From: "Mary Lou" <hudgo@medt.com>
Subject: Lyle Rollins, Engineer of Train
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:21:18 -0400

Corbin Times Tribune, Corbin, KY, 21 Feb 1975
Heads Or Tales
Like No Other Name
by Gene Siler
Windom Quinn lives on Meadow Creek.
No other name like this can be found anywhere from Dan to Beersheba so far as I know. It's not like Andy Faulkner or Jim Lawson or Bill Siler, you see.
So I didn't know what to make of this man or his name until he told me he married Edith Siler and his mother was a Rollins from Meadow Creek. After that I began to feel close kin to Windom.
Then I said, "Yes I will be up to your place to see you." And today I redeemed that promise.
They live in a house "about 100 years old" and underneath its smooth white exterior are logs hewn by pioneer Whitley County citizens long, long ago.
Proprietor and owner of the place is Roy Rollins, who "will be 84 tomorrow" -- never married because he couldn't find anybody willing to put up with him, he told me.
Windom says three Rollins brothers married three charming King sisters way back yonder and these Rollins-King combinations lived all up and down the creek with their households and left many Rollinses everywhere, including Eugene Rollins of Corbin.
Now the Quinn connection came along when one Lawrence Quinn migrated down here from Montreal, Canada, Lawrence, a doctor and construction man, finally wound up as store manager for Imperial Jellico Coal Company just across the ridge from Meadow Creek. Lawrence climbed over that tall ridge and married one of the Rollins girls on Meadow Creek. So this is where Windom emerged. He came from a Canadian ridge climber and a Meadow Creek Rollins.
As I talked with Windom and Edith and Uncle Roy and the Quinns' son, Windom, Jr., I got into the story of the disastrous train wreck that happened over near High Cliff, in the Narrows about a couple of miles below the Kentucky-Tennessee line. Lyle Rollins was the engineer.
Lyle, son of Rufus Rollins, was raised on Meadow Creek. He became an L&N engineer and was pilot of that ill-fated passenger train which took 35 lives on July 5, 1944. Lyle was a cousin of Windom Quinn and married Mae Smith, daughter of W.T. Smith, former Whitley County Court Clerk.
This wreck occurred around midnight. It was a troop train. All those killed were soldiers or train crew.
Engineer Rollins arrived in Corbin on that July evening after pulling another train up from Etowah. When the Train Master asked him to take the troop train south Rollins told him he was tired and not feeling well. The Train Master prevailed on him to take the wartime troop train south regardless. Rollins did so because he was needed.
The train was twenty-eight minutes late and traveling much too fast when it hit a sharp curve in the Narrows. It failed to make the curve, turned over on the river bank and carried many people, including Engineer Rollins, to tragic death down in the darkness of the river gorge.
On my way back to town I stopped at the Rufus Rollins place where Engineer Lyle Rollins was raised. This place has been renovated and looks like a southern mansion. It is occupied by the John Hudgens family. They came from Arkansas and two Hudgens girls are attending University of Kentucky. This Rufus Rollins place, now the John Hudgens place, contains 1800 acres and is today a regular showplace. John is a very cordial man and will show you his beautiful outlay almost at the drop of a hat. I hope to return there later.
Getting back to Uncle Roy Rollins -- "84 Sunday." He gave me some good advice as I left him. He said, "Now Gene you need to get out of that law office in Williamsburg and go out in the hollows and up the creeks and see many people. Did you know you have good Siler cousins on Meadow Creek?"
"Yes", Uncle Roy, "I know these Silers on Meadow Creek. They are excellent citizens and I have been in some of their homes -- Bill Siler, now deceased, John Siler, Jennie Powers, Nan Perkins and now Edith Quinn. I am proud of them. We all sprang from Jacob and Rachel Siler who came over from North Carolina about 1800. We are like the Rollinses, old settlers."
Then Uncle Roy gave me a long hard look. But I think he was pleased I had stopped at his place.


Transcribed by:
Mary Lou Hudson
Claypool, IN 46510
E-mail: hudgo@medt.com

Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 18:23:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Linda Mackey" <lindamackey2@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: email from www.TroopTrain.com

I remember growing up in Florida and taking family trips up to Delphos, Ohio, where my dad grew up and lived at the time he was drafted. Whenever we got near the I-75 turn off for Jellico, my dad would tell us the story of the troop train wreck.

While pondering this bit of family history, I did a search and found your website. I immediately sent a note to my brothers and sisters asking them to send their recollections of our dad, Melvin Kroeger, concerning the Jellico Gorge troop train wreck.
My oldest brother Ron sent my dad's army photo, and my youngest brother sent this great memory:

My recollection is this (I heard this story dozens of times, loving it every time!): When Dad got on to the train, he noticed that the beds were made so that the soldiers' beds faced the front of the train. He reasoned that if the train should crash, his neck would be broken. In typical Dad fashion, he cynically supposed that the government wanted them to die in a train wreck rather than be injured (and have to pay for their support for the rest of their lives)! He decided to remake his bed with his head facing the rear of the train. The wreck woke him up, and he apparently realized that the car he was in was dangling off the top of the gorge. He attempted to awaken the man in the top bunk, but he was so drunk that he wouldn't wake up. It was too dark for him to see what was below him outside the train. Dad opened a window (I believe it was on the left side of the train) and hurled the man out, leaping out after him. When he reached the ground, he saw that the ground he and his companion had safely landed on was only on the left side of the train. The right side of the train hung precariously over the gorge. He and his companion would have been killed or seriously injured if he had chosen to go out the right side of the train! Whew!!!

