Pennsylvania Railroad's *The Union* Westbound Consist

Pennsylvania Railroad’s *The UNION*

Westbound Consist from Cincinnati to Chicago

on Monday, January 27, 1947

Sometime in the mid-70s, I found a 1970 publication listing Passenger Train Consists of the 1940s. I

skimmed through it, but had little interest in B&O, NYC, Santa Fe or Union Pacific consists and I started

to put it back down. One lasting moment changed everything. I started from the back and started

quickly flipping the pages until I skipped right by a PRR listing. I went back and couldn’t believe what

I’d found. It was the consist of PRR’s *The UNION* passenger train for the westbound section from

Cincinnati, Ohio, to Chicago. That train had to pass through Elwood. And that’s only the beginning.

Passenger Train Consists of the 1940s Paperback – January 1, 1970

by Robert J. Wayner (Editor) / The library has a copy.

It was Monday, January 27, 1947 . . . when the Pennsylvania Railroad’s *The UNION*

passenger train stopped in ELWOOD on its way westbound/northbound from Cincinnati to

Chicago.

The consist for *The UNION* that day was:

PRR 5377

PRR 6264

PRR 4393

PRR 3207

COURIER

PRR 9862

PRR 4395

PRR 4467

LUCRETIA MOTT

4-6-2 K4 Steam Locomotive

Baggage-Express Car

Coach

Coach

Parlor-Café Lounge Car

Coach

Coach

Dining Car

Parlor Car (28 seats, 1 D.R.)

Marvin Crim – WLWHS 1957

And NOW . . . the rest of the story . . . from the Kokomo Tribune / Elwood Call-Leader

Walton, IN Train Wreck, Jan 1947

Submitted by Stu Beitler

https://www.gendisasters.com/indiana/14891/walton-in-train-wreck-jan-1947?page=0,0

4 DEAD 36 HURT IN WALTON TRAIN WRECK.

36 PERSONS HOSPITALIZED WITH INJURIES TO 19 LISTED AS SERIOUS; RAIL OFFICIALS AND

POLICE SAY ROLL OF WIRE ON TRACKS CAUSED CRASH; FBI STARTS INVESTIGATION.

Walton, Ind., Jan. 28. -- Four persons, two of them from Kokomo, were killed, and almost a score

injured when the Pennsylvania railroad's "Union" passenger train, bound north from Cincinnati to

Chicago, struck a bale of fencing wire and piled up here Monday night about 6 o'clock.

Conflicting reports were that from 16 to 20 persons were injured and as many as 36 hospitalized,

some for only minor scratches and bruises. The engineer, N. J. LAMARTIME, 61, of Richmond, was

one of the most seriously injured. He suffered a cut over the eye and a sprained back, with possible

internal injuries. Caught in the wreckage of the engine cab, he heroically directed the work of

rescuers in cutting pipes to free him. He was taken to the St. Joseph hospital in Logansport, but it

was believed his condition was not critical.

Four cars of the eight-car train were thrown crossways of the rails, two others were derailed, and

the engine was turned completely around and hurled over on its side. It was the worst railroad

accident in the Kokomo area in 40 years or more.

Railroad men estimated that the train was traveling about 80 miles an hour. Engineer LAMARTINE

said he didn't know what caused the wreck but that he felt a sudden bump as the train reached the

southeast outskirts of Walton.

This, it is believed, was the roll of wire fence which had fallen on the rails from a storage pile

alongside the track, or had been placed there.

LAMARTINE said he threw on the air brakes immediately and the engine turned over soon

afterward.

It appeared that the bale of wire had been caught by the engine and carried down the track to a

switch. The roll of wire, about two feet wide and containing some pipe, weighted about 400 pounds.

The train pushed it a short distance down the track and then the wire jammed into the switch.

There was one story that thieves might have been in the act of stealing the bale of wire and that it

fell off their truck as the train approached.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Indiana state police opened an investigation of this

report today.

State Police Lieut. John R. Fisher and A. F. McIntyre, Pennsylvania superintendent, said the roll of

wire was found jammed into the switch. Fisher said, "This couldn't have been an accident. It was

either sabotage or larceny. Someone either placed the wire on the track or it caught there while they

were trying to steal it."

With the brakes slammed on, the fast-moving train screeched through the full length of town and

when it reached the northwest edge of town the engine leaped the track. The big locomotive was

torn loose from the train, reversed its direction and toppled over on its side before coming to a stop.

The other cars careened wildly, one of them crashing into the Farmers Grain elevator alongside the

track. The baggage car and three passenger coaches piled up in the wake of the locomotive. Great

sections of the track were ripped up, and the cab was torn off and smashed.

