I do not know exactly when or where this happened but have been left with four old pictures of the accident scene. None of the pictures are marked or labeled in any way. I think the pictures were taken for insurance purposes.
They are not for the squeamish - but thankfully contain no dead bodies in view.
I think it happened in winter (December?) in the late 1920s in New Jersey near Vincentown but have looked high and low for proof of this and not found any (yet).
I've looked at these pictures and wondered - why didn't great grandfather jump out and get away?
As much as we think our cars and trucks are safe, even today, a train will "win" in a collision each and every time. Be alert at grade crossings and never assume, "there is never a train here!"
Looking up the track - one can see no obstructions to the view. I'm not sure if the gloom is the remnant of a morning fog or my imagination.
I've often wondered who these people were - and if any of them were my grandmother or great aunts and uncles. The picture isn't quite detailed enough for anyone to tell - tantalizing and teasing me.
Looking down the track - one can see no obstructions to the view.
I've failed in every search so far to uncover the where and when it gets to be a rather morbid obsession - I put it away and wait - waiting for the day when, and if, the newspaper account, if there ever was one, of the accident is digitalized and put on the Internet for me to find.
Update: The grade crossing accident that killed my great-grandfather occurred on 8:00 AM, November 9, 1924 in Ewansville, NJ on Pennsylvania Railroad leased and operated tracks of the Camden and Burlington Railroad Company.
In addition to my great-grandfather, one of his uncles was also killed. They were on the way to a self-built cottage with building supplies and within a couple miles of where they were heading when they reached the end of their journey.
My dad recalls seeing many steam locomotives pulling long, heavily loaded troop trains heading to Fort Dix during WWII on the tracks at Ewansville - He spent the summer in a small cottage there with his mother recuperating from a case of the Whooping Cough. Ewansville lies on the Rancocas Creek and is just deep enough for canoeing at this point about 28 miles upstream from the Delaware River.
19 comments:
I'm sure you would have considered anything I could suggest Iggy. Wonder if you searched his name, home town, the location of the accident, the name of the railroad, and so on. In this day and age of information, you would think something would come up.
I can understand it becoming an obsession. If I had pictures like that from somebody in my own family... I would want to know every detail too. I'm sorry your great grandfather died this way!
Wow, that's awful. He must have been determined to get his (expensive and rare to own) car off those tracks first. Sad.
Wow Iggy, I would have never pictured that type of car being driven when I first read about your Grandfathers accident, bless his heart I guess I would have to ask that also about him jumping out, I hope you find the info you want in the near future. I hope you have a happy weekend HUGS
it does make you wonder why your great grandfather didn't jump out. I wonder if he had a heart attack or something on the tracks......wow with the wreckage! fascinating picture with the house and all the people around it; it makes us want to remind our parents (and ourselves) to label pictures somehow for future generations. My mom did that with my sister before my mom died; went through all the photo albums and told my sister who this person was and that person and had my sister write them down.
I hope you find out more info about your great grandfather and that you then share it with us.....
betty
Such a tragic ending to your great grandfather's life. These old photos are haunting. I hope you find the answers to your questions one day soon.
*hugs to you*
Those pictures are haunting and eerily beautiful. I hope you solve this mystery someday.
Great old photos Iggy. I have so many old ones that I will post too someday - but not anytime soon in my hectic and crazy life. The photos do really make you wonder!
Hope you have a nice weekend IG :-)
It's so neat to "see" what our ancestors "saw". Such a sad story that relates to these photos but what a neat search to find out what was recorded about what happened. I hope that your search finds an ending and that you are blessed by the results.
What a sad ending! Those photos are so eerie and still reek of sadness all of these years later. I hope you one day figure out the mystery. Those type of mysteries are the worst. My mom deals with that with the death of her father.
I read you had been sick. I hope you are much better now! :) Have a great weekend!
Have you tried researching the library archives? Like you, I think I would be obsessed trying to find out more. I, too, have to wonder why your GGp didn't jump out of harm's way.
You are so right about never trying to outrun a train. So many have died thinking they can make it. So sad.
so many things...maybe his wagon was making so much noise going over the tracks he didn't hear the train. maybe it was foggy out..maybe he fell asleep...now you have me wondering.
I hope you manage to uncover the answers soon, so that you can know what happened, where and when.
So many things in life have no answers or enough information to satisfy us. Loose ends. Mysteries.
I agree with you that it almost looks like it might have been very foggy that morning from the looks of these later photos. And if the truck stalled on the tracks he may have been more concerned about his employer's fancy vehicle and worrying he'd get fired if anything happened to it, you know--and kept frantically trying to start it...?? I don't think they had insurance back then. Or did he have a heart attack and was already dead when the train hit in the fog?
It's a mystery that may never be solved. But if they ever post information online, you'll be checking every so often, I'm sure. The pictures are haunting, that's for sure.
It is amazing to me that there are pictures of the aftermath of your great-grandfather's tragic accident. It would seem like whoever thought to keep them, would have also thought to label them. Alas, that is what makes for future (and present day) mysteries.
I wonder how many people have met their maker after confronting a train. I too wonder why and how he found himself trapped in that car ... :(
What a tragic story! Perhaps he thought he could save the car...not thinking about his life. Men can be so stubborn, huh??
I hope you get your details soon!
I do hope you find out the details..I would visit the area and look for the crossings..those houses may well be the clue to figuring out where this happened...or visit a Historical Society in the area..they always know so much. Sometimes you have to do some leg work! How about the Death Certificate..that should give you the county..and that is a start. Oh I suppose you have tried all these things because you are a good searcher.
That was some old car..I am sorry..both for your Grandfather and the car:(
WOW...... it makes you wonder why he didnt see the train coming?
My grandfather on my dads side was killed in a head on train collision when I was a toddler he was a driver back in those days and my father was bought up in the little old railway houses which have been knocked down nowadays....
I actually love the old photos... especially the one with all the people in..... does that make me morbid lol
x
Do you suppose he was drinking bootlegged whiskey ---
or maybe he just panicked on the tracks.
Post a Comment