1954 NKP Head-On Collison
Dunkirk, New York

Mix-up In Tower Switching Reported As Cause of Early Morning Collision; 10 of Injured Discharged from Hospital

By GERALD WISER

Seventeen men were injured at 2:40 o'clock this morning in a head-on collision between two trains on the Nickel Plate railroad just west of the Middle road crossing in Dunkirk.

All were taken to Brooks hospital where 10 were discharged after receiving first aid treatment. None of the other seven is seriously injured.

The eastbound freight, said to be traveling at 30 miles an hour, plowed into the work train which was standing still. A mix-up in switching is believed by railroad officials to have resulted in the two trains being routed over the same track.
The impact telescoped the three locomotives and scattered their tenders and eight freight cars in grotesque along the right of way.

Fire broke out in three of the wrecked cars, apparently when a heater in one of them was overturned.  The flames, quickly following the tremendous roar as the locomotives crashed, soon attracted a huge throng of people to the scene.

The wail of sirens of ambulances carrying the injured to the hospital, of police and deputy sheriff's cars arriving on the scene attracted scores of the other spectators to the wreck despite the early hour.

The crash occurred 500 feet west of the Middle road crossing and completely disrupted traffic on both the Nickel Plate and Pennsylvania railroads. There were 65 cars in the eastbound freight train.

Injured in the collision were the foreman, and four repairmen of the relief train and two firemen of the twin engined eastbound freight train.

They are:

Donald McClintock, 35, of 28 Kent avenue, Blasdell, the fireman aboard the freight train's second engine, who suffered a back plant. injury and is awaiting X-rays.

Bernard I. Bradey 38, of 180 Evergreen street, Conneaut, O., fireman aboard the first engine who suffered bruised shoulders left elbow, right ankle contusion and a lacerated lip.

John J. Gbur, 46, of 35 Benzinger street, Buffalo, relief train foreman, suffering a head injury  and awaiting X-rays.

Joseph P. Koblinski, 35, of 28 Kent avenue, Blasdell, car repairman, who suffered bruised ribs.

Edward J. Szuflita, 34, of 47 Minton street, Buffalo, wrecking crane engineer, possible fractured ribs.

John V. Chmiel, 45, of 866 Eagle street, Buffalo, car inspector, who suffered chest injuries while sitting at a table.

Edward Decker, 32, of 138 Selkirk street, Buffalo, carman, a rib injury.

Those who were treated at the hospital and then discharged were:

Leonard Hall of Conneaut, 0., engineer of the work train - Laceration of right thumb and left middle finger, muscle sprain of back.

Frank Vento of Conneaut - Abrasion of right shoulder, mild sprains of right wrist.

Joseph Guaman of 126 Roseler street, Cheektowaga - Contusion of right leg.

William J. Rindos, 124 Van Rensselaer street, Buffalo - Contusion of back and both ankles.

Andrew Lynch, 15 Clifford street, Buffalo - Abrasion of left leg.

Mark H. King of East Conneaut 0. - Muscle back strain.

Andrew Stanek, 9 Slivona street, West Seneca - Bruise of right leg.

Joseph Setlock, 73 Remington street, Buffalo - Contusion of left chest wall.

Robert Decker, 179 Selkirk street, Buffalo - Tenderness of abdomen.

Willis Bartlett of Conneaut - Contusion of right elbow.

Rne[sic] two engineers aboard the freight train were uninjured. They were John Groger in the lead engine and Frank Douglas in the second engine.

Both are from Conneaut and left for home early this morning to abide by a railroad law which requires that no man work more than 16 hours in succession.

Railroad officials, who rushed to the scene, refused to comment on the cause of the collision, but it was reported that a mix-up in switching signals was responsible.

The work train had been dispatched from Buffalo to Van Buren to do a repair job. The wheel truck on a freight car had broker earlier and the single car was dropped out of its train which continued on its way.

The eastbound track therefore, vas temporarily blocked at Van Buren by the damaged freight car. As a result the eastbound freight train later involved in the wreck here was switched to the westbound track to by pass the standing car at Van Buren.

Meanwhile, the work train, on arriving in Dunkirk, was halted near Middle road so that the freight train could be switched back to the eastbound rail line.

A mix-up in switching signals, however, apparently resulted in the freight train continuing on the westbound track and plowing into the halted work train.

