Virginian in 1912--Fatality

[NW Mailing List]

Gordon: The end sills still couldn't bump each other unless the couplers passed 
beneath them, and I don't think that would have been true of the equipment 
running in 1912. Just a thought. But what was his head doing that low in the 
first place?    Jim Nichols




________________________________
From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: 4VGN Ry Yahoo Group <VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts at yahoogroups.com>; 3N&W 
Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Thu, December 1, 2011 1:51:06 PM
Subject: Virginian in 1912--Fatality


Bluefield Daily Telegraph
March 1, 1912

PRINCETON DAY BY DAY
------
HEAD CRUSHED TO JELLY
------
Fireman L. S. Shipley Instantly Killed at Fagg
    Wednesday evening last at Fagg, a small station on the Virginian Railway, 
near Christiansburg, Fireman L. S. Shipley, of this place was instantly killed 
by having his head mashed to a jelly between the car bumpers of a freight 
train.  Mr. Shipley was attending to some duty connected with his train and 
there being no eye witnesses to the accident, it is unknown how his head became 
caught between the bumpers when the train backed.  He had been in the employ of 
the Virginian for sometime and was a son of Engineer Shipley, of Page, where the 
remains were shipped for burial on yesterday morning.  He had many friends and 
acquaintances in this city.  His age was about twenty-four and he leaves a 
father, mother and several other relatives to mourn his tragic death.
------
[It seems unusual for a fireman to be attending to some duty about the train.  
Maybe the report was incorrect and he was actually a brakeman.  I am not sure 
what the "bumpers" are, but I would guess that in an attempt to couple two cars 
the couplers somehow  bypassed, allowing the end sills of the two cars to "bump" 
into each other.]

Gordon Hamilton
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20111201/31d4cacf/attachment.html>