My mother, Dorothy, told us that she and my oldest two brothers were living with Dad's mother at the time of the wreck. My grandmother heard about the wreck before my mother did, and was torn at how to tell Mom. She was unaware if my dad was one of the survivors. Thankfully when they got the news it was good. Whew again!

Melvin Kroeger was 23 years old at the time of the crash and went on to paratrooper training, which went splendidly except for the tiny problem of the parachute that didn't open. After this second accident, he was relieved of military duty and went home to his wife and sons. They kept having kids until they got one who would remember the details of the Jellico Gorge Troop Train Wreck. In all they raised seven kids, and were doubly blessed with a slew of grandchildren.

Mel's cynical nature softened over the years, as reverberations from the parachute accident took their eventual physical toll.
Mevin Sylvester Kroeger passed away in 1991 a few weeks before his seventieth birthday.

I want to thank you for giving our family the chance to share this story of his with each other and with other survivors and their children, since so many of the stories are lost. Both of our parents have gone to be with Jesus now, and it's an honor to pass their stories on.

Linda Kroeger Mackey

(click to see larger image)

I received the following letter from Eva Abrams Burris in May 2008:

TROOP TRAIN WRECK:

On Thursday July 6, 1944, the L&N Troop Train with recruits
were on their way to Ft. Benning, Georgia when the train
wrecked at the Jellico Narrows in Campbell County, Tennessee.
The Clinton Western Union Office was located between Jellico,
Tennessee and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This location was
convenient for the workers at Oak Ridge to send telegrams
to the public because it was a high secret Government Project
that helped to make the Atomic Bomb.

Eva Abrams and Anna Long were on duty at the Western Union
Office the day of the Troop Train Wreck. It had been a long
day and they were anxious go get off work in two hours and
go home. A telephone call changed their mind.

Mr. Maureen Owen, a nurse and Executive Secretary of the
Anderson County Chapter of the American Red Cross in Clinton,
Tennessee telephoned the Western Union Office. She notified
the operator a Troop Train wrecked at 9:05 PM near Jellico
with casualties and soldiers were killed. It was necessary
for the office to say open all night. The operators were
happy to work for Mrs. Owen, she was a lovely person, they
have worked for her on several occasions.

Mrs. Owen was in and out of the office all night gathering
information about the wreck and sending confidential telegrams
to the War Department. Anna and Eva did not smoke, but they
thought smoking would help them stay awake. Smoking did not
keep them awake. The Red Cross furnished donuts and coffee.
The operators left the office at 8 AM when the morning
operators arrived for work.
It was first thought the Troop Train disaster was caused by
sabotage and the was horrifying, but later they heard the
wreck was an accident. Some survivors went to to go overseas
and fight in World War II.

eab/1/29/08
 

From: cjzearley@hotmail.com
Subject: WWWtroop wreck
Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 08:44:35 -0400

Phil,

Enclosed our pictures of my father William Yelic of Massillon Ohio. Who was 26 years old at the time of the wreck. Dad got on the train in Massillon Ohio. His wife, Helen, and two daughters, Pat age 4 and Connie age 2,were there to see him off. Like most young men he had been drafted.

Most of what I am going to tell you is what my mother has been able to remember. Helen received a telegram at work that Bill had been injured in the July 6th train wreck and he was in the hospital recovering from his injuries. She took a train to Jellico were Dad had been taken to. Mom said he had cuts and scratches on his face ,hands and arms He had about a 6 inch cut down the middle of his back. Bill told Mom that he was in his bunk at the time of the wreck. And he also told her the train was going to fast before the wreck. Dad was released from the hospital after two weeks then sent on to Camp Croft. After training Dad was sent on to Germany.

After finding your web site I sent pictures of the wreck to my Mom. This was the first time she realized how bad the wreck was. I don't think my Dad even knew how bad it was. He never talked about it.

Bill passed away June 9,1985. Helen, Pat and Connie would like to thank you for honoring our husband and father on this web site.

Sincerely,
Connie (Yelic) Zearley

 William Yelic

William Yelic in 1980

Rita A. (Blakely) Brown
Van Wert, OH 45891

Re: Troop train wreck survivor: Harley Bernard "Bernie" Blakely

Dear Mr. Lea

Enclosing photo of my late father, Harley Bernard Blakely, Sidney OH. Who was 25 years old at the time of the wreck.
Also what he had written about the troop train wreck.

