N&W in 1912--Twins hit

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
March 17, 1912

TWIN BROTHERS RUN DOWN BY FREIGHT TRAIN
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Willis Baker Killed Near Bluestone Junction and John Now in Welch Hospital
    Willis Baker was killed yesterday about a half-mile east of Bluestone Junction and his twin brother, John Baker, received some wounds about, the head.  The men stepped out of the way of the eastbound Coaldale local, only to step directly in front of an extra west freight train. Willis was literally cut to pieces, while his brother escaped with [sic] death, and was carried to Pocahontas where he was placed in care of doctors. Last night he was carried to Welch, where he was placed in the Miner's hospital. Earlier in the day the men had been at Graham and were noticed sitting on the railroad track waiting for a freight. They passed away the time by shooting dice. They caught a freight to Flat Top at which point trainmen put them off and they commenced to walk to their destination, wherever that was. John was unconscious last night, and unable to tell where they had started for. It is believed, however, that they were on their way to Williamson as their homes are in Jackson county, Ky., where their mother keeps a grocery store at Benham. The identity of Willis Baker was discovered through a letter he had in his pocket, and it was due to the presence of two Jennings boys, who recognized them, that the railroad authorities were enabled to learn that they were twin brothers, and that their home is in Jackson county.
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[This is just another of the many articles relating how victims stepped from one track to the other to avoid a train only to be hit by a second train on the other track.  It might be argued that the N&W's double tracking projects were responsible for an increased number of trespasser deaths on the double-tracked lines.]

Gordon Hamilton
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