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!
Ligonier Echo
Wednesday, November 27, 1912
Puts L.V.R.R. Wreck Up To State Official For Consideration
Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 26. The State Railroad Commission has laid before the
Attorney General the facts connected with the wreck on the Wilpen branch of the
Ligonier Railroad Company on July 5 for such action as he may see fit to take. The accident resulted in the loss of twenty-three lives, and the commission made an investigation which was followed by reports charging negligence.
The report was sent to the general manager of the company, the commission says, with a request for information and an explanation, but was ignored as was the request for the commission for the usual accident report furnished by all other railroads.
The commission's letter recites that the orders of the road neither were written nor printed, that no adequate means were taken to insure against collision, and that the passenger train was made up with the engine in the rear, pushing it, which has been held to be negligence. Philadelphia Press.
The above special was sent out from Harrisburg yesterday.
The action of the commission in laying the results of its investigation of the wreck before the Attorney General of the State is in line with the statement made on the 10th of last July, when the report of Jno. P. Dohoney, the commission's marshal, who investigated the wreck, was given to the public and when it was said in connection therewith that "the company would be given a reasonable length of time to file answer to the findings of the marshal," and further "that if the company should be unable to explain away the circumstances, cited by the marshal, the attorney general might be asked to
consider the case."
Marshal Dononey's report, it will be recalled, used the words "reckless" and "inexcusable" in reaching a conclusion as to the cause of the wreck, the circumstances surrounding the order as to its trains, the absence of written orders, the running of the train with the coach in front, etc., being the basis for the conclusion.
The "special" sent out from Harrisburg states that the company ignored a request for information and an explanation. This takes no account of the fact that on the 25th of July, the company filed a report with the Commission concerning the wreck. In this report it sought to put the blame on an individual. A coroner's jury, empanelled subsequently, put the responsibility upon the company.