I left for army service June 27, 1944. I was at Ft. Benjamin, Harrison, IN for 10 days - receiving shots, etc.
On July 6, 1944, we left on a troop train headed south. We changed engineers at Corbin, KY. Engineer was mad because he had to make this run, so he was going very fast. We got about two mile outside of Jellico, TN. There was a double curve around the side of the mountain. We made the first turn okay, but on the second one, the engine and four cars left the track rolling down the hill into the river. We were asleep in our bunks which probably saved our lives. The top of our car was torn off which made a quick exit. There were 8 men on board from Sidney, OH and all were hurt to some extent, but no one was killed.

Someone told me afterwards that I said, "Oh, my God, we are going to wreck." I can remember reaching for my pants and the next thing I remember I was sitting on a rock along the river and had my pants on--that way I saved my pocketbook. Most of the guys lost all their money and possessions. I did lose my duffle bag with personal items.

I received a depressed skull fracture. there were 34 GI's killed plus the fireman and engineer.

The people of Jellico, TN, gave first aid and did all they could in such an emergency. The top of my head was sewn up without any pain shots given. I was then taken on a fast ambulance ride to Oakridge, TN hospital. In a few days we were taken by bus to Veterans Hospital near Asheville, NC. All our papers were lost in the wreck and we had to take all our shots over again.

I was in there three months including 10 weeks of basic training. We were due to be shipped out, but because of my skull fracture, I was sent to Camp Atterberry (Atterbury), IN and given a medical discharge.

Pvt. Harley Bernard Blakely
Sidney, Ohio 45365

To follow is a letter I received on April 21, 2008

Dear Sir,

Found your web site on the internet and it reminded me that a friend was a survivor of the July 6, 1944 troop train wreck. I convinced him to let me send you his picture. He was in top bunk of one of the derailed Pullman cars. He was briefly knocked unconscious, otherwise unhurt. He is still going strong at eighty six years young. I just thought he deserves to be remembered as a little part of history.

His name:
Corporal James C. Page
12275 South Springboro Road
Battle Ground, Indiana 47920

Born 13 Jan. 1922

Thank you

Clyde J. Rockhill
2716 South 18 St.
Lafayette, Ind 47909

From: Lehmanpowers@wmconnect.com
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 14:50:33 EDT

While searching for L&N train wrecks I ran across your website. Most interesting. I can't help with photos or the like but I do remember the accident. My dad, Elbert Powers was on the "section gang" (track maintenance) living at Morley. Although I was only 4 yrs old at the time, I vividly remember dad and the other members of the section gang being called out to the site to assist in rescue and recovery efforts. They were out that night and all the next day for those efforts. I also remember mom and other folk taking food to the workers.

Some names may now escape me but I believe the section gang foreman was Harry Morris and the Morley station master's last name was Fields. This info is most likely quite useless to your overall scheme of things but thought you'd want to know that L&N employees from the lowest levels were there to help.

(Webmaster's note: My Dad, H. E. Lea, said he knew D. C. Fields, Sr. and that he was actually the Station Agent at Morley TN. Mr. Fields had a son who also worked for the L&N. His name was D. C. Fields, Jr. and he later worked at a ly Station Agent at Alcoa TN.)

To follow is a letter I received around August 2007:

Earl C. Stewart
123 Plantation Way
Hawthorne FL 32640
1-532-481-3238

Dear Phil,

At your request enclosed is a picture taken in Camp Croft S. Carolina, a short time after the train wreck.

Some of the things that stand out in my memory. I was in the coach behind the kitchen car. Three of us had "odd man" to see who would sleep in the upper birth. When a black porter came through and said "This train cannot stay on the track going this fast." We laughed and I said "He's trying to scare us." They agreed, but he was heading to the back of the train. It was a short time after that we crashed.

Our car slammed into and was on top of the kitchen car and it (the kitchen car) was on fire. As far as I know now one was seriously hurt on our car. There was lots of screaming and hollering "HELP ME".

The first thing I thought of was getting help. I used to walk on railroad tracks to go fishing and I knew they had phones on some of the telephone poles. So I took off down the track to find one and maybe call for help. As I was running down the track a man was limping along. He asked me where I was going and I told him what I was going to do. He told me that he was a member of the train crew and he was going for the phone. He said "One is near here". He wanted me to go down the embankment to find it and he would make the call. When I found it I had to help him down the bank to the phone.

He said "You can go back and help get trapped men out". H....... (Note: That's all I have.)

NOTE: Earl called me on 04/23/2008 and sent me the following remainder of the letter:

All of the cars did not go off the tracks. The railroad people brought an engine down and hooked on to the cars and pulled us out to Lake City. At Lake City the people of the town was told we was coming. They came out to meet us. The women had made sandwiches along with pies and cake, hot coffee. The was the true spirit of the people's support of our military. A time that will be in my memory forever. Thanks to those wonderful people of Lake City.

We left Lake City, next stop Camp Croft South Carolina for basic training.

May 30, 2007

Dear Mr. Lea

Enclosed with this letter is material related to the Troop Train accident in Jellico Tennessee which occurred on July 6, 1944. My oldest brother, Don Masline, was one of those killed in that horrible accident.

I was only 9 years old at the time and do not remember many of the details, however another brother who was 16 at the time collected articles from many of the newspapers and that constitutes most of the material enclosed.

