OCR Text |
Show Page ISA THE HERALD. Provo. Utah, Sunday, February 24. IMC On Center St. TheDayHeber Creeper, Or em Train Collided By N. LA VERL CHRISTENSEN About the most unlikely place for a train collision to occur would be Provo'i Center Street at Second West, in the heart of the business district. Indeed, today there's nary a trace of a railroad I t.a track visible at that location. the tracks as many Provoans will recall k Rio Grande's "Heber Creeper" once ran north and south, crossing Center Street at that point. And the Salt Lake k Utah Railroad electric ran east and west, intersecting the Heber Creeper's trackage. A train wreck did occur! It happened on Oct. 4, 1918, just before the close of who World war I. There are Provo but those interviewed had remember the collision a hard time with the date, guessing all the way from But - of the Denver I -- i - 1 1 J , Via. '.--I I. . rs i s 1915 to 1930. ... The Provo Post, a competitor of The Provo Herald of that era, bannered the train wreck in its Oct. 4, 1. issue. The Herald (whose files are missing for that period) and the Salt Lake papers also chronicled the wreck. 1918 The Post had a special advantage. H.C. Hicks, one of the paper's editors, was in a good position to get the "scoop." He was a passenger on the interurban when it collided with the Creeper. We presume he wrote the story. Nobody was' killed. Damage was substantial but not massive the trains were going too slowly for mat. Mayor Among Injured But 14 persons were injured enough to have their names listed in newspaper accounts. The list included some prominent people including Mayor LeRoy Dixon of Provo, Schools Supt. L. E. Editor Hicks, and Albert Mabey, later bishop of the Provo Fifth Ward who was the most seriously injured. For people too new in Provo to remember the trains involved in fee Center Street happening: The so nicknamed for its speed (or "Heber Creeper" lack of it) was the Heber Branch of the Denver & Rio Grande. This particular line gave up the ghort 20 years or so ago and its trackage through Provo was pulled out to facilitate widening of Second West back in the late 1950s. The electric interurban, nicknamed the "Orem" after W. C. Orem, the engineer employed to build the line, was known officially as the Salt Lake & Utah Railroad. It operated between Payson and Salt Lake City and closed down Feb. 26, 1946 after more than three decades of service. (Orem City also was named for Mr. Orem.) Note: The D&RGW itself, of course, continues as n one of the railroads in the West and Midwest And the "Heber Creeper" is still very much alive in reincarnation as a d excursion train operated from Heber to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon by a group headquartered in Wasatch County. The "Creeper" is closed now for next May it inconstruction, but when it .) tends to operate Three Cars Derailed While only three cars were derailed in the 1918 accident, the wreck was "historic" in a way, as this writer noted in a feature article after first researching the story many years ago. How often do two trains collide right in the heart of the business district? An alert Provo commercial photographer was on hand to get pictures of the wreck. He was Samuel B. Robinson, a partner with Samuel Jepperson in the Provo Photo Supply at about 75 N. University Ave. in that era. His daughter, Mrs. A. W. (Beraice) Adamson inherited her father's pictures. The photos reproduced on this page were loaned to the Herald by Mr. and Mrs. Adamson. One of the Provoans who remembers the collision quite vividly is Fred Nelson of 779 N. 750 W. He recalls mat as passengers on the Orem interurlv-n- , be and his father and brother were bound for Salt Lake City to the state fair the day the accident occurred. Its passenger list swollen that morning because of both the state fair and IDS conference, the four-ca- r Orem pulled out of the Provo Station at First West and Center (where the J.C. Penney store is now located), at 8:45, westbound for Salt Lake City. The Heber Branch of the Rio Grande was southbound on Second West, approaching Center. Business buildings on the north side of Center obstructed each Drain's view of the other. n. ? , - n - I" at. "J t 5 i f 1 ( !. at . 