Sunday, November 21, 2010
Runaway Freight Cars Crash Into WMRR Train
On November 21, 1898 around 10 p.m. three Reading RR freight cars loaded with coal broke free and traveled down an incline before crashing into a Western Maryland freight train just beyond the Burd Street crossing. Upon impact the caboose was destroyed and came to rest on a flat car in front of it along with the first car loaded with coal. A burning stove in the caboose soon caused a fire that destroyed the three cars. An alarm of fire was sounded and within a few minutes firemen were on the street guided to the scene by the glow in the sky. The accident being located so close to the Branch Creek a bucket brigade was formed quickly and along with the Cumberland Valley Hose Company that attached their line to the plug at Moorhead's quickly had the blaze extinguished.
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3 comments:
this would have been cool to see, let alone work this job.
Wow one bucket brigade and a hand pumper! Today it would be a 3 Alarm, Level 2 HAZMAT, EMS Plan 1, Tanker Taskforce, Fire Police Strike Force to handle it.
Cincy Bill
Times have changed Bill, I am listening to the Ottebein Church Road job on my phone app and their is allot of rigs their. When rural service started that would have been handles with one rig. Now I am not saying they would have done better but they may have had as much manpower with that one rig.
The fire service has changed as we know it and not all for the better. I feel the best of times are behind us, leaving us with good memories.
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