Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-22-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 12 ICC. Summary of Accident Investigation Reports No. 24, April, May, and June 1925, p. 21.

— 12 INS. “Investigation Ordered To Be Made at Converse.” Seymour Daily Tribune, IN. 6-9-1925, p.1.

Narrative Information

Interstate Commerce Commission: “Derailment of a freight train near Converse, Ind., on June 8, 1925, which resulted in the death of 12 employees and the injury of 5 employees.

“This accident was thought to have been caused by spread rails….

“The point of accident was about 1 mile east of Converse. Approaching this point from the east there are 2,700 feet of tangent, followed by a 7° 80′ curve to the right having a total length, including spirals, of 780 feet, the accident occurring on the curve at a point about 255 feet from its leaving end. The grade is descending, and then practically level for a distance of about 1,500 feet, followed by an 0.84 per cent descending grade 480 feet in length on which the accident occurred. The curve extends through a cut about 15 feet in depth, limiting the range of vision to about 360 feet. Just beyond the western or leaving ends of the curve the track is spanned by a three-track bridge of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The track at the initial point of derailment was laid with 90-pound rails 33 feet in length, with from 17 to 18 ties to the rail length, single-spiked, and ballasted with about 18 inches of gravel; tie-plates and antirail creepers were in use on the curve.

“The weather was clear at the time of the accident, which occurred at about 7.40 a. m.

“Westbound freight train No. 88 consisted of 56 cars and a caboose, hauled by engine 1169. It passed Marion, Ind., the last open office, 11.3 miles from Converse, at 6.58 a. m., set off four cars at Phoenix, 9.7 miles from Converse, departing from that point at 7.12 a. m., and was derailed while rounding the curve east of Converse at a speed variously estimated to have been between 15 and 30 miles an hour.

“The engine came to rest in an upright position, with only the right trailer-truck wheel off the rail, while all the wheels on the right side of the tender were derailed. The second and third cars came to rest leaning against the north abutment of the Pennsylvania bridge, while the next 11 cars were at right angles to and directly across the track immediately east of the bridge. The fifteenth car in the train was also derailed, but it remained upright. The employees killed were a brakeman and 11 track laborers; the laborers were engaged in laying new rail.

“New 100-pound rails were being laid in the vicinity of the point of accident, the men so engaged working from west to east; and on Friday, June 5, the new rails had been laid in the south or outer rail to a point 78 feet east of the center of the Pennsylvania bridge, while the new rails on the north side of the track extended to a point 94 feet east of this bridge. At these points the 100-pound rails were connected to the old 90-pound rails with temporary joints, two bolts being placed through the 100-pound rails with no bolts securing the ends of the 90-pound rails. The spikes were also drawn from every other tie on the curve on which the accident occurred. On Saturday, June 6, a hole was drilled in each 90-pound rail, and one bolt applied, while the spikes which had been removed from every other tie were replaced for a distance of three or four rail lengths east of the temporary joints; the spiking of the new 100-pound rail was also completed, and additional material distributed, but the crew did not lay any more new rails on this day. On the following day, which was Sunday, no work was done, while the track was not patrolled between the end of the day of June 6 and the beginning of work on the Monday morning of the accident. On this day the track laborers had arrived at the scene, and were waiting for train No. 88 to pass before opening the track for the purpose of laying more new rails.

“Engine 1169 is of the 2-8-2 type, having a total weight, engine and tender loaded, of 577,100 pounds. Examination of this engine failed to disclose the presence of anything broken or dragging which could have caused the accident, while the flanges of all wheels under both engine and tender were in good condition and nothing was discovered which was thought to have had any bearing on the accident. It clearly appeared, however, that the right forward driving wheel, the left back driving wheel, and the right trailer-truck wheel had been running on the inside of the rail, although according to the testimony all the wheels were on the rail immediately after the train stopped, with the exception of the right trailer-truck wheel. The 100-pound rails west of the temporary joints were joined together by angle bars having a shoulder extending about 1 inch beyond the ball of the rail, and heavy marks on two of these angle bars, one on the right and one on the left side of the track, were thought to indicate where the driving wheels had rerailed themselves, although it could not be definitely proved that this was the case.

“On account of the conflicting nature of the testimony it was difficult to locate the exact point of derailment and to determine what part of the train was the first to be derailed. The engineman stated that when within the length of the engine and tender from the bridge he felt the right trailer-truck wheel drop off the rails, while some of the section men said they saw trucks derailed under the cars in the train at a point several rail lengths east of the temporary joints. As nearly as could be determined the derailment occurred at a point approximately 280 feet east of the bridge, or between five and six rail lengths east of the temporary joints, and the right forward driving wheel appeared to have been the first wheel to be derailed.

Examination of the equipment failed to disclose anything which could have caused the accident, nor did it appear that excessive speed was a factor. On the other hand, the track was materially weakened by the fact that the spikes had been pulled from every other tie nearly the entire length of the curve, this weakened condition being accentuated by the fact that nearly 17 per cent of the ties were split, broken or decayed, resulting in their holding qualities being materially reduced. The elevation was fairly well maintained, but the gauge was somewhat uneven, which was also the case with the alignment. On a curve as sharp as the one on which this accident occurred it is of vital importance that the track be in good condition in order to withstand the strain placed upon it. Such was not the case in this instance, and it seemed apparent that the weakened condition of the track, coupled with such irregularities in gauge and alignment as existed, resulted in the spreading of the rails sufficiently to allow a wheel or wheels to become derailed, tearing up the track and causing the general derailment.” (ICC. Summary of Accident Investigation Reports No. 24, April, May, and June 1925, pp. 21-24.)

Newspaper

June 8, Logansport Pharos-Tribune, IN: “Bulletin. Converse, Ind., June 8. – The toll taken by the C. & O. railroad wreck near here this morning, mounted to seventeen dead and several seriously injured this afternoon, when a second coal car was raised and seven additional bodies were recovered. Efforts at identifying bodies were being made at Peru this afternoon.

_____

“….The section crew was repairing the track directly beneath the Pennsylvania trestle when the C. & O. freight train. Number 83 westbound passed. The locomotive and a few of the cars passed through the tunnel safely, before the rails spread.

“The section crew was lined up against the wall in the tunnel and one of the freight cars loaded with coal, fell on them, burying them….”

(Logansport Pharos-Tribune, IN. “17 Are Known Dead in Wreck.” 6-8-1925, p. 1.)

Sources

INS (International News Service). “Investigation Ordered To Be Made at Converse.” Seymour Daily Tribune, IN. 6-9-1925, p. 1. Accessed 3-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/seymour-daily-tribune-jun-09-1925-p-1/

Logansport Pharos-Tribune, IN. “17 Are Known Dead in Wreck.” 6-8-1925, p. 1. Accessed 3-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/logansport-pharos-tribune-jun-08-1925-p-1/

United States Interstate Commerce Commission. Summary of Accident Investigation Reports No. 24, April, May, and June 1925. Washington, DC: GPO, 1925. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=c3zNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0

1925 — June 8, train derails (spread rails) onto tunnel section crew, near Converse, IN — 12