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1969 Train Wreck!

Up ] #315 On The Ground! ] General View ] Derailed Cabooses ] Rear of #315 ] Side View #315 ] The Truck ] Clean Up the Mess! ]

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In the Beginning...
Eastmoor
GB&LP Headquarters
New London Junction
Kewaunee Harbor
Arcadia Washout
Manawa Wreck
Iola & Northern
Ice Jam
St. Paul Coal Docks
Cargill Coal Docks
Hatfield Dam Const.
Omaha Road Crossing
Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal
Wisconsin River Crossing
Waupaca Station
Waupaca Train
Sturgeon Bay Bridge
Stevens Point
Kewaunee
Grand Rapids Bridge
Amherst Junction
Amherst Junction Depot
Big Crowd At Blair
Kewaunee Bridge
Hatfield Bridge
Black Creek Yards
Whitehall
Grand Rapids Bridge
Green Bay Junction
Taylor 1909
Scandinavia Depot
Scandinavia Union Depot
Grain Elevator
Luxemburg
C&NW Bridge Yard
Shiocton Bridge
Station "66"
Amherst Junction
Deer Hunting
Kewaunee Skyline
Manawa Depot
Amherst Junction
Shiocton Street Scene
Trains in Merrillan
Scandinavia Map
Arcadia Excursion
Seymour Station
Sturgeon Bay Depot
Green Bay Station
Merrillan Map
Green Bay Depot
Manawa Station
Turntable Wreck
Arnott Depot
The Crew of No. 23
Amherst Junction
Sturgeon Bay Map
Sturgeon Bay Aerial
Sturgeon Bay Yard Action
WRX at Cheeseville
Whitehall Depot
Scandinavia
Sampson Canning
Swing Bridge
Green Bay Aerial
Door County Cherries
Casco Junction derailment
Smith Shipbuilding
Steam in Color
#251 in Sturgeon Bay
Reiss Coal Crane Collapse
Hatfield Gravel Pit
Kewaunee Car Ferries
Wis. Rapids Depot Staff
Algoma Hardwoods
Kewaunee
Old Wis. Rapids Depot
New Wis. Rapids Depot
Winona Yard
Sturgeon Bay Track Plans
Green Bay Food Company
Merrillan Bridge Collapse
Merrillan Train
New Halls Creek Culvert
Sturgeon Bay
1969 Train Wreck!
#312
Green Bay Station
Wisconsin Rapids Aerial
Casco Depot
Sturgeon Bay Aerial
Mississippi Bridge Approach
Oneida Hill
Loading the Ferry
Norwood Elevator
1976 AHW Excursion
Merrillan Crossing
Winona Bridge
Trempealeau Valley Limited
Plover Depot
Stevens Point
Norwood Shops
1978 AHW Excursion
Taylor, Wis.
Kewaunee ca. 1980
Winona Enginehouse
New Power at New London
Winona Bridge
Fouling the Diamond
Sand Road
Kewaunee Car Ferriy
Train No. 2 at Merrillan
East Halls Creek
Westbound No. 2
Black River Bridge
Eastbound Pulpwood at Rapids
'85 Snow Plow Train
Train 2
No. 2 at Norwood
Alma Center
Train 2 at Merrillan
Ballast Train
Broadway Tower
'Valley Line' Train
East of Whitehall
James River Job
Norwood Shops
#309 at Del Monte
The End...
Farewell Excursion
End of the AHW
AHW Enginehouse
Luxemburg Co-Op
End of Norwood
Bridge at Dodge
Winona Today

  
Did you know...


Reload this page for more GREEN BAY ROUTE facts.
 

Contents

#315 On The Ground!
General View Of The Wreck
Derailed Cabooses
Rear End of #315
Side View of #315
What About the Truck?
Clean Up the Mess!
In the Press

Most of these photos were taken with a Kodak 126-format camera by Patricia Mathu (see "The Tracks Near the Farm" for memories of growing up in the 1940's near the KGB&W), with some additional photos from the daughter of railroad president H. Weldon McGee.


#315 On the Ground!

