A Circus Train Wrecked on the Grade Near Newport
A switch engine pushing a loaded boxcar crashed head-on into the Campbell Brothers' circus train between Ione and Grange City, wrecking three cars and killing the show's horses.
Colfax, Wash., June 19.—While a loaded boxcar was being pushed up a grade between Ione and Grange City, Wash., on the line of the O. R. N., the car and switch engine behind it crashed head-on into the first section of a special freight train carrying Campbell Brothers' circus, which was on its way from Walla Walla to Lewiston. Three cars of the circus train were wrecked and eight horses killed. No one on the train was hurt.
“Three cars of the circus train were wrecked and eight horses killed. No one on the train was hurt.”
The O.R.&N. grade through the Pend Oreille valley was the region's lifeline, and a circus passing through was an event in itself. Today the same corridor carries freight and the occasional excursion, but a wrecked menagerie train would still stop traffic and draw a crowd.
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