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
Saturday, September 7, 1912
Coroner's Jury Places Blame For Ligonier Valley ??? Upon the Company, ???
Jury Apparently Agreed That Conductor Kuhn Did Not Hear Any Verbal Order To Hold His Train
The claim of the Ligonier Valley Railroad that the responsibility for the frightful wreck on the Wilpen Branch, rested upon Conductor Charles Kuhn was not borne out by the coronerial jury which sat at the inquest conducted by Coroner H. A. McMurray, yesterday, the verdict having contained no mention of the conductor's name, but having placed the blame for the disaster upon the company.
The conductor was the last witness heard, his story coming at the conclusion of an afternoon filled with further revelations as to the methods of operating the Ligonier Valley system, in vogue, and with testimony as to the delivering of the order to hold the passenger train. The veteran railroader was emphatic in declaring that he had not heard any order of the kind given.
Noel Yelled at the Train.
F. R. Noel, the car distributor, who was the second witness called to the stand, after telling how he had talked with Conductor Knox over the telephone, (the account of the
inquest in yesterday's Bulletin closing with his testimony as to the giving of orders to the conductor of the freight to "come on,") stated that he had gone up the track into the yards to see about some cars, and that while there the passenger train had gone by, traveling at the speed of five or six miles an hour. He said he had tried to signal to it, to stop, having waved a pad of paper which he had in his hand, and that he had called out to Edward Rathmell, the baggagemaster on the front platform of the coach, to "look out for the
freight."
How Minich Delivered the Order.
R. S. Minich, a nephew of General Manager Senft, and employed by the company in the capacity of assistant superintendent, followed Noel in giving his testimony. He said that
after the telephone message had been received from Conductor Knox, and the latter had been told to come on in, he had gone out of the station and had told Rathmell to get out the Wilpen coach which was in the car barn. He then had walked over to the baggage car of the Latrobe train, from which freight and baggage were being unloaded, he continued, and having found Conductor Kuhn in the car, he had called out to him, not to go to Wilpen "till the freight got in.
The conductor, he next declared, had looked at him, and he at the conductor. He said that he thought the conductor had replied "all right," though it might only have been a "grunt." A grunt was about all we sometimes got from Kuhn," he continued. Present at the time, he said, had been William Fortney and Edward Rathmell, both of whom had been in the car, and John Kuhns, outside.
Claimed to Have Told Him Again.
Continuing his testimony, Minich claimed that he had gone into the baggage car to get his mail and had again seen Conductor Kuhn, the latter being engaged in writing, at the desk. He said he had again told the conductor not to go to Wilpen until the freight
arrived.
Asked why he had given the order a second time, he said it was his custom to repeat instructions as many times as possible. He said that he fully supposed Kuhn had heard him.
Asked why he had not notified the engineer as well, he said it had not been considered necessary, the conductor being in charge. A P.R.R. Book of Rules was introduced to show that on the Pennsylvania, orders must be delivered both to the engineer and the conductor.
Relative to the system of operating, the assistant superintendent said there had been no signals and no employees designated to receive signals from the office. He declared that no one had been dismissed from the service of the road since he had been affiliated with it, seven years in time, and no employee had been suspended in that period.
Couldn't Tell Whether Kuhn Heard Order.
William Fortney, employed to take care of the station and to help with the baggage and freight, testified that he and J. W. Clott had heard Minich deliver the order to Kuhn, calling it in through the door of the baggage car. He could not say, however, whether Kuhn had heard it or not. Kuhn had made no reply, he averred. Incident to the moving of the baggage considerable noise, it was suggested, might have been made.
Clott Heard No Answer.
J. W. Clott, the freight agent, said that he had been standing in the baggage car, near Conductor Kuhn when Minich had appeared alongside the truck standing in front of the car door and head called out to wait for the freight. He said that Conductor Kuhn had been writing, at his desk, at the time. He said he had heard no answer from the conductor.
What John Kuhns Heard.
John Kuhns, a track worker, said that he'd been engaged in helping with the freight and baggage, at the time, and that he'd heard Minich tell some one that the Wilpen train would not go out until the freight had arrived. Asked to whom Minich had told this, he said he didn't know.
Might Have Jumped On Train.
Edward Rathmell, baggagemaster, said the following the arrival of the Latrobe train, Minich had met him and told him to get out the Wilpen coach. He declared that he had been standing in the baggage car, about three feet from Kuhn when Minich had appeared inside the car, but that he had not heard any order given out to the conductor. The conductor, he continued, had been working at his report, at the time, it having been
customary for him to make up the report following every trip. He averred that he had not seen Kuhn and Minich having any conversation in the car. Cont....