Just recently, he was on Google and found reference to your website. He then contacted me to see ifI had ever seen the information and I replied that I had not. After some discussion we agreed to send this material and hope you can utilize it in your website. Please note that we have included pictures of some of those for whom you are seeking photos.

In review of the articles, you will notice there were ten soldiers killed from Stark County in Ohio (Baird, Brown, D. Clark, Hill, Kiesling, Masline, Parker, Paumier, Shipbaugh, Wright) This was quite devastating to our area and in addition to those ten, there were many others injured and fortunately many unharmed. I note in reading the correspondence which the son of Ray Parker has sent, he indicated that his father lived near Waco not Trenton which is on the memorial.

I do remember that my mother, my father, Don's wife and I went to Jellico sometime after the accident and the picture of that scene has remained with me all of these years. In 1994, my wife and I were moving from Iowa to South Carolina for retirement and we stopped in Jellico. I first went to the police station and told them of my connection and asked how to get to the scene of the accident. They gave me the route and told me that I would meet with Jim Tidwell who was very much involved with the Memorial etc.

We went out and sure enough Jim was there and he took us to the sight. He explained that he was 16 at the time and was helping the night of the accident. He then took us to his house and told us more of what he was involved with. What a gentleman he was! I really appreciated his input.

My wife and I went to the downtown center of Jellico and saw the memorial. Jim was very instrumental in having this memorial and I find it interesting that the memorial pays tribute to not only those from Jellico who gave their lives during wartime but to those 33 men who were killed in the Troop Train Accident. We also purchased books from Mr. Ascher for each member of our family. I also purchased the video of the dedication ceremony for the memorial. This tape also includes the tossing of the wreath which is relative to the article of August 4, which I mention in the next sentence. Jim Tidwell and I kept in touch for a while and he sent me the articles from the LaFollette Press dated March 10, 1994 and August 4, 1994.

I am including another Newspaper clipping from the Canton Repository dated November 15, 1993. My sister in Canton sent this to me.

Hopefully, you will be able to include this material in your website, Chances are some of it is duplication, so use what you can. Keep up the good work and I hope word spreads of your efforts.

Sincerely.

Jim Masline
1069 Club Circle
Pawleys Island, SC 29585

The following is the transcript of an Mp3 file of survivor, Robert Funk, that he recorded for me and sent to me by his daughter-in-law, Debra J. Funk:

"My name is Robert Funk.
I was in this train wreck in 1944 outside of Jellico Tennessee.
There are some things in your report that is not exactly right.
I will tell you what happened to me and then you can take it from there.

We were not already trained. We had just been inducted at Fort Benjamin Harrison and were traveling, we found out later, to Camp Croft, South Carolina where we would receive seventeen weeks training before being sent overseas. I was riding in a troop sleeper which was like a boxcar with a door in the middle and with bunks inside. We had just gone to bed. I was in a lower bunk when suddenly we were, uh, the train started shaking and I hit the floor and then suddenly we stopped.

One of the boys opened the door to step out and he found out that there was nothing to step out to because our car was resting on the kitchen car which was up and down the bank and we had to go back into the car back of us in order to get out. By the time we got out the kitchen car was afire and which caught our car afire and it was like a furnace within a very few minutes. We had only the clothes we had on when we were sleeping. All the others burned up in the wreck. When we walked up the track and saw that looked like the engine which was supposed to go around the curve had just flew out into space and lit on its side down at the bottom of the gully. There was a Pullman car that had gone end over end down the embankment that tore loose all the bunks and uh.... Because they had just gone to bed everything was tore loose and boys were pinned in there and were hollering for help.

No one along the road going by on the other side of the gorge would stop. They would slow up. They could see the fire, but nobody stopped. We formed a double human chain up and down the thing and took out all of the boys that we could get out. But, we had no equipment, nothing but our bare hands. We passed them up on the tracks and laid them along the tracks and myself after a while I quit doing that because there wasn't too much we could do and I started going along the bank and praying with the boys who were there. And, one of the boys I knelt down to pray with him and I saw that he was dead. It was quite a shock. Me being just a young boy of twenty years old. I had never seen anything like this before.

They sent out an engine from Jellico and hooked on to the cars that were left on the track. We took and gathered up the boys that we had laid along the track and took them in the cars, laying them on the floor or any place that we could put them. I had the experience of having them tell me that there was a priest looking for me. Finally he came up to the window of the car that I was in and told me that the boys had so appreciated what I had done that he wanted to thank me. Of course that made me feel very good to know that I had done some good. We were pulled back to Jellico where we were loaded on another train and went on to Camp Croft, South Carolina for our training.

The stories of the ones that came and helped probably were helping those who were in that Pullman car which, in which the boys were pinned in and which we couldn't get everybody out. There was nobody there to help us while I was there. So, evidently, later on they got some people out there to help which I'm very glad because, as I said, all those bunks were pulled out and pinned the boys in. One boy I definitely remember was crying he'd give anything. "SAVE ME! SAVE ME! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING!" But, we couldn't save him 'cause we had no equipment.

After seventeen weeks, uh, training we were given ten days delay enroute home and then we went home and were shipped overseas and I entered into the campaign in Belgium at the Battle of the Bulge and was there in the 1st Division. the 26th Regiment and we went on and when the war ended I was in Czechoslovakia.

