesterday. About a mile past Latona, the engine struck a cow on the track, and the force of the collision threw the wheels of the forward truck from the rails. The engine ran for about 1,000 yards, dragging the cow, before it could be stopped. The bumping of the wheels along the ties could be felt plainly by the passengers, some of whom were badly alarmed, but no damage was done beyond the cow being horribly mangled. The crew re-railed the truck, and the train reached the city only a few minutes late.
“The bumping of the wheels along the ties could be felt plainly by the passengers.”
Latona was a distinct community in the 1890s; today, it is a bustling neighborhood in North Seattle near the University District. This story reflects the era's reliance on rail transport and the frequent hazards of un-fenced tracks in semi-rural outskirts.
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