N&W in 1907 -- Bridge derailment

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
October 11, 1907

IN CITY AND COAL FIELD
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DERAILED ON HIGH BRIDGE
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    The Clinch Valley division was the scene of a bad wreck yesterday when a train hauled by two engines was derailed on bridge No. 1396 [ number blurred; best interpretation shown] located west of St. Paul.  A crew of track and bridge men were at work on the bridge and had jacked up one of the rails preparatory to making some repairs and had not quite finished their work when a double-header train of loaded cars arrived at the top of Bull mountain.  The flagman who had been sent out flagged the train, but on account of the great weight of the train and the steep grade down the mountain the engineers were not able to bring the train to a complete standstill before the bridge was reached.  The train coming at a medium speed came onto the bridge, where the unspiked rail was and both the engines were run off the track and barely escaped toppling over the bridge, which is one of the highest on the Norfolk and Western system.
    Eight of nine loaded cars that did not reach the bridge were overturned and rolled down the embankment at the bridge approach.  Fortunately no one was injured and the engines were pulled on the track very readily [some words blurred; best interpretation shown]. Passenger traffic was delayed because it was necessary to transfer the passengers of trains No. 5 and No. 12.  Superintendent Becker left for the scene of the wreck in his special car.
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[See attached photo of this bridge from Railroads Illustrated, Feb. 2008, used by permission of the publisher. This bridge was said to be the highest on the N&W before the merger with the Virginian.  A former master mechanic at Bluefield told me of a diesel loco that derailed on this same bridge in later years in such a way that it was a very touchy situation to re-rail it.  When darkness came the master mechanic ordered his men off the bridge until daylight the next morning, but the operating official demanded that they keep working into the night in order to get the line open as soon as possible.  The master mechanic stuck up for the safety of his men and prevailed.]

Gordon Hamilton
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