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
Friday, September 6, 1912
Coroner Begins Investigation Of the ???
Conductor Charles Kuhn In Wheel Chair, Ready to Take the Stand. General Manager Senft Testifies
No Regular Train Dispatcher.
Both Minich and Noel, he said, worked in the station together, with the former's rank higher than that of the latter. There was no one to dispatch trains unless something special was going on, he continued.
As to Make-Up of Train.
As to the making-up of the branch passenger train, Mr. Senft said that the system was for the engine to run ahead of the coach, but that sometimes the engine pushed, and sometimes it ran backwards while pulling the coach, as well as backwards while pushing it making four different ways in which the train might run, according as to how much
time there might be for making a change. If there was time, the rule was to run the engine, frontwards, at the head of the coach. It was left to the pleasure of the employees, he said.
Knows of No Written Orders
There were no rules, he replied in answer to a question, as to the dispatching of trains. He also said that he did not know of any written orders having been received, and that he wouldn't know where to look for them, if asked to produce them at the inquest.
If a new employee were taken on, he said, the employee would receive instructions from the various conductors, all the men being made familiar with the plan of running trains. None of the employees had ever complained as to the methods, he said.
Mr. Senft Not Active.
Mr. Senft, continuing his answers to the questions put to him by the coroner, stated that he had not been in very active service, and had not issued many orders for the past two or three years or since his health had failed. Written orders, he knew, had been issued, upon occasion, governing traffic between Latrobe and Ligonier, but it had only been recently, he said, that the company had started to keep a record of them.
Passenger Train Always Had Right-Of-Way.
There was one rule in effect, he said - - the freight train must always keep out of the way of the passenger train. This was a rule, he said, of which every employee had knowledge. It was the only general rule.
Should Telephone Be Out of Order.
Mr. Senft said that he did not remember ever having given any written orders to Engineer Dunlap or Conductor Kuhn. There was no way, he said, of having evidence of the giving of verbal orders, when given.
If the telephone at Venango were out of order there'd be no way by which to receive orders, excepting the general understanding that the passenger train would have the right-of-way. If a wreck should occur, there'd be no way of notifying a passenger train, except by the sending ahead of a flagman.
As to Conductor Giving Orders.
There was no rule, he declared, that an engineer should not pull out without orders from the conductor, but it was customary for him to wait until receiving orders.
The Day of the Wreck.
The afternoon of the wreck, Mr. Senft said he had seen the Wilpen coach lying to the right of the station, and had noticed that it was ahead of the engine. He had not seen the train pull out, however.
Receipt of the Message.
In the office at the station, he said, were Messrs. Minich, Noel, Peoples, two stenographers and himself. When the phone bell rang, it was in order for any one of them to answer it and then to call Mr. Minich should he be wanted. Mr. Senft said that on this afternoon, when the phone rang, Mr. Noel had answered it, and had been told by
Conductor Knox, in charge of the freight train, that it was ready to come down, and asking if the passenger train could be held. Mr. Senft said that he told Noel to telephone to Conductor Knox to come ahead, and that the passenger train would be held. Mr. Minich, he continued, had said that he'd tell Kuhn to wait. Mr. Senft said that he'd then started out of the office, going to the engine house, while Minich had gone to tell Kuhn of the order.
Following an hour's recess for dinner, the inquest was resumed at 1:30 o'clock, with Mr. Senft still on the stand. Much of his remaining testimony included a going-over again of what he told this morning. He said that it was not unusual to hold the passenger train for the freight. He reiterated that he had not seen the Wilpen train pull out, and when shown a clipping from the Bulletin, purporting to give an interview from him in which he was quoted with having told how he had helped to put several children upon the train, he stated that while the article was in the main correct, he had not helped place children
aboard, he described the customs in vogue on both the main and branch lines, upon picnic and fair days, The first knowledge, he said, that he had received, as to the pulling out of the passenger train had been when Minich had come to him and had said, "Kuhn is taking the train out -- there will be a wreck."
There was no special limit on speed, the official continued, except that included in the rule that the passenger trains had the right-of-way. Conductor Kuhn, he continued, would have the right to order his train out, unless otherwise directed. He would not say, to his own knowledge, whether or not Minich had delivered the order. New rules were made, he said, as the need for them seemed to arise.
At 2:20 o'clock, Frank Noel took the stand. After giving his age, etc., he told of the message which had come from Conductor Knox, the day of the wreck.
"I received the message," he said "As near as I can remember, Knox said, "I'm at Wilpen, on the main track. Shall I come on in."?
" Wait a minute," I said, and I turned around to Mr. Senft and said, "Knox is there with his train: What shall I tell him?"
"Tell him to come on in," was the direction I received.
" Come in right away," I told Knox and Mr. Senft and Minich went out of the office.