A Coal Train Kills a Miner on the Tracks at Renton
Bradbury Whittaker, a miner from Pennsylvania, was run over by a backing coal train near Renton—the third such death in a short time—and a coroner's jury found no one to blame.
Monday night another man was killed at Renton, making the third within a comparatively short period. This time it was Bradbury Whittaker, a miner, who was run over by a coal train while lying on the track in an intoxicated condition. Late Monday evening Whittaker left a saloon in Renton in company with two companions, who separated from him immediately afterward. It is supposed that he fell while crossing the railroad track, and was too drunk to move or make an effort to save himself. The train which ran over him was backing slowly at the time, but owing to the darkness of the night the man was not seen until too late. Coroner Boot was notified and impaneled a jury, which returned the following verdict: "Renton, Dec. 18, 1883. We, the jury, impaneled to hold an inquest on the body of Bradbury Whittaker, find he was a coal miner by trade, native of Lancashire, England, age [blank] years, has a family in Falston, Beaver County, Penn. He came to his death by being intoxicated and lying on the railroad track and being run over by a backing coal train at 11 p.m. December 17, 1883. No blame is attached to anyone, the night being dark and foggy. We found on his person one silver watch, with a brass chain attached to it, and five cents in coin. C. S. Custer, W. S. Lawson, D. L. Williams, James McGuire, David Parker."
“He came to his death by being intoxicated and lying on the railroad track and being run over by a backing coal train at 11 p.m. December 17, 1883.”
Renton grew as a coal town, and its railroad tracks were both economic lifeline and hazard. The coroner's verdict—no blame, dark and foggy night—reads like a familiar modern response to deaths at the intersection of industry, addiction, and infrastructure: a tragedy treated as unavoidable rather than systemic.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.