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
July 10,1962
Raymond Ankney of RD 1, Ligonier, a retired farmer, is one of several survivors of the Ligonier Valley Railroad wreck of July 5, 1912 still living in the Ligonier Valley. "I had walked into town," he relates, "to take the train to Wilpen. From there I would walk four miles to the farm of my grandfather, Winfield Purkey in Fairfield Township. I was about 15 at the time and had made the trip to my grandad's farm many a time. "My seat was about in the middle of the coach. As we were rounding Denny's curve, suddenly everyone saw the oncoming train, everybody was on his feet and the coach was a madhouse. "The big engines split the little coach in two. The roof went up and the sides went out. I was thrown out the window. For years afterward a number of fellows told me they helped get me out of the wreckage, but I knew nothing of it. I was unconscious. "When the relief train pulled into the Ligonier depot, my uncle. Squire William J. Knox, identified me. He rode the train with me to Latrobe, and then went with me on the PRR rescue train to Pittsburgh. "He took me to West Penn Hospital. My injuries were not serious and in the course of time I was brought home. It is now 50 years ago, but in my mind it seems like day before yesterday."