TRAIN TAKES DIVE 80 YEARS AGO

An early 1900s view of the railroad depot in Jackson, Mo.

A heavy train on light tracks made for tragedy 80 years ago on the Cape Girardeau Northern Railroad on Sept. 5, 1918.

A new "Coffee Pot" engine, called that by railroad workers because of the large smoke stacks on the engine, left the Houck Depot in Cape Girardeau bound for Jackson. It never made it to its destination.

Instead as it prepared to cross the trestle over Williams Creek the trestle gave way and the train plummeted into the wetlands below. No one was killed instantly. but engineer J.E. Fletcher would die a few days later at St. Francis Hospital due to internal injuries sustained in the wreck. Others were injured but no one else died because of the wreck.

It took a week to clean up the wreck, the bridge was never rebuilt and the big engines were not used on the rail line again. Small passenger cars were used in the future on the line and only light freight was transported on the line after the wreck.

Frederick William Scheper, a section foreman, witnessed the wreck while working on some track breaks that had been loosened during the previous rains during the week.

Scheper waved to the "Coffee Pot" just before it was to cross Williams Creek. He heard a cracking sound and then a crash.

The engine and coal car plunged into the creek bottomland. The freight cars then tumbled forward. It all happened quickly.

The section men rushed down the hill to help the injured. News of the wreck traveled to town fast. Physicians from Jackson and Cape Girardeau rushed to the scene.

(account from the Southeast Missourian Sept. 6, 1918)

Three Badly, two painfully hurt in wreck

High trestle over Williams Creek collapsed with C.G.N. Train Last evening

Three persons were quite seriously injured and two received lesser hurts at 4:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon when the long C.G.N. trestle over Williams Creek, three miles west of this city, collapsed as the train was passing over it and fell down into the ground beneath.

Edith Zimmerman, 12, who with her sister, Blanche, 14, was a passenger on the train, suffered a slightly fractured hip and J.E. Fletcher, engineer, suffered injuries to his back. It was reported following the wreck that Mr. Fletcher's back was broken, but doctors who examined him believe that the injury is not so serious. An x-ray picture was taken today to determine exactly the extent of the injury.

Jean Gentry, the fireman, suffered a broken bone in the instep of his right foot and also a deep gash over the right eye. Clayton Fields, brakeman, suffered a sprained arm and leg, but the injuries are not of a serious nature and he will be able to be about at his duties again in a few days.

Blanche Zimmerman was only slightly bruised in being thrown from her seat and Harvey Hobbs, the conductor, was shaken up considerably, but not hurt.

The cause of the accident, it was reported by the train crew was due to a car being derailed on the bridge and smashing through, tearing down the entire part of the trestle on which the train rested. There were six coal cars, one carload of brick, the engine and caboose in the train, all of which settled down with the trestle as it gave way. Not a car turned over, which accounts for no fatalities. Those who witnessed the wreck say that it was the most unusual wreck in that no fatalities occurred.

The collapsing of the trestle will stop all traffic on the railroad west of the trestle for at least several weeks. An official of the railroad said this morning that a force of men would be placed at work at once rebuilding the trestle, but that would require three weeks. It will also take considerable time to pull the cars out of the hole.

It is believed that the heavy rains of the last few days softened the earth to such an extent around the trestle that when the span broke under the weight of the derailed car the piling pushed out causing the entire east end of the trestle to give way.

A report from Jackson this morning said that the entire trestle gave way while reports brought to Cape Girardeau stated that only the east end collapsed. The Jackson report had it that the west end of the trestle began falling when the train was about 60 feet from the east approach and before the train could get to the solid road bed every span gave way pushing westward. Many persons from Jackson went out to view the wreck when the news reached there of the train going through the trestle.

Following the wreck several of the injured persons were taken to Jackson for temporary treatment and later were removed to Cape Girardeau and placed in the hospital. Physicians from both Jackson and Cape Girardeau hurried to the scene to bring relief.

(edited from a Southeast Missourian report on Sept. 14, 1918)

Engineer J.E. Fletcher died at St. Francis Hospital at 8:35 a.m. on Sept. 14, 1918 due to injuries suffered during the wreck over Williams Creek.

He had a broken vertebrae and ribs, but internal injuries other than the broken bones took his life. He was a railroad engineer for 14 years.

(edited from a report in the Southeast Missourian from Sept. 8, 1918)

Workmen started to clear the wreck last Saturday. The steep embankment at each end will be cut down and the track will be laid on the ground. This will eliminate the trestle entirely. It is thought that traffic can be resumed within 15 to 20 days.