Ligonier Valley Rail Road Newspaper Articles
We have compiled over 1,400 newspaper articles that mention the Ligonier Valley Railroad, or related subjects. The articles were originally published starting in 1873 and our collection runs through 1995. Enjoy!
Latrobe Bulletin
Thursday, July 11, 1912
"Reckless" and "Inexcusable"
Marshal Dohoney, In ?
"Reckless and inexcusable" are among the words used by John P. Dohoney, marshal of the State Railroad Commission, in drawing conclusions from the circumstances surrounding the Ligonier branch wreck, the conclusions being reached following an investigation made by him upon the ground.
His report was filed with the State Railroad Commission, at Harrisburg, yesterday afternoon and was at once made public.
It is said, at Harrisburg, that the company will be given a reasonable time in which to file answer to the finding of the marshal, and it is further said that should the company be unable to explain away the circumstances cited by the marshal, the attorney general might be asked to consider the _______ of prosecution. The report of Dohoney follows:
On July 5, 1912, a collision of a freight and a passenger train occurred on the
Wilpen branch of the Ligonier Valley Railroad, about midway between Ligonier and Wilpen, causing the death of three employees and a score of passengers and injuring practically every other occupant of the ill-fated coach.
Your representative on July 7 made a personal investigation of this disaster and the facts thus obtained led to no other conclusion than that the accident and its horrible consequences were the result of the reckless and inexcusable methods employed in the operation of the line.
These methods not only brought about a collision, but no doubt materially contributed to the number of dead and injured.
The branch with which this report deals is five miles in length, extending from Ligonier to Wilpen.
A passenger coach is operated between these points twice a day. The first trip starts from Ligonier at 6:40 in the morning, and the other from the same place at 3:20 in the afternoon.
At Wilpen there are extensive coal operations, and the product of the mines is
brought over the branch to Ligonier and then transferred to its destination.
As a rule, the coal train leaves Wilpen and arrives at Ligonier before noon; but on the day of the accident there was an unavoidable delay, and it was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon when this train, drawn by two engines, was prepared to move.
Order Telephoned.
The freight conductor, H. H. Knox, telephoned from Wilpen to Frank Noel, car distributor of the Ligonier Valley Railroad Company, who was in the office at Ligonier, informing him that he was ready to bring in his train and asking permission to do so before the passenger train left Ligonier for Wilpen. There is
but one main track, and it is used for both freight and passenger transportation.
Noel states that General Manager Senft, of the Ligonier Valley Railroad Co., and his assistant, Russell Minnich, were in the room when the message was received from Knox, and that it was decided to permit the freight to come into Ligonier before the passenger train left it.
Minnich was instructed to convey this information to Conductor C. H. Kuhn, of the passenger train, and he claims he told Kuhn not to move his train until the freight arrived. It was not a written, but a verbal order, and if the conductor
received it, he either misunderstood it or passed it from his mind.
Anyhow, he took out the passenger train, which consisted of one coach and an engine, leaving Ligonier for Wilpen just about the time the freight train left Wilpen for Ligonier.
Noel stated that after he had given the order to hold the passenger train he had some other maters to attend to at a short distance from the station, and while thus engaged the passenger train passed him on the way to Wilpen. He says he was under the impression that the purpose of the conductor was to run the train into a siding but the fact is that this was a disobedience of orders, that the siding was
entirely ignored, and that the train was approximately a mile beyond it when the collision took place. There is no evidence to the effect that Noel made any effort to recall the train and by so doing insist upon the compliance with the instructions which he claims to have given for the passenger train to remain at the station until the freight arrived.
The passenger coach, crowded with about 50 men, women and children, was not drawn by the engine, but preceded and was pushed by it, and as the result of this formation, when the trains came together at a sharp curve in the road, the impact was more disastrous to the coach than if the latter had been in the rear of the locomotive.
Ample Sidings.
In this connection I desire to inform you that while the branch in question is of single track construction, it has the advantage of a "Y" at Ligonier and of ample sidings along the line which preclude any excuse for placing the passenger coach in front of the engine, and consequently, emphasize the recklessness of the practice.
You are also reminded of the manner in which the passenger conductor is said to have been ordered to hold his train until the arrival of the freight. He is among the injured in the hospital and has not thus far stated whether or not the order was
received.
If this order had been given in writing and a copy thereof retained by the car dispatcher it would have probably impressed the conductor with the importance of the situation and at the same time be of value in determining, in the event of a dispute, the responsibility for the moving of the train and the resultant horror.
JOHN P. DOHONEY,
Marshal.
Andrew W. Mellon Contradicts Report Concerning ???
Contradicting the reports published to the effect that the Ligonier Valley Railroad Company had commissioned agents and attorneys to effect settlements of claims growing out of the wreck on the Wilpen branch, Mr. Andrew W. Mellon, head of the great banking house in Pittsburgh, and one of the owners of the railroad, stated, yesterday afternoon, that no steps had been taken in this direction, the chief concern of the company, thus far, having been to investigate the circumstances leading up to the dreadful disaster and to make sure that the injured were being (given) every care and attention possible.
The owners of the road, Mr. Mellon stated, were not thinking of the financial loss, but of the loss of life, and the suffering entailed, and it was their present concern, he said, to see to it that the suffering was lightened as much as possible, no expense being considered in this connection.
Mr. Mellon's personal representative called at the Latrobe Hospital, yesterday, and told the superintendent that the patients were to have every comfort possible. It is understood
that similar word was taken to the Pittsburgh hospitals and to the homes in which the injured are lying.