1, A WRECK TO REMEMBER onucD aT:"n The irm ii paisengrr-ircigi- -w ucever engine at A art !J"'i''r' , of the Heber iuq uranoe Western Railroad (left) smacked the fourth passenger Salt Lake k Utah Railroad interarbaa coach of a four-cat the intersection of Center Street and Secocd West ar 4Ti i. J, Oct 4, 1118. The impact derailed the engine and icsaer w e mo uraase inua ana me passenger car in Prove iu of the Interarbai. Fourteen persons were injured, none seriovsly. Note boys in knee pants la foreground, horse- - drawn vehicle at right, and early-da- y automobile over top of interarbaa. Home hi backer oand was located where Lerner 's store now standi and belonged to George Taylor early-da- y basinessmai. (Photo taken by Samoel B Robinson ; loaned to Herald by Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Adam-trai- n son) W(B9re sail steam-powere- year-around- sengers. The Orem train was driven by Motorman Shelladay under direction of Conductor Spears. Harry Sharp of Provo was engineer and T. S. Semister conductor of the Heber train which consisted of four freight and two passenger cars. The passenger coaches were at the rear of the train and occupants were not injured. As the Orem train approached the Second West tracks, the motorman realized he couldn't get past the crossing unless the Heber Creeper could stop, said the Provo Post account. So he turned on the power. Three of the interurban's coaches cleared the track but the fourth was hit near the front steps by the steam engine of the Heber train. The Orem coach was derailed and damaged badly; the Heber train's engine and tender also were derailed. Damage to the steam train was light. The Salt Lake k Utah Railroad coach incurred the brunt of the damage. Listed, by one newspaper or another as injured, were the four already mentioned plus E. D. Jones, Provo; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cloward, Charles Reynolds and J. A. Loveless of Payson; Heber Timothy of Roosevelt, and Mrs. M. J. Finley, Mrs. Charles Evans, and Mr. and Mrs. Boyer of Springvil- - w.aw. . well-know- Terrified' Passengers The Provo Post account said the impact occurred "with a tremendous crash" that "terrified" the pas- . . way dDDIl SUXBTTD saUiKBSQal The Competition and Dressworks shops throughout Utah are constantly working to bring you, our friends and customers, quality, high fashion merchandise at the lowest possible prices. We want you to be able to count on the Competition and Dressworks to always keep you one step ahead of fashion Flares or Straight trends. Whether it's Wide Legs, have them from such sought after names as Brit-taniLegs, we Oz, Bearbottoms, Rodo, Sticky Fingers or Single Spur! And we have the best selection anywhere. And to top things off, we have an impressive selection of Shirts and Tops to choose from. a, In the Dressworks, we have the look for everyone with the best selection anyone could hope to find. We have the New Baggie, the latest fashion in the nation, as well as Straight Legs, Flare, and Wide Legs. We feature Name Brands like Sticky Fingers, Rose Hips, Bearbottoms, Brittania for Juniors, Moodys Goose, Rocky Mountain, Oz and Single Spur. Our dress selection is also one of the finest. Fashion favorites include Gunne Sax, Foxy Lady, Colour My Dress, Plain Jane and many others. We want to thank the people of Utah for our success. We hope to continue serving you and keeping you one step ahead in fashion. A nice thing to have next to you. I ----- T-- iSFzr sci rv, z-- y will h-- . ! M ..rnrra&a i a r mm fu 'i Physicians treated the injured at the Provo General Hospital; in the Sutton-Chas- e Drug Store near the scene; and in the office of Dr. Walter T. Hasler. Hospitalization was required for only one or and this was brief. two persons Prisoners Take Tumble A sidelight on the wreck: Mr. Nelson remembered that the sheriff was aboard the Orem train, taking two prisoners to the state penitentiary. The prisoners were handcuffed together and went sprawling down the Isle when the impact of the wreck occurred. Who was to blame for the accident? Newspaper comments seemed to disagree on this and we found no official report of the investigation in later issues of the papers. As a - to the story, the interurban went on to Salt Lake City after the wreck and the passengers had a Bice time despite the experience. Those who attended the stair fair were happy because Utah County walked off with sweepstakes honors: and the conference goers got to hear Joseph who was there F Smith, the church's sixth president, Illness. severe 'after a to speak P-S- "a. - iie It,.. ((1 i in I i i I I IV 'a iTki a. -- l - aaaw niiirni "40 University Mai! Orem GomRfititioffl |