I just typed a long dissertation and lost it when I went to RI to get this image: This is a memorial plaque in place in my hometown of Little Falls, NY at the site of the 1940 Lake Shore Ltd wreck. Much has been written about it, and I penned an article published in the New York Central Headlight, put out by the NYCS Historical Society, but it concerned the rerouting of the Gulf Curve tracks as a result of the accident. That happened after WWII, completed in 1947. Some comments on the plaque image in RI indicated interest in the wreck. If there is any, I will write what I know here in this forum. Don't want to lose what I have typed, so I'll post it and then add another message with a teaser photo. :teeth:
Photo by Bucklin Studios in Little Falls, courtesy of Richard Barrett, used with permission. This is J-1e Hudson 5315 on the morning of April 20, 1940. Of the 275 Hudsons operated by the New York Central, this is the only one written off due to severity of damage. :sad:
Jim, was the cause due to equipment failure, track failure, excessive speed, or a combination of factors?
Hank, the "official" cause was listed as excessive speed. There is or was a lot more to it than that. The Gulf Curve was the sharpest curve on the Central at 7 degrees, 24 minutes in 856 feet. The mandatory speed limit through the curve was 45 mph. The Limited had left Albany 21 minutes late and was running late. Besides Engineer Jesse Earl and Fireman J.Y. Smith, Road Foreman of Engines Andrew Bayreuther was riding in the cab. Earl had braked before the curve and Bayreuther didn't think it was enough. The train entered the curve at 59 mph. It was reported that Earl suddenly closed the throttle, causing all the momentum of the train to shove the engine off the track into a rock wall. A "working" engine probably could have made it around the curve at that speed. I believe the superelevation of the track was 8 inches. Fireman Smith was thrown out of the cab and died instantly. Earl died several hours after the wreck, trapped in the cab. 31 passengers died as well. Bayreuther survived and ironically lived to over 100 years of age. :sad:
Sad...thanks. Earl may have overeacted because Bayreuther was in the cab, but that's speculation....never know.
I'll just jump ahead to 1947 here. WWII is over and the railroad has time and money to tackle old problems, like this curve. The aerial photo below, not that common in the '40's, was provided to me by William Kapala of Little Falls. The rock cut in the upper portion is NY State route 5, then below is the old Gulf Curve track routing, and the new routing. You can see how sharp the old curve was. The tall smokestack is the Burrows Paper Mill. There is a train running westbound on the new tracks and a steam engine visible above it to the left. That would either be a local work train or the Little Falls and Dolgeville turn which would cross the trestle visible above the old curve. This project was massive, and involved rerouting the Mohawk River as well as the tracks. It was an engineering marvel and earned awards as such for the New York Central. I was privileged to watch it all happen as a young boy.
That's a great photo, Jim. What happened the old roadbed? It looks kind of useless unless that hole was filled in and access provided across the "Dolgeville" line.....?
Alex, 31 were killed. In message 4 above I stated 31 passengers, but that's wrong, the 31 includes crew as well. I have photos of some of the cars that were torn apart and it's amazing more were not killed. Ken, boy are you right about that. That photo completely summarized my paper on the track rerouting. It has both the before and the after in the same pic. Hank, the tracks were removed, as was the Dolgeville line, including the trestle. The last time I was back there, there is now a new bridge over the railroad and the river, and the view from there is nothing but forest where the tracks were. Well, heck, it's been 60 years. Trees grow. I'll find a photo taken recently if I can. :teeth:
Here is a recent? (gosh almost 10 years) photo, taken in 1998 by my friend and high school classmate Andy Reals. That smokestack is the same one as can be seen in the aerial photo. The area to the right of the tracks is where the old roadbed used to be. Somewhat overgrown, eh? There used to be four main tracks on that new roadbed. Boy, what progress we have made.