The baggage car, which was first in line behind the engine, was ripped into shreds and was a

shambles. Part of it hung grotesquely in the air and baggage tumbled out of it and onto the tops of

the other cars.

The next car, in which the three passengers were killed, was crushed at the rear end, the victims all

having been sitting in that part of the coach. The three other coaches ploughed into each other, two

of them hurtling diagonally across the track in a jackknife shape. One car was jammed with terrific

force under the baggage coach and under a part of the engine tender. Another coach crashed into

the Farmers elevator, smashing into two carloads of grain that were standing on a side track and

tearing a great hole in the elevator wall. The 80-foot elevator was moved six inches on its

foundation.

The grain -- 1,500 bushels of corn and 4,000 bushels of oats -- tumbled out in a big spill. D. E.

Fitzer, elevator manager, said most of the grain could be saved.

Some of the coaches were shorn from their wheels, and the scene was one of havoc.

MISS KINGERY and PISCHKE, who had been friends for some years, were crushed in the wreckage

and ground in cinders of the road bed.

PERKINSON, who also was in the first coach behind the baggage car, was buried in the wreckage

and it was several hours after the wreck before his body was removed. Rescue workers used

acetylene torches to get the body out of the tangled steel and debris.

The third and fourth cars, which were day coaches, crisscrossed the rails, but no one was seriously

hurt in either of them. The fifth and sixth cars were derailed, but remained upright on the right-ofway. The seventh car was the diner and it and the last car, a chair coach, remained on the track.

Residents in this town of 800 persons rushed to the track and then hurriedly summoned ambulances

from Kokomo, Logansport and Peru. Three of the injured were brought to the St. Joseph hospital in

Kokomo.

There was little panic at the scene. The injured waited patiently for medical attention, and

passengers who were unhurt filed out of the coaches in orderly fashion.

Walton residents and passengers on the train said there was a heavy thud as the coaches piled into

each other. Eyewitnesses told of sparks flying from the engine as the brakes were applied.

The train, which formerly left Kokomo at 5:19 p.m. had been changed to a new time schedule, and

pulled out of Kokomo at 5:45 on time.

MISS KINGERY and PISCHKE were going to Logansport where PISCHKE operated a night club known

as the Logan club and where MISS KINGERY was said to have been in charge of the hat check

room.

MISS KINGERY'S body was removed to the Wolf mortuary in Walton and PISCHKE'S body was taken

to the Case-Miller funeral home in Logansport. MISS KINGERY was reported survived by her mother,

Mrs. Mabel Kingery of Greentown, and two half-sisters, Dorothy Scherer of Kokomo and Mrs. Russell

Dean of Indianapolis. PISCHKE'S survivors were reported to be his widow, who lives in South Bend,

and a son in Washington, D.C.

MISS KINGERY and PISCHKE had met at the Hotel Frances and then had gone to the Pennsylvania

railroad station to take the train. PISCHKE, it was said, had decided to make the trip by rail instead

of by automobile because of the fact that his car was in a garage undergoing repairs.

The Casualties.

The Dead:

MISS KATHRYN MARIE KINGERY, 25, 210 West Taylor Street, Kokomo.

WALTER PISCHKE, 45, 611 West Defenbaugh Street, Kokomo.

C. A. WISLER, 700 1/2 Main Street, Richmond, Ind., fireman.

H. G. PERKINSON, 2029 Madison Avenue, Anderson, Ind.

The Injured:

Injured at Cass County Hospital, Logansport, Ind.

HAROLD McDANIEL, Liberty, Ind.

MRS. J. R. KING, Silver Lake, Ind.

DONALD C. ROWE, Longansport.

ALLEN TERHUNE, 65, Richmond, conductor.

THOMAS HACKMAN, 24, Cincinnati, student at Notre Dame, injuries "probably serious."

MRS. WILLIAM KNEPPER, Logansport.

MRS. W. O. HILL, Chicago.

MR. and MRS. A. C. MILLER, Chicago.

Injured at St. Joseph's Hospital, Logansport.

N. J. LAMARTINE, Richmond, Ind., engineer.

GEORGE CAULKINS, Richmond, Ind., brakeman.

Sgt. KENNETH SHANNON, Anderson, Ind.

WILLIAM LORCH, 31, Xenia, O.

MRS. DORIS COLENS, 48, Richmond.

Pvt. RUSSELL SHOWALTER, Fort Sheridan, Ill.

MRS. DOROTHY COENS, Richmond, Ind., a nurse.

CELESTYNE WEBSTER, nurse, Cook County Hospital, Chicago.