The collision occurred 500 feet west of the Middle road crossing and a short distance east of the Erie railroad crossover leading out of the Alco Products division plant. Four or five box cars at the head of the freight train remained upright but the succeeding eight piled up into a grotesque mass of twisted and broken rails, shattered boxcars, and debris.

Three boxcars toppled over, were splattered and their contents of carrots, potatoes, and lettuce were scattered over the area. One car plowed into the ground and shoved two outdoor tool sheds out of the way. It was inches away from crushing a shanty nearby.

Another car rolled over on its side. One end of the following car rose high and came to rest on top of it to form a bridge over the rails beneath.

Fire broke out in three of the cars and was believed to have been caused by a small heater used to keep produce from freezing in one of the cars.

Fire department personnel and equipment from Dunkirk, the East Town of Dunkirk, and Sheridan, rushed to the scene and played streams of water on the burning wreckage.

In time approximately 100 firemen arrived and were pressed into service. In addition to fighting the flames, they installed portable auxiliary pumps, and stood by in emergency status.

The Salvation Army canteen car, under the direction of Capt. Kenneth L. Huff, provided coffee for the firemen and early arriving railroad working crews.

Shortly after daybreak wrecking cranes arrived and began the huge task of clearing the wreckage. One box car was pulled clear and rolled down an embankment, only to split and sent a cascade of oranges scattering about the area.

Onlookers seized the opportunity to fill their pockets with the fruit. Later others began removing oranges by the crate and rushing them to their homes. Railroad and state police, however, quickly put a halt to this practice.

Shattered and broken equipment littered the area. Rails were bent, twisted, split and cut into small pieces the length of a baseball bat. Box cars were damaged beyond repair, huge gouges were cut in the right of way, and ties were reduced to kindling wood.

The lead engine of the freight train and the standing engine were compressed as if they were one. The lead engine's tender, the second engine and its tender were also driven forward to present a solid mass of shattered steel.

The forward end of a huge crane in the work train was buckled and driven back. The force of the collision also drove a flat car, carrying ties and trucks, backward until it derailed at the Middle road crossing.

For a while the crossing was blocked, but a number of cars were moved away so that half of the crossing was open to traffic.

The major collision area was located almost in front of the small signal tower building in which Mrs. Lydia Warner Warner of Silver Creek was fatally injured in March 1946. The building has since been torn down.

Mrs. Warner was working the night trick in the signal tower when she was brutally assaulted. She died a few days later in the Brooks hospital.

Two ambulances of the Dunkirk-Fredonia Ambulance service rushed to the scene at 2:50 a.m. moments after a call for help came from the duty man at the Nickel Plate tower. Several trips by the ambulances were necessary to transport the 17 injured to the hospital.

Drivers of the two ambulances were Robert and Marcus Kuehn. They were assisted by Harold Franks and Earl Brooks.

L. William Coon, superintendent of the hospital, said three doctors were summoned as soon as word of the train wreck reached the hospital. As a result, one physician arrived before the first of the injured reached the hospital and the other two a few minutes later.

“We did not find it necessary to call in any extra nurses,” Mr. Coon said. “We were also fortunate that quite a number of our patients were discharged after Christmas. As a result, we had sufficient number of vacant rooms in which to place the injured railroad workers.”

The county sheriff’s department reported that it had four men at the scene of the accident today.

Undersheriff Laurence C. Weekes was present with Deputies Richard Ressler, Rudolph Haliciki, and George Wheeler.

Train Crew Befuddled At Crash Scene

By GEORGE J. SCHWARTZ

The force of the crash of today's train wreck near Middle road raised havoc in the commissary car which was sixth car back on the standing work train.

Several members of the wrecking crew were sitting around tables drinking coffee and talking. They were thrown around like ten-pins amid flying dishes, tables chairs, and other furnishings.

Most declared that they were completely befuddled about the cause of their sudden upset. However, threatening fire in the kitchen of the car brought them to their senses in a hurry. They immediately broke down the kitchen door and disposed of the hot coals which were strewn about the floor from an overturned stove.

Joseph Koblinski, 35, of Buffalo a car repairman, was seated at one of the tables, talking to Ed Decker, 32, a carman also from Buffalo.