On Saturday May 31, 1969 Green Bay & Western locomotive #315 was leading a three-car special excursion train from Kewaunee to Green Bay when it collided with a gravel dump truck at County Road "P" - between New Franken and Luxemburg in Brown County.  Richard Dickey was the engineer.

This was the last day of the Kewaunee, Green Bay & Western RR, a subsidiary of the Green Bay Route incorporated in 1890. On June 1, 1969 the KGB&W was going to be fully merged into the parent line.

The impact was severe enough to derail the locomotive and all three three cars.  Notice the damage to the engineer's side of the front of the locomotive, and the other corner of the locomotive plowed into the ground.

I don't know who the man in the photo is.  A GB&W employee or a reporter, perhaps?

#315 on The Ground:

Click on photos for enlargements:

 


General View Of The Wreck

This photo is from the north side of the tracks.

On the far right is locomotive #315. Behind it are two cars: yellow bay window caboose #617, and green business car #603, rebuilt from a road caboose. Both were also derailed in the accident. At the end of the train is business car #600 "ROAMER," which was built in 1918 and acquired by the GB&W in 1944.  It also derailed in the accident.

The dump truck, owned and operated by Ray Theys, ended up in a field after the accident.

General View Of The Wreck:

gbw02a.jpg (6315 bytes)

Click on photos for enlargements:

 


Derailed Cabooses

Here's a closer view of the derailed cabooses. The bright yellow caboose is one of the bay window cabooses built by International Car Company in 1965-66 (GBW #615 - #617).  The green car behind it is business car #603, which was modified from a wood sheathed bay window caboose.

Derailed Cabooses:

Click on photos for enlargements:

 


Rear End of #315

Here's a shot of the rear end of the locomotive.  It looks like the truck pulled up a few ties as it skidded to a halt.  By the way, that sharp-looking seven-year-old kid in the red shirt is none other than yours truly.  Geez, those locos are huge to a seven year-old!

 

Rear End of #315:

gbw04a.jpg (7040 bytes)
Click on photo for enlargement:

 


Side View of #315

Locomotive #315 is an Alco Century 430 model.  It was the last of 16 C430s constructed, and one of the last locomotives built by Alco before it ended domestic production.

This side view can give you an idea of the paint scheme used at the time.  GBW #315 was the last engine to get the red and gray scheme: beginning with GBW #316 in October 1968 locos began wearing the all-red paint scheme.

And no, that young fellow in the photo is not me this time. It's my younger brother, with my grandpa.

 

Side View of #315:


Click on photo for enlargement:

 


What About the Truck?

Here's the dump truck that was involved in the accident. The driver was a friend of the family, that's why my mom took pictures of the train wreck that day.  Although the driver wasn't permanently injured in the accident, he did spend part of the summer of 1969 wearing a neck brace because of the collision.  A cook on #600 "ROAMER," was also injured in the accident.

 

What About the Truck?

Click on photos for enlargements:

 


Clean Up the Mess!

Late in the day a wreck train with C&NW Crane 6333 and it's boom car, and GB&W's locomotive 313, a few work cars, and wood caboose 608 arrived to rerail the locomotive. 

Clean Up the Mess!


Click on photo for enlargement:

 


In the Press

This accident was mentioned in Diesel Era magazine, September/October 1994 (Volume 5, Number 5) in their article "Alco's Final Four-Axle Design - The Century 430" by Stephen McMillan.  On page 27:

On May 31, 1969, 315 was leading a three-car holiday train, with the president of the road, H. Weldon McGee, aboard, on the return leg of a Green Bay-to-Kewaunee round trip. About 15 miles east of Green Bay, the train was involved in a grade-crossing accident with a dump truck. Although no one was  seriously hurt, 315 and all the cars derailed, with 315 coming to rest at about a 90-degree angle to the track. Not heavily damaged in the derailment, 315 was damaged more during rerailing. Apparently, the forward cable spreader bar slipped, causing the cables to squeeze the cab sides above the lifting pads."

 

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 The Green Bay Route is maintained by Mark Mathu.
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Updated October 25, 2012