Ouch....though the person in the engineer's seat of the near locomotive appears unscathed. Do you have any details Roger?
Holy cow, Roger, was that a doubleheader from the looks of it? That lead engine is sure buried--in what? First two numbers "49" would indicate a Pacific, right? Kinda looks like a Hudson tender?
Here is a page for all of the photos and details. http://madisonrails.railfan.net/shiloh.html As near as I can tell, this is what happened... There was a work zone and the train was running against the normal flow of traffic. One copy of the train order and clearance form were found in the center pocket of the engineer's bib overalls still wrapped in the delivery string. There had been a temporary block established in Shiloh less than 24 hours before the accident. There was also a miscommunication in that there were only 2 copies of the "track orders" prepared for the train because someone forgot that it was a double header. Therefore, only the lead engine and the conductor got the orders - not the second engine. Also there had been a change of where the trains went switched back to their normal track after going against the "Current of Traffic" between times that these engine crews had this area last. The train hit the crossover switch at track speed with the result that both engines cleared Track No. 1 and were buried in the ditch adjacent to the right-of-way." It was June 25, 1947 and the train was train 431 called the 'St. Louis Express' by some. Although there were 6 deaths to crew and track workers, there were no serious injuries to the passengers though several cars were derailed.
I remember going over to Shiloh to see that! My grand dad was boiler inspector on the B&O at Willard, about 8 or 9 miles from there, and took my brother and i over the day after. To see that one engine buried in the mud was heart stopping!
ICC accident report says both engine crews and two trespassers were killed. As Roger said the engineer didn't read the orders.