At the moment of the impact Koblinski, seated facing the engine, was thrown against the edge of the table. Decker was hurled back, then sprung forward just in time to catch the table against his chest. Both men were then knocked to the floor. Koblinski reported that he could see things flying around the inside of the commissary car. He got up as soon as he could and ran to the kitchen, smashed open the door, and discovered the floor was covered with hot coals from the stove. He called for a fire extinguisher.

Decker ran with Koblinski to the kitchen, and seeing the coals grabbed a bucket and shoveled them into it. He then threw them outside the car. Koblinski was taken to Brooks hospital in the police car. Decker joined four other men who were driven to the hospital in the Dunkirk-Fredonia ambulance.

One man can thank two packs of cigarettes for saving him from serious chest injuries. John V. Chmiel, 45, a car inspector, was sitting at a table by himself. In each breast pocket he carried a full pack of cigarettes. From his bed in the hospital he grinned at the two smashed packages of smokes and murmured a heartfelt “thank you”. “I would surely have cracked my chest bones against that table if it hadn’t been for the cigarettes,” he said.

Edward Szuflita, 34, crane engineer of the wrecker, said he “fell against the table, then onto the floor. I don’t know what happened, but I saw the trouble in the kitchen and ran to help”.

Bolts Ripped Loose

You know, those tables are bolted right to the floor of the commissary car, and the force of my body hitting it tore the table right out of its binding”, he said.

Foreman of the wrecking crew, John J Gbur, 46, of Buffalo, was in the foreman’s office resting on a bunk when the wreck happened.

Unluckily he was laying with his head towards the front of the train, and the impact threw him right against the forward wall of his bunk causing undetermined injuries.

While waiting for an X-ray to be taken this morning, he explained that he felt good right after the mishap. “I surmised what had happened, and ran outside to see how the others were in the bunk car. I saw that they were taken care of, and ran to the front of the train where the engineer was searching frantically for his fireman. They both had seen the double-header coming up the wrong track and jumped before it could hit.

Both Men Jumped

However, the engineer jumped from one side, and the fireman from the other. The engineer got away safely, but thought his fireman fell under the train. He told me that if the fireman is under the engine he’s a goner. I never did find out what happened, but heard later that the fireman showed up”.

A check with the others on the scene disclosed that the fireman had jumped into a ditch and escaped serious injury. All of those hospitalized agreed that things happened so swiftly that they count not understand why they were thrown to the floor. All regained their senses immediately, however, and started checking on their friends.

They were thankful to be alive.

Doctors declared that all are in good shape and can expect to be released from the hospital within days.

Partial Service Is Restored At Wreck Scene

By KEITH SHELDON

Partial service on the south track of the Nickel Plate railroad was resumed about 12:15 o'clock this afternoon, after wrecking crews from Buffalo and Conneaut, 0., labored throughout the morning to remove four demolished box cars from the south tracks.

A crew of 11 men from Buffalo and vicinity under the direction of Leonard T. Larson of Elma N.Y. and another crew of 11 men from Conneaut worked at the east and west ends of the demolished cars respectively. Frank Allen was foreman of the Conneaut crew.

The Buffalo wrecking crew was the first of the two at the scene arriving at 8:50 a.m. The Conneaut crew reached Dunkirk shortly before 10 o'clock.

A Big Task

Mr. Larson stated the biggest task for the wrecking crews will come later today when they attempt to pry the two engines apart and keep them upright at the same time. Both engines jumped the tracks at the point of impact, splitting the rails beneath them. The third engine involved, the doubleheader on the freight train, was not damaged nearly as much as the other two.

Both foremen anticipate that the wrecking crews will be at the scene clearing debris and repairing rails until late tonight. Neither foreman thought the job could be finished in less than 24 hours and there were indications that 36 hours might be needed if difficulty is encountered separating the two engines.

The demolished box cars will first be removed from the right o way to allow track repairs and full service to be resumed. Then the box cars, produce and entangled freight car wheels, which still were strewn over the entire scent early this afternoon, will be removed within a day or two.

Aside from the 22 men comprising the two wrecking crews there were reports that almost 100 railroad section-hands and officials were prying through the debris. Some officials were taking down serial numbers on the freight cars while others were attempting to make estimates on the amount of damage caused to the box cars and their contents.

No figures were released.