MRS. DAISY SCOTT, Chicago.

WILLIAM LARCH, Dallas City, Ill.

Injured treated and released from St. Joseph Hospital, Kokomo:

MRS. MERLE COULSON, 25, Logansport, Ind.

Pvt. ANDRE C. KERINUK, 19, Newport, Ky.

WILLIS DISHNER, 27, Brookville, Ohio.

Injured at Miami County Hospital, Peru, Ind.:

EDITH CECILIA SWEAT, Logansport.

Others who were injured slightly but released after treatment included:

PERRY HOLLOWAY, Chicago, cook on train.

GERHARD DRAP, Connersville, Ind.

J. R. WILSON, Loveland, O.

H. G. DOUGHERTY, Hamilton, O.

W. W. HODGE, Louisville, Ky.

MARY ALBERS, Nautika, Calif.

CLARENCE and MINNETA ALDRED, Yakima, Wash.

MRS. O. C. ATWOOD, Anderson, Ind.

MRS. MARK BROWN, Wilmette, Ill.

MRS. PEARL WILLIAMS, New Castle, Ind.

MRS. E. R. BROOKS, Dayton, O.

D. V. SMITH, Chicago.

R. D. WILLHITE, Anderson, Ind.

MR. and MRS. J. I. DIXON, Chicago.

Kokomo Tribune Indiana 1947-01-28

A) Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society:

Jan. 27, 1947 Passenger train derailed at Walton, Ind., by wire coil placed on track by two boys; 6

killed; 20 injured. (NYT)

MY NOTE: Number of deaths should read 4, not 6

http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1947.pdf

B) And confirmed by the FBI / Kokomo Tribune . . . two young boys . . . and 4 deaths

The two boys were identified as Lysle Graves, 10, and Jack Sprinkles, 11. There were photos of both

boys.

Kokomo Tribune

31 January 1947

Additional Notes: Thursday, 13 March 1947 – pg 14 - Elwood Call-Leader

---------------------------------------------------

Youth Wreckers Are Sent Away

Logansport, Ind. – (UP) –

Society has collected its debt from two young boys accused of causing a fatal train wreck, but the

public may never know what happened to them.

...

Observers speculated that the boys may have been sent to a private or state home or institution to

remain until they reach the age of 21.

---------------------------------------------My Notes:

*Two of the four, believed to have died from being thrown to the roadbed in the accident, were

actually scalded to death from steam leaking from the steam locomotive that had overturned.

*The boys were identified in this Call-Leader account as 11-year-old Lysle Graves and 10-year-old

Jack Sprinkle of Walton. Their ages were reported to be from 10 to 12 years old and were often

reversed by the newspapers.

*The line from Cincinnati to Chicago has always been considered an eastbound/westbound line by the

railroad companies. Although often noted locally northbound and southbound, until abandoned in

1976, the railroads classified it as an eastbound/westbound route.

*It’s been confirmed; at the time of the Walton wreck, Lysle Graves was 11 and Jack Sprinkle was 10.

*Elwood Call-Leader / Tuesday, January 28, 1947

TRAIN WRECK KILLS 4 – NO ACCIDENT

Former Elwood Man Dies In Walton Crash

FBI Believes Wreck Sabotage Or Larceny

“Among those dead in the train crash at Walton last night was a former Elwood man, C. A. Whisler,

now of Richmond.” . . . “The former Elwood man was the fireman on the ill-fated train.”

*Elwood Call-Leader / Tuesday, January 28, 1947

Tom Rood Is Relief Operator At Walton

Tom Rood, 18 years old, of [1606] South D Street, was called last night to the scene of the Walton

train wreck, where he was to work as a relief operator. He will be in charge of the office in Walton

during the emergency.

*Elwood Call-Leader / Thursday, January 30, 1947

Where A Former Elwood Man Died in Indiana Train Wreck

[PHOTO]

TWO WALTON YOUTHS, ages 11 and 12 years, have admitted putting the 175-pound bale of fence

wire on the Pennsylvania railroad track which caused the train wreck that took the lies of four. In the

wreck, C. A. Whisler, fireman on the ill-fated train, met his death. Mr. Whisler, who made his home in

Richmond at the time of his death, was formerly of Elwood. Mr. Whisler’s body lies in the above

pictured wreckage of the train.

Column to the right of the photo:

Youths Admit Placing Wire Bale On Track

“Just Wanted To See What Would Happen”

*Additional news account and continued on Page 6

Marvin Crim – WLWHS 1957

Jamie Scott – Director / North Madison County Public Library System

PRRs The Union Wreck - 27 January 1947