I want to thank you for writing that article and having that picture 'cause I never saw a picture of that wreck. I had been told about it from many people but never had a chance to see a picture of it and never heard how many had died until I read your article and I thank you very much for it. If this adds anything to you for what you have done I hope that I have made some other things clear to you. And, again I thank you for bringing that article and a picture that my son and his wife got on the internet and was able to show me a picture of the wreck that I was in. I was in that car that is hanging over the edge. The door's in the center and I thank the good Lord I was able to get out and was able to help someone. Thank you again."

WOW! That was powerful!!
Thanks so much to Mr. Funk for his story and for his service to his country!!! (Phil)

Click HERE to visit the Debra Funk's genealogy website that will play this recording.

Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 17:54:38 -0400
Subject: Pictures of James E. Clark
From: "MARK MOORE" <MMOORE118@COMCAST.NET>
CC: alvabrenda@worldnet.att.net

Mr. Lea,

My wife found your website recently when one of my children was doing
research for an 8th grade Tennessee History research paper. My son had
chosen the train wreck because my grandfather was one of the ones killed in
the wreck. My wife noticed that my grandfather's picture was missing so I
decided to e-mail you a couple of the pictures that mom had given me.
My wife prefers the group picture over the other. If you would crop him
out of that picture that would be our preference. Thank you for the time you
have spent putting the website together.

Sincerely,

Mark Moore

From: Cynthiaries8@aol.com
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 08:52:20 EDT
Subject: email from www.TroopTrain.com
 
In regards to the Troop Train accident, this was forwarded to me by my daughter-in-law. Joseph G. Shipbaugh of Canton, Ohio would have been my former father-in-law. I was married to his son (who was 4 years old at the time of his death) and we had 4 children before his death in 1975. His wife Ruth is still living at the age of 87. She re-married after his death and had 2 more children. Joseph would have had 6 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

I will see if I can provide you with a photo.

This was very informative, and I have forwarded it to my children, so they can read about it. My oldest son visited the site in Tenn one year when he was on vacation.

Let me know if there is any other info that you would like to have.

Sincerely

Cynthia Shipbaugh Ries
North Canton, Ohio

The following article was written by Ray Smith and published 05-22-2007 at: www.oakridger.com

July 6, 1944: Oak Ridge responds to a troop train wreck

Author(s): D. Ray Smith Historically Speaking The Oak Ridger Date: May 22, 2007 Section: Community

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series on this topic.

In late 1942, under the most unique and unusual circumstances, a city was born almost overnight, and 3,000 people had to find another place to live to accommodate the huge industrial effort to obtain sufficient quantity of Uranium 235 for an atomic bomb. Oak Ridge was born. In 1943 the city grew at an amazing pace never before seen.

The Oak Ridge community was a gated city, a “Secret City,” as it was not on any map and badges were required of all who sought to enter the military area known to various people first as the Kingston Demolition Range, then the Clinton Engineer Works, and The Manhattan Project in Tennessee, and finally Oak Ridge.

The local people had no idea what was going on. They wondered about these unusual people coming to live where their small communities once proudly stood. Yet the surrounding communities knew by word of mouth that something very important was being done there and that it had to do with the war effort. Occasionally the surrounding communities interacted with the new and most unusual “Secret City,” and often officials in surrounding cities exchanged communications with the military officers there.

This unusual collection of young energetic and educated individuals were placed in the midst of several communities of Appalachia that had been settled starting a century and a half ago by a mixture of people seeking freedom and independence without the crowded conditions of the coastal cities. They took the land from the Cherokees through various treaty negotiations and by just living on the land they wanted. Over the years, a proud heritage had developed in the area which was typified by the Overmountain Men’s victory at King’s Mountain.

A fiercely independent people who were, at the same time, strongly patriotic toward the young United States lived in the ridges and valleys of East Tennessee. It is these people who were removed in November and December 1942 with little notice and less consideration to make way for the new wave of highly educated and singularly focused people, the main leaders of whom knew their effort was dedicated to winning a race for the very life of the planet.

These few individuals, both the leaders and the primary scientists and engineers, understood the stakes. They knew the awful danger the world faced if they could not be the first to create an atomic bomb. Many other workers came only knowing that whatever it was that was being done in this secret location was extremely important. It is in this setting that the following story of uncommon valor in the face of danger and response to the need for help is set.

In researching the 1944 train wreck which is the subject for Historically Speaking, I had two primary sources for this material: Bill Sergeant, the person who personally went to Jellico late in the night as one of the leaders in the response from Oak Ridge to the Jellico Troop Train Wreck on July 6, 1944; and Scott Chippendale, a volunteer with the Oak Ridge Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Bill provided information about the troop train wreck and recalled for me the tremendously strong impressions he received about the enormous damage done by the train wreck. He quickly told me that the night he spent there helping organize the assistance remains a vivid memory firmly planted in his mind.

