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!
Meyersdale Commercial
March 30, 1916
JAMES ANKENY MEETS DEATH
Somerset Man Killed in Railroad Wreck. Thawing of Ground Caused Rails to Spread Resulting in Accident
The combination freight and passenger train of the Pittsburg, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad Co., was wrecked about 10:30 Thursday morning near Mechanicsburg, about four miles from Ligonier, and one man, James Ankeny, of Somerset was killed. Had the locomotive or passenger coach left the track, the loss of life might have been greater. Only two freight cars left the tracks, rolling over an embankment. Spreading of the rails, as a result of the thawing of the ground, is believed to have caused the accident. J. W. Baker, of Ligonier, Superintendent of the road, stated that the train was running at not more than 10 or 12 miles an hour at the time. He denied that the locomotive had gone through a bridge. The wreck occurred he said, at the post office known as Rector, where there is a fill in the road. Mr. Ankeny he said was jolted down between the freight cars. No one else was injured. James Ankeny was about 30 years old and a son of Mr. and Mrs. Ankeny of Somerset. Early reports in Somerset were to the effect that the entire train had gone through a bridge and that a score of people were killed and a number of others injured. The train was on its way from Ligonier to Somerset at the time of the accident.
Meyersdale Commercial, Mar. 30, 1916