Don Relyea sez: I hope these may be of interest. The wreck occurred on July 18, 1947 at Fonda, NY. My grandfather was the engineer operating engine number 2775, an L2a Mohawk I believe. He was the only one injured. It tied up all four tracks of the mainline for quite some time. He said the tower man switched his train into the backend of a work train sitting on a siding. He also said they never saw the tower man again after the wreck.
Thanks for Don Relyea's account. Interesting that the wooden cars did very little damage to the engine. I think today's 100 Ton steel cars would be a lot more damaging.
Probably because the tower man ran after seeing all the devastation before him. You can see the tower right there on the left of the tracks. And look, by-standers, and even kids standing near the wreckage. Perhaps even scrambling over it farther back. My, how times have changed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Mr. Len Kilian who still lives there had an article in the latest Central Headlight about this wreck, with more photos. Fonda is about 40 miles east of my home town of Little Falls on the NYCS Mohawk Division. I was seven years old at the time and have no recollection of anyone reporting this wreck in LF, but then at my age I have forgotten a lot. Thanks for posting this, Roger.
All that steel ahead of the crew no doubt also provided some insurance for them, much like today's anti-climbers. Something still tells me the pucker factor went through the roof, though...
Almost makes a person think about power such as the big Baldwin center cab units. A bunch of steel behind you, and a bunch in front!
Ken, the nearest listing for a tower on the Mohawk Division (1943, don't have 1947 stuff) was SS # 19 at Palatine Bridge, about 10 miles away. Hank, I think the NY Central did the same thing for a long time with Alco diesels.
Yeah, so am I. There was a short line (Johnstown & Gloversville??) that had an interchange there. Could it be their tower? It is confusing.
In collecting NYC and family company train orders, it gets to be quite confusing. From one location, during the very same time frame, you can see train orders copied three ways! Which seems very sloppy to me. For example, from the fictional interlocking tower at Smithvillebergtown, you can find them copied at station: Smithvillebergtown; or using office/telegraph call of SM; or with a signal station numbers such as SS13245. Seems to be at the whim of a dispatcher on duty or something.