During the research for this column, I found a Web site that is dedicated to the memory of the famous troop train wreck: www.trooptrain.com, titled “My Tribute to the… WWII Troop Train Wreck of July 6, 1944” by Phil Lea of Benton, Tenn. This Web site is extremely informative, with photographs of many of those who died as well as several of the survivors of the train wreck. Phil has also done an excellent job of documenting the train wreck.

This project has grown significantly and will require more column space than I first imagined. I hope you will enjoy the final product as much as I am enjoying learning the details about the train wreck and the response by Oak Ridge. It is yet another source of great pride in our city’s support for our neighbors that started during the earliest months of the Manhattan Project’s Clinton Engineer District.

Some details about the ill-fated train and the awful wreck will help put perspective on this disaster, often mentioned as one of the nation’s major troop train accidents and placed in the top 25 United Sates railway accidents of all time. The overwhelming response by the citizens of Jellico and surrounding communities will make you proud to be a part of this special part of our country.

A southbound Louisville-Nashville passenger train derailed at approximately 9 p.m. on Thursday evening, July 6, 1944, and plunged into the approximately 50-foot-deep Clear Fork River gorge at a place known as the Jellico Narrows. The train, No. 47, a south-bound second-class passenger train, consisted of steam engine No. 418, four Pullman tourist cars, one Pullman kitchen car, one Pullman troop-sleeping car, two Pullman tourist cars, one baggage car, three Pullman troop-sleeping cars, one Pullman kitchen car, two Pullman troop-sleeping cars and one baggage car, in the order named. All 16 cars were of steel construction.

The train was transporting new army recruits (the exact number is unknown to me as my research has found numbers ranging from 400 to 1006) from Virginia to Camp Croft, S.C. However, this was not common knowledge, as the exact destination of the train was kept secret.

In Cincinnati, a strange thing happened that surprised the riders in the last tourist car. A new locomotive, number 418, backed up to the car that was the last in line when they arrived. Some of these riders may well have chosen the last passenger car because of it being the last one and thus thought by some to be the safest place to ride on a train.

Then in Corbin, Ky., another change may have taken place. Engineer John C. (Lyle) Rollins and fireman John William Tummins, both of Etowah, Tenn., had both just completed a 16-hour shift, and after the required eight-hour rest were now working this train back toward Tennessee. They could not know they had boarded and were running their last train. One reference indicated that another engineer was scheduled to have replaced Rollins at Corbin but did not show up. Later, Tummins would indicate that something happened at Corbin, Ky., that upset Rollins.

The change in terrain along the railroad right of way coming south out of Kentucky and entering Tennessee is dramatic. The Kentucky portion of the track is rather level with few curves and none of them with significant enough degree to present a hazard to a train traveling at a rather high rate of speed.

However, the curve where steam engine No. 418 left the track, taking four additional railcars with it to the bed of Clear Fork River and derailing four more railcars, is said to be the worst curve in the entire L&N railroad line. The curve is a specified 10 degrees (actually measured to be a little over an 11-degree curve) and is the point at which a train coming south at a high rate of speed (above 35 mph) would be expected to naturally wreck.

In the coming weeks we will examine the various investigations into the reason for the train wreck and the response Oak Ridge made to the disaster. We will look at an FBI investigation into sabotage, two accounts of the Oak Ridge Manhattan District response to the disaster, the Interstate Commerce Commission report, and several newspaper accounts of the epic event. We will also look at the Red Cross response and the history of the origin of the Red Cross in Oak Ridge.

From: Bengecld@aol.com
Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 16:54:41 EDT
Subject: email from www.TroopTrain.com

I was eleven years old and lived in Morley, Tn. About four miles from the train wreck.
My Dad took my brother and I to a movie in Jellico And arrived at the train wreck around
10:p.m just minuets after . 25 W was blocked and we had to stay all night
It was a Double header (2 Engines).

Claude Benge

From: "Ray Smith" <draysmith@comcast.net> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: drwebman@yahoo.com
Subject: email from www.TroopTrain.com
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 22:35:40 -0400

Phil,

I am Ray Smith, historian in Oak Ridge , TN. I write a weekly column for our local newspaper, The Oak Ridger. From: "Ray Smith" <draysmith@comcast.net> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: drwebman@yahoo.com
Subject: email from www.TroopTrain.com
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 22:35:40 -0400

Phil,

I am Ray Smith, historian in Oak Ridge , TN. I write a weekly column for our local newspaper, The Oak Ridger. www.oakridger.com The column is known as Historically Speaking. You can see example articles by going to the newspaper web site and searching for “Historically Speaking.”

I am now writing a column on the historic train wreck at High Cliffs, TN near Jellico , TN. Your web page is a gold mine of information. I plan to reference your web page in the newspaper article. I need about three photographs to illustrate the columns. I plan to publish the story in about two or three weekly columns. Could you please send me some high resolution images that I might use in the newspaper? In particular, I would like to have images of the wreck site and Brakeman, John William Tummins. Of course, I would credit you with providing the images for my use.

 The column is known as Historically Speaking. You can see example articles by going to the newspaper web site and searching for “Historically Speaking.”

