By Samantha Goldberg
Trolley cars were a promising source of transportation that became commonly used throughout the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Richmond, Virginia was the first city in the United States that successfully installed an electric street railway, which soon became known as a trolley. Trolleys became a popular way to transport goods, people and more quicker than other forms of transportation that were around previously. Trolleys were helpful in transporting individuals to and from their jobs in the city and more. People using trolley cars as transportation did not anticipate the accidents that would occur.
Fort Wayne, Indiana was founded in October of 1794 and is known today to be the second largest city in Indiana. Fort Wayne consisted of early settlers and Native Americans. In the 1830s, canals were a major source of transportation through Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne was known as the “Summit City” due to the fact that it was the highest point above sea level on the canal route. Later on in the 1800s, the railroad was built. Fort Wayne became a popular place for immigrants to move to due to job availability. Throughout the 1900s, Fort Wayne continued to improve; during the Great Depression, Fort Wayne still continued to grow.[1]
In 1910, headlines throughout Indiana spoke about the trolley wreck on an Indiana road that left 42 dead and seven injured. A trolley was a car that transported people from one destination to another. Trolleys consisted of a wheel that was attached to a pole, which was used for collecting current from an electric wire overhead in order to drive the streetcar. The crash between two electric cars consisted of a head-on collision on a sharp curve, while moving at high speeds. This accident was said to be the “most disastrous in electric transportation.” The two cars collided at high speeds half a mile north of Kingsland, seven miles north of Bluffton, and eighteen miles south of Fort Wayne.[2]
Frank I. Hardy, superintendent of transportation, placed the blame of the collision between two electric cars upon Motorman C.T. Corkwell of the special. Hardy claims that C.T. Corkwell was supposed to go into a switch between Ossian and Kingsland, and then wait for the local train to pass. The crash took place less than one mile north of Kingsland. The switch that Corkwell was supposed to follow through with was planned to occur about two miles north of Kingsland. Hardy claims that there is only one conclusion. Hardy’s conclusion for the train crash was “either Corkwell misunderstood or disobeyed his orders” and that “he [Hardy] might have thought that he could get to Kingsland before the local left, but his orders were not obeyed”. The men working on the northbound train were not placed at fault for the trolley wreck because they had the right of way on the track; the men on the northbound train were aware that the special car was entitled to make the switch between Ossian and Kingsland.[3]
Even though the collision between the trolley cars was considered a local accident in the state of Indiana, it impacted not only the towns involved in the accident, but the state as well as the nation. This accident affected people who were on the electric cars, their friends, their families and even more. People who did not even know anyone on the trolley cars were affected because they began to fear railroad transportation. Many of the people being transported on the trolleys that collided were among the wealthiest class. These individuals were on their way to the Fort Wayne fair to see the races.[4] The Indiana Gazette claims that of the thirty-six individuals who could be identified, eighteen of them were currently living in Bluffton.
Physicians and nurses were arriving quickly at the scene of the collision. Many people were transported to hospitals, but some died before they could receive medical attention.[5] The trolley wreck of 1910 in Indiana took place just north of the Kingsland highway. Survivors of the accident were suffering for about 90 minutes before help arrived.[6]
According to the Journal Gazette, the trolley accident of 1910 took a total of 41 lives and surfaced the news, newspapers and more, all around the nation. The trolley wreck occurred on a Wednesday afternoon when a full loaded, single-car headed north from Bluffton, holding around 55 passengers, a conductor and a motorman. The car from Bluffton was headed towards Fort Wayne, Indiana. Majority of the passengers on this trolley were planning on attending the Allen County fair that day. The Allen County Fair was a popular scene; therefore, the dispatcher in Fort Wayne had requested an additional trolley car to head south to get more people in Bluffton who wished to attend.[7]
By the year 1910, railroads became more popular and there was a higher demand for them. Interurban cars and tracks started to overlap one another and cross one another’s paths. It became common for trolley cars to pass one another by the year 1910. The conclusion of what went wrong on September 21, 1910 was human error. The northbound car was following the correct orders and commands. The southbound car was aware that the northbound car was on the track as well and was supposed to wait for the northbound train to pass by. Both of the trains were at a speed of 50 to 60 miles per hour when they got to Kingsland and collided at full speed.[8]
Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley Traction Company paid about $300,000 in death and injury claims. After large state investigation by the Indiana Railroad Commission, no charges were placed and none of the crew was let go from their jobs. The trolley wreck of 1910 left people in grief and left people feeling broken.[9]
A journalist recently wrote about the Indiana trolley wreck in 1910 and explained how forms of communication were not as advanced as they are today; therefore, dispatcher’s were not capable of interacting with the crews on the moving trolleys and were not able to avoid the crash. The accident left many financial issues for individuals of the town and individuals who had family members or friends on the trolley’s that crashed.[10]
The trolley crash in Fort Wayne, Indiana on September 21, 1910, was said to have been a “misunderstanding of orders” given to the southbound car making a switch near Kingsland so that the northbound car could pass by, according to the Charlotte Daily Observer. There were two physicians present on the trolley cars at the time of the wreck, but one of them was left seriously injured and the other was hurt as well. A large amount of the dead individuals at the scene of the accident were removed from the cars, debris and were taken away from the scene. People who lived nearby were helpful when needed at the sight of the accident.[11]
The Philadelphia Inquirer claimed that the motormen of the southbound car and of the northbound car did not have enough time to set the breaks when they saw one another, head on, about to crash. After the accident occurred, people were able to hear the screams of the injured individuals on the cars. After the accident, the neighboring farmers fled to the scene in order to help. The conductor on the southbound train was said to be uninjured, and decided to run back towards Kingsland in order to stop any other cars that were approaching the scene of the crash. People were rushed to hospitals, whether they were found dead or alive.[12]
From my research, I was able to conclude that the town of Kingston, Indiana was a town that was capable of helping people in need when needed the most. The town of Kingston is not too far from the well-known town of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Kingston seems to be a smaller town than Fort Wayne and people were extremely willing to help assist others when the accident between the two trolley cars occurred. People immediately fled to the scene in order to help those who were severely injured and those who found family members and friends dead at the scene. Physicians and doctors rushed over to the scene in order to help out immediately. People rushed others to nearby hospitals to help them receive the immediate help that they needed.[13]
The trolley wreck of 1910 brought the town of Kingston, Indiana closer together than before. When disasters occur, people come together in order to help one another; disasters bring individuals closer together. In order to prevent future trolley accidents, motormen and conductors must pay closer attention to their orders and must allow for other cars to pass by when they are supposed to.
According to the Indy Star, the best way to travel from one city to another was through the “interurban” rail car throughout the early 1900s. Even though the trolley wreck on September 22, 1910 was deadly, it was not the worst crash in Indiana. The worst crash in Indianapolis was on October 14, 1927. After multiple, deadly crashes began a decline of interurbans. The automobile started to became popular and by the time World War II came around, Indiana’s interurbans started to disappear, while the automobile became popular. Today, there are remnants of the interurbans, but they no longer run.[14]
There were many newspapers that reported the trolley wreck in Indiana on September 21, 1910 and dates following. This trolley accident, which was known to be the most disastrous accident at the time, went viral and became front-page news all across the United States. Many of the newspapers had similar stories, while some had stories that differed from the truth. News travels quickly throughout the country, but tends to get altered while doing so.
[1] “Visit Fort Wayne, Indiana – The Official Destination Marketing Organization for Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana”
[2] “Trolley Wreck on Indiana Road Kills 42, Hurts 7,” The Chicago Tribune, Sept. 22, 1910, p. 1.
[3] “Trolley Wreck on Indiana Road Kills 42, Hurts 7.”
[4] “Thirty-nine Killed in Wreck: Trolley Cart Crash in Indiana,” The Indiana Gazette, Sept. 22, 1910, p. 2.
[5] “Thirty-nine Killed in Wreck: Trolley Cart Crash in Indiana.”
[6] “Mass-transit Tragedy: Interurban Crash a Century Ago Killed 41, Shattered Lives,” The Journal Gazette, Sept. 19, 2010.
[7] “Mass-transit Tragedy: Interurban Crash a Century Ago Killed 41, Shattered Lives”
[8] “Mass-transit Tragedy: Interurban Crash a Century Ago Killed 41, Shattered Lives”
[9] “Mass-transit Tragedy: Interurban Crash a Century Ago Killed 41, Shattered Lives”
[10] “Indiana Interurban Crash Recalled,” Trams Stop Here!, Sept. 24, 2010.
[11] “Forty-two Persons Killed in Indiana Trolley Car Collision,” Charlotte Daily Observer, Sept. 22, 1910, P. 1.
[12] “42 Killed When Trolley Cars Crash in Indiana,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 22, 1920, P. 2.
[13] “Thirty-nine Killed in Wreck: Trolley Cart Crash in Indiana.”
[14] “Retro Indy: Interurban streetcars of the early 1900s,” IndyStar, Jan. 17, 2014.
