Allentown, Pennsylvania
Train Wreck
July
22, 1858
Terrible Accident on the Lehigh Valley
Railroad --- One Span of the Bridge over the
Jordan, at Allentown, broken down by a Train of
Coal Cars --- Two Men Killed and four Injured.
[From the Easton Daily Express.]
A dreadful accident happened this morning on
the Lehigh Valley Railroad, at Allentown, to a
train of empty coal cars on their way to Mauch
Chunk, by which the fireman and engineer lost
their lives, and four other employees of the
road were injured. The accident occurred about
half past seven o'clock. The train was passing
the bridge over the Jordan, which has two spans,
and the locomotive had nearly reached the pier
when the span upon which the train was began to
give way, and sank gradually for a minute or
two, and then fell with an awful crash, carrying
down the locomotive and about forty coal cars.
The engineer and the fireman, who were on the
locomotive when the bridge gave way, were of
course carried down, where they met a most
dreadful death, both, we are told by
JACOB MYERS,
who was on the train at the time of the
accident, being burned in a most terrible
manner. We give below the names and residences
of the killed and injures:
KILLED. --- JOEL
FIELD, South Easton, engineer; leaves
a wife and three children.
WM. LANDERS, South Easton fireman;
leaves a wife and four children.
INJURED. --- JACOB
MEYERS, Easton, brakeman, cut about
the face and shoulder, and otherwise hurt. He
jumped from the last car that went over the
abutment, and received the bruises in so doing,
but, no doubt, saved his life by it.
JOHN KINSEY, South Easton, master
mechanic on the road, was scalded slilghtly.
JAMES DONNALLY, South Easton,
conductor of the train, received severe cuts on
the head, but otherwise, we believe, was
uninjured.
JOHN H. WOLF, brakeman, of Easton,
was hurt, but not severely.
None of the injured stand in any danger of
losing their lives from their wounds.
The distressing occurrences caused great
excitement at Allentown, the people of which
place went to the scene in great numbers, and
offered assistance. The physicians of the place
were there, and rendered all the service they
could. As soon as it was ascertained at
Bethlehem that an accident had occurred, a car
was sent up by the officers of the North
Pennsylvania road to bring down the injured, who
got to their homes here and in South Easton
about nine o'clock.
No blame, that we are aware of, attaches to
any one for the accident. The bridge has always
been considered safe.
The person from whom we obtained the above
particulars said nothing about the cars running
off the track, but a despatch [sic] which came
to us after the account of the accident was
written, says that “when the train approached
the bridge the cars from some unknown cause were
thrown from the track, and before the speed of
the engine could be checked, it reached the
second span of the bridge, by which time, from
the displacing of the timbers by piling up of
the coal cars, the span gave way.”
The bodies of those who were killed were
brought down this afternoon.
The breach will be repaired, so that the
trains will again pass in the course of
forty-eight hours.
Philadelphia Press 1858-07-22
Submitted & transcribed by Stu
Beitler Thank you,
Stu!
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