I am now writing a column on the historic train wreck at High Cliffs, TN near Jellico , TN. Your web page is a gold mine of information. I plan to reference your web page in the newspaper article. I need about three photographs to illustrate the columns. I plan to publish the story in about two or three weekly columns. Could you please send me some high resolution images that I might use in the newspaper? In particular, I would like to have images of the wreck site and Brakeman, John William Tummins. Of course, I would credit you with providing the images for my use.

Ray Smith
 

On March 12th, 2007 I received the nicest letter from Joy McKinney and two pictures of her brother, Charles T. Clapp

Mr. Lea,

Just visited your Tribute again.  It has been two years since I looked 
at it.  The emails you received were quite a surprise.  I am the youngest 
child of Ray W. (Billy) Parker.  He was from the Canton area, not Trenton as
reported, having grown up in Waynesburg.  Dad and Mom were living in 
the Moreland addition near Waco at the time of his death.  I have an older
sister and brother.  Having been born six months after Dad's death, I 
am also Billi Parker.  I have attached a newspaper clipping my Grandmother
saved. Until finding your wonderful site and tracking down and talking to John
Ascher, we had so little information.  Through your site I have found 
one of the wreck survivors living just an hours drive away.  He has become a 
valued friend.

Thank your for your tribute.

Billi Parker Friese
Concord, CA

August 23, 2006

Dear Mr. Lea,

Enclosed is a picture of my Grandfather, Chalmer Fields. He was in the Troop Train wreck in Jellico, Tennessee. He is still living in Sidney, Ohio. I can remember the story of the wreck that he told to me as a child. In June we visited the Troop Train Wreck Memorial in Jellico and took pictures of his Great-Grandsons standing in front of it. Please add his picture to your website. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Julie Huelskamp

bjhuelskamp@aol.com

To:
From: "Nancy McNamara Schnebly" <nanmcnamaravo@mac.com> 
Subject: email from www.TroopTrain.com 
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 13:37:52 -0700 

Dear Mr. Lea,

I am directing a play called "See Rock City" by Arlene Hutton and the 
train wreck of July 6, 1944 is mentioned in the story line. So, I 
searched on the internet to learn more about it and was brought to 
your website.

Thank you so very much for providing this wonderful tribute to the 
men who died. I was moved to see all the photos as well.

The play "See Rock City" is set in Corbin, Kentucky in 1944-45. I 
live in Los Angeles, so websites like yours have been invaluable to 
me in my research of this time period and this place.

Just wanted to let you know and to say thank you.

All the best,

Nan McNamara

To:
Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2006 07:19:03 -0700 (PDT) 
From: "Nicky Gibson" <nickygib@yahoo.com> 
Subject: Train Wreck? 
To: drwebman@yahoo.com 

Hello, I have a great uncle who was on the Jellico train wreck, and I noticed his name is not on your survivor's list. His name is Jack Arnett from Royalton, KY and he went and saw the memorial for the first time since the wreck last week. If you could email me back if you need any information about him. Thank you for the wonderful memorial website.

Nicky
Salyersville, KY

Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2006 07:19:03 -0700 (PDT) 
From: "Nicky Gibson" <nickygib@yahoo.com> 
To:
Subject: Train Wreck? 

Hello, I have a great uncle who was on the Jellico train wreck, and I noticed his name is not on your survivor's list. His name is Jack Arnett from Royalton, KY and he went and saw the memorial for the first time since the wreck last week. If you could email me back if you need any information about him. Thank you for the wonderful memorial website.

Nicky
Salyersville, KY

From: "Mary Lou Hudson" <hudgo@medt.com>  
Subject: Re: Troop Train Wreck (Transcribed by Mary Lou Hudson / Newspaper Articles) 
Date: Tue, 30 May 2006 13:14:50 -0500 

Hi Phil,

I have pasted below the newspaper articles I transcribed on the Jellico, TN train wreck. You are welcome to use the articles on your website. - Mary Lou Hudson


Oelwein Daily Register, Oelwein, Iowa - July 7, 1944
Troop Train Wreck Toll 17
Jellico, Tenn. -- UP -- Rescue workers recovered the bodies of 17 persons today from the splintered wreckage of a troop train that plunged into a rock strewn mountain gorge while speeding around the curve last night.
Two of the dead were the engineer and fireman. The remainder were understood to be soldiers.
The army said the wreck occurred while the soldiers were preparing to retire for the night. Many of them were in washrooms, separated from their clothes and personal property, which made identification slow.
Many of the dead soldiers were found in a coach which was crushed beneath the coal tender as they plunged into a hollow mountain stream.
Daylight aided the rescue workers who were pulling apart the debris of the splintered coaches in the narrow gorge which was strewn with sharp rocks.
More than _00 (?) soldiers were injured.
The men were crushed in the in the cars when the train left the track while rounding a curve at high speed. The engine careened into a gorge, pulling six coaches with it. Ten other cars did not overturn.
The dead included J.C. Rollings, the engineer, and J.W. Tummins, fireman, both of Etowah, Tenn. Names of the dead soldiers were withheld pending notification of relatives. Maj. Harold Tyler, public relations officer for the Fourth Service Command, said the train was en route from Cincinnati to Knoxville.
Scores of townspeople from this village of 2,000 and neighboring farmers rushed to the scene with floodlights, flashlights and lanterns to assist in searching for the dead and injured.
Many of those hurt were treated in clearings beside the roadbed. Jellico's only hospital
was filled and cots were placed in hallways to accommodate the injured.
Ambulances carried many to nearby towns for treatment. The Office of Civilian Defense and the Red Cross immediately mobilized units to assist the injured and to aid in clearing the tracks of wreckage.
Jellico is 60 miles from Knoxville and is near the Kentucky state line.


The Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, West Virginia - July 7, 1944
Troop Train's Plunge Into Gorge Claims 17
200 Injured When Engine, 6 Coaches Topple From Rails at Sharp Curve
Jellico, Tenn. (AP). -- At least 17 persons, including 15 soldiers and the engineer and fireman of a Louisville and Nashville passenger train, were killed and more than 200 injured in the train's plunge into the gorge of the Clear river -- 11 miles south of here last night.
Work of extricating the victims from the locomotive and fire cars which tumbled down the steep 50-foot bank to the shallow stream while rounding a curve was slow and unofficial estimates placed the causalities as high as 25 dead and 250 hurt.
The train was a special carrying only soldiers and the train crew.
An emergency train made up from the 12 cars which did not leave the track left this morning taking 50 of the injured to Lake City, Tenn., en route to the government hospital at Oak Ridge, Tenn., and at least 39 others were sent to Oak Ridge hospital in ambulances.
State Guard Company C from Knoxville, commanded by Captain Ben Sanders, joined military police in patrolling the wreck scene as acetylene torches were used to cut away portions of the cars and slings and pulleys were used to move the injured men up the bank.
The kitchen and baggage cars of the southbound train, reported carrying more than 1,000 soldiers just out of basic training, were burned. 
Express Agent C.L. Alley of Jellico said first rescues were made by nearby mountainfolk who tediously hoisted the injured by block and tackle slings up the shrubbery-lined gorge. Waiting ambulances rushed the injured to hospitals in Lake City, Lafollette and Jellico, and Corbin
and Williamsburg, Ky.
Rescuers worked doggedly to free two soldiers trapped in one of the smashed coaches. Doctors gave blood plasma transfusions to one of them, pinned down in the wreckage. Two others who had been trapped were extricated, one of them dead.
The fireman, identified at a Jellico hospital as J.W. Tummins, of Etowah, died several hours after he was hurled free of the wreckage.
Reporter Willard Yarbrough of the Knoxville Journal telephoned his paper that he counted seven dead when he climbed into the engine room and looked out. He said two more were lying in the stream, running two to four feet deep at the wreck scene.
"One soldier pinned in the wreckage cried 'get me out of here or let me die right here'" Yarbrough said. "Another soldier being carried across the stream on a stretcher asked his rescuers to let him die right there."
The engineer identified by the railroad as John C. Rollins, of Etowah, Tenn., was "somewhere beneath his engine," Yarbrough said.
Pvt. Wallace Lewis of Canton, O., a passenger on one of the car hurled into the gorge said, "I saw a big flash, and someone said 'there's going to be a wreck.' There was. I crawled out of the car, fell into the shallow creek, and then stumbled out."
In this Cumberland mountain section on the Kentucky-Tennessee line, the L. and N. tracks transverse numerous trestles over deep gorges and loop around hairpin turns.
Ten army doctors and 12 army ambulances were rushed to the scene from Clinton. They carried amply supplies of blood plasma.
Express Agent Alley, who said the train carried 1,006 soldiers, reported early today the cars remaining upright had been switched to another track and were proceeding to their destination.


The Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, West Virginia - July 9, 1944
Train Death Toll Likely to Pass 19
Jellico, Tenn. (UP) -- The official death toll of the troop train derailment which plunged five coaches into a mountain gorge remained at 19 Saturday night but army authorities feared a few more bodies might be found in a smashed car partially buried in Clear river.
Seventeen of the dead were servicemen and two were trainmen. More than 100 soldiers, who had been inducted only a few days before, were injured.
An investigation was underway by FBI agents and army and railroad officials.


The Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, West Virginia - July 10, 1944
Soldiers Die in Wreck
Jellico, Tenn. (AP). -- Two soldiers from Randolph county, W. Va., were listed by army officials over the week-end as among the dead in a troop train wreck near Jellico Thursday night. 
They were Robert C. Clingeman of Elkins and James W. Buchanan, Huttonsville, W. VA.



The Chillicothe Constitution, Chillicothe, Missouri - July 8, 1944
Train Wreck Death List May Reach 25
Police Chief Roberts of Jellico, Tenn., Says 21 bodies Have Been Removed.
Jellico, Tenn., July 8. -- Wrecking crews amidst smashed coaches of a shattered troop train removed additional bodies of soldiers early today and Night Police Chief Elmer Roberts said the death toll apparently was at least twenty-five.
Roberts said twenty-one bodies had been lifted up the steep sides of the mountain gorge where a Louisville and Nashville train left the track Thursday night and four more had been located in the wreckage.
The Army had not changed its list of known dead --- 19.
Cause of the wreck under investigation by the F.B.I.