Joplin, MO Train Crashes Into Motor Car, Aug 1914

(Located at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Neosho, MO)

39 ARE KILLED OUTRIGHT; 25 HURT IN WRECK.
DEATH LIST IS INCREASING HOURLY.
TRAIN CRASHES INTO MOTOR VEHICLE, AND SCORES SUFFER.

Joplin, Mo., Aug. 6 -- Thirty-nine known to be dead, eight still missing and twenty-five dangerously injured was today's revised toll of last night's wreck between a Kansas City Southern passenger train and a Missouri and North Arkansas railroad gasoline motor car at Tipton Ford, Mo., ten miles from here.
A coroner's inquest into the wreck will be held late today at Neosha.

HERBERT RATCLIFF, Eureka Springs, Ark., brakeman.
FRANK BRADLEY, Harrison, Ark., brakeman.
MRS. C. L. ESHLEMAN, Dewey, Oklahoma.
V. H. EMBRY, Granby, Mo.
L. H. TRUMBAUGH, Neosha, Mo., live stock agent K. C. S.
S. A. NICHOLS, Harrison, Ark., conductor.
MRS. GEORGE JOHANNES, Nevada, Mo.
MRS. LINSLEY AND SON, Joplin, Mo. (Negroes.)
TWO NEGRO CHILDREN.
T. O. LUSCOMBE, Joplin, Mo.
MRS. J. M. HARMON, Neosho, Mo.
DORA AND FAYS HARMON, children of MRS. J. M. HARMON.
BERT JOHNSON, Oklahoma City, Okla.
MRS. LOREN McCLARY, Cartersville, Mo.
MRS. C. L. ASHLAND, Dewey, Okla.

The injured include:
LOVA ESHLEMAN, Dewey, Okla., dangerously burned and bruised.
DORA MAJOR, Seattle, Wash., internal injuries.
H. E. LITTLETON, Harrison, Ark., Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad special agent, fractured ribs and bruises.
W. T. ROWLAND, Valley Springs, Ark., bruises.
ETTA SETTEKY, Morton, Iowa, bruised.
ISA SETTEKY, Morton, Iowa, cuts and bruises.

Thought Track Clear.
With supposedly a clear track ahead, the passenger train plunged at full speed into the motor car which was coming from the opposite direction. Each is said to have been running thirty-five miles an hour. The motor car was telescoped and its gasoline reservoir exploded, throwing burning oil over the wreckage.
The heavy train crushed the motor car like paper and the crash was immediately followed by the fire which spread death and injury to almost every one on the motor.
As the fire spread, groans of the persons pinned under the wreckage could be heard. A number begged to be killed rather than face a slow death by fire.
When the news of the wreck reached Joplin, every available physician and nurse was rushed to a relief train. The injured were placed aboard and brought back to Joplin and tonight the hospitals were crowded. Many of these were taken to Neosho, Mo.
According to reports received here, both the motor car and the train were running at a high rate of speed when they met at a small siding known as Tipton's Ford. With the collision came the explosion of the gasoline reservoir of the motor car setting both the motor car and the train afire. Every person in the motor car was killed, it is stated.
The injured were pinned beneath the wreckage and as the flames reached them they begged piteously to be released. However, the fire quickly spread through the wreckage and made it impossible for those uninjured to assist.

Rescues Victims.

J. J. LAUDERBACK of Joplin, Mo., a passenger on the train crawled through
a window and saved nine persons pinioned under seats. One woman whom he dragged through a window fought with him to be allowed to return to her child which was caught under the wreckage.

Oakland Tribune California 1914-08-06

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Extracted from Railroad Wrecks by Edgar A. Haine

GASOLINE MOTOR TRAM COLLIDES WITH TRAIN: JOPLIN MO – AUGUST 1914- 39 DEAD

A head on collision occurred near Joplin, Missouri on 5 August 1914 between a passenger train of Kansas City Southern Railways and a Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad gasoline motor car. The crash took place at a small siding called Tipton's Ford, ten miles south of Joplin, located on the southwest corner of Missouri. Both motor car and train were traveling at a high speed on the same tracks. The passenger train was northbound, and the southbound motor car had orders to enter a siding and wait until the other traffic had passed. Instead of holding the motor car proceeded south, causing the train collision. As the crash occurred, the motor car gasoline tank exploded, setting everything on fire; some passengers who were not killed in the initial crash and pinned in the wreckage were burned to death.

The death toll finally totaled 38 persons, all Missourians. Many of the dead were so badly burned identifications were impossible. No one in the motor car survived the accident including its crew; there were no deaths on the train although 25 persons were injured and received treatment in a Joplin hospital. The fact that no train deaths took place from the fire was attributed to the gallant rescue actions of some of the passengers. One man was on the train was able to save nine of his companion travelers who might otherwise have perished in the conflagration. A woman, whom he dragged through a window, fought with him to be allowed to return to her child who was caught under the wreckage and was subsequented extrication alive.


Mistaken orders were said to have caused the disaster.

Update

http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/2011/02/update-joplin-neosho-train-crash.html

http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/2011/04/update-joplin-neosho-train-crash.html