Over the past decade my research of local railroad history has been enlightening and even fascinating. When giving rail presentations, most of the historical highlights of the people, places and events I discuss show how the railroads helped grow the Finger Lakes, but there have been accidents and tragedies too.
At the request of Seneca County Historian Walt Gable, this guest article is about one of those unfortunate events, occurring at the twilight of the passenger train era. It happened on the “Auburn Road,” a term most everyone in our area once knew. It refers to the east-west railroad traversing the northern Finger Lakes that was owned for over a century by the New York Central Railroad. Most of it still exists today as part of Finger Lakes Railway.
On the summer evening of Aug. 28, 1951, the Central’s eastbound Train No. 18 was running on schedule, having just departed the Waterloo station at about 10:20 p.m. en route to Seneca Falls. Having just changed from steam locomotives to diesel, Train 18 was led by one of its new diesels, No. 8253, followed by a baggage car, combination mail and baggage car, coach and a Pullman (sleeping car to New York City via Syracuse). As reported in the Geneva Daily Times, in the engine were Engineer Harry McMurdy, 54, and Fireman Hugh P. Welch, 36, both of Rochester.
That same evening, Glen Campbell, 32, of Dayton, Ohio was driving a Chicago Express Inc. tractor-trailer from Cincinnati to Springfield, Mass. The trailer (owned by Campbell) was carrying 1,106 cases of Kentucky Tavern whisky. The liquor was for the upcoming Christmas trade, with many bottles holiday wrapped and in special decanters. In sworn testimony Campbell gave in a later trial involving the collision, he stated that in Clyde he made a wrong turn and “found himself on a blacktop road.” He stopped a passing motorist who directed him “to continue ahead on the road that would eventually bring him onto Routes 5&20.” The highway he was traveling is known today as Route 414, but back in 1951 it was Huff Creek Road, or Mound Road.
At about 10:25 p.m., as Campbell approached the railroad crossing, he saw what he thought was “a light of a car passing on Routes 5&20.” From his seat in the engine cab Engineer McMurdy could not see the oncoming truck. From the other side of the cab Fireman Welch only saw it just as it was about to cross the tracks. In later testimony given by Welch, he stated that he yelled “Whoa!” as soon as he saw the truck, at which time McMurdy then threw on the emergency brake. The train’s recorder showed that at the time of the collision it was traveling within limit at 49 mph.
The tractor with its driver got by, but the trailer was torn in half. The engine flew off the track, turning on its side, and the three cars behind it derailed into the road bed, remaining upright. The Pullman sleeper car at the end never left the track. Three hundred feet of road bed was torn up. The engine left the south side of the track, just past a home where Mrs. William Norcutt and her daughter were finishing dinner. They were listening to radio news of bombing in Korea, and when they heard the wreck’s loud noise they thought they were being bombed.
An eerie glow
The diesel oil fuel leaking from the engine soon caught fire and quickly ignited the cases of whisky. Fire departments from Waterloo, Seneca Falls, Fayette and the Sampson Air Force Base went to battle the blaze for more than two hours. A “motorized bucket brigade” was set up to keep water coming from the village in tank trucks. The fire was contained to portions of both the engine and baggage car. Some of the whisky actually got buried by the engine into the road bed and was boiled from the heat of the fire.
An eerie glow from the fire and later from the portable lights brought in by the railroad hung over the area throughout the night. As news spread on the radio, onlookers drove there in throngs. So many came that state police from Canandaigua were called in to help clear Mound Road and Routes 5&20 from congestion.
As the fire danger waned, many who were drawn to the scene discovered the “free whisky.” The Times stated, “mining for whisky became a popular sport between 3 and 4 this morning.” While the broken glass led to cuts, many came with heavy gloves to scarf up as many good bottles as possible. Alas, an insurance adjuster arrived and frantically hired a trucker. With the help of firemen, what he could salvage was loaded onto a trailer and taken away for safekeeping. Very little whisky was salvaged by the adjuster, and the claim paid for the lost bottles was $33,000 (not a small bar bill!).
Engineer McMurdy and Fireman Welch were hospitalized in Waterloo with first-, second- and third-degree burns. Their condition was listed as not serious. One passenger was shaken up and taken to Seneca Falls Hospital for observation and released. The remaining 11 passengers, along with Campbell, were uninjured. Those uninjured passengers were transported by taxi to Syracuse in order to make connection with a New York train.
Commenting on so few injuries, railroad officials said, “It was a miracle.”
With rail traffic halted on the Auburn Road, not only was regular freight and passenger service disrupted, but also the mail. The Times noted that local post offices indicated their mail is affected only by “star routes,” meaning the night passenger train. As was common then by the major railroads of the time, the New York Central worked continuously to get service restored by the following evening. In place of the normal westbound morning passenger train the next day, the railroad provided a special train from Syracuse to Seneca Falls. It also provided another train from Syracuse over its mainline north of here to Lyons and down to Geneva, where it continued on the Auburn line to Rochester.
A costly accident
When writing about significant railroad accidents, this story was at least spared what could have been a tragic ending. It was even noted that if the engine had left the rails several feet earlier than it did, the Norcutt’s home would have been hit.
However, the accident was costly. The railroad paid more than $100,000 to repair the engine. It also paid for the repair of the three damaged cars, the road bed, work crews and incurred the loss of freight and passenger revenues. Chicago Express lost a truck cab and paid $33,000 for the whisky. Campbell lost his trailer, which in the lawsuit was valued at $4,500.
Oh, yes, the lawsuit. The New York Central filed a claim against Chicago Express and Campbell, both of whom filed counterclaims. The trial showed that the railroad followed the law at the time. Evidence supported that the engine’s bell and horn were blown for the crossing, its speed was within the limit and the crossing was legally marked with warning signs. Because of the warning sign it was determined that Campbell was negligent due to speed and lack of control approaching a railroad crossing. The New York Central sued for and was granted $100,000 for the collision, and the counterclaims were denied.
