N. RISTENSEN About gg mmlienmgl; Erica for a train collision to nw., num be prow-, center Street at Second wm, in ure rem or ure nw-nm dmv- , rum. may gm-,’, any a trace of a rarlroad track vtslble at that locatlorl But- u man mmm will rmi! – f-he trackxi the Denverfr glo Grande’! “HEDW cN’P=I'” 0’7% ran north and south. crosslnt! Ce”‘-if $”69′ 8′.”’3′ pump AM me gm like g mah Rallroad electrlc ue um-hm nn um md wm. intersecting the Hebei Creeper’: trachge. A train wreck dld occur! It hgvugj my Ogg, 4. ms. just before the close of World ar l. There are Provo old-timers who remember the colllnlon – but those interviewed had a hard tlrne with the dale. lllesslng all tre way from 191.5 to 1930. The Provo Post. a competitor of The Provo Herald of that era, bannered the train wreck in Its Oct. 4. lll! issue. The Huald (whose files are missing for that perlod) and the Salt lake papers also chrcmcled the wreck. The Poet had a special advantage. ll.C. Hicks, one of the paper’s editors. was in a good posltion to ger the He was n passenger on the iutenrrban when it collided with the Creeper. We presume he wrote the smrv. Nobody was krlled, Damage was substantial but awttrnusrve – the tralns were going too slowly for a . Maya- Mill Injured But 14 persons were Injured enough to have their names llated in newspaper accounts. The llst lnt eluded arrme prvmlnent people – including Mayor URW Dixon uf Provo, Schools Supt. L. E. Egglefgonh Hkfglhhlvl Albert Mabey, later p vn a seriously injured- rd who was the most For people tm new in Provo to remember the trams rm-nlved m me Fpnrnr Street n’ – 11.. lack of lt) – was the aber d It R10 Grande. This partlcular I.lne gave up the ghost Z0 years or so ago and lts trackage through Provo was pulled out to facilltate widening of Second West back rn the late llI50s. The electric intemrban, nicknamed the “Orem” after W. C Orem, the enfineer employed to build the llne, was known official y as the Salt Lake Ir Utah Railroad. It operated between Payson and Salt Lake Clty and cloud dawn Feb. 26. lm after more than three decades of service. (Orem City also was named for Mr. Orem.) Note: The D&RGW itself, of course, continues as oneolthewell-knvwnr-allmadsintneweattrnd Mldwut. And the “Heber Creeper” ls nlll very much allve in reincarnation as a steam-powered excurslon tx-aln Qzatui from Heber ta Brldal Veil Falls in Provo yon by a group headquartered in Wasatch (bunty. The “Oreeper” is closed now for construction. but when it re-opens mxt May it intends to operate year-around.! Tane Can Derailed Whlle only three cars were derailed in the 1918 accldenr. the wreck was “historic” in a way. as this wrlter Jxedhein a feature articlenafter first ruearc t story many years ago. ow often do dtgrsrtglnr collide rlght in the heart of the business An alert Provo cnmmerclal photographer was mr hand tagetplnwresofthewreek. Hewusunuel B. Robinson. a gamer with Samuel Jeppenou in the mvo Photo pply at about 75 N. Unlvenlty Ave. in era. I-lla daughter. Mrs. A. W. (Bernice) Adarnmn inhn-lted her father’: pictures. 1’herpbotm rqnroduced anlhls ewereloanedtorne er-aldbyMr.and the of the Provuans who remember-1 the colllslon quite vrlvldly la Fred Nelson of 779 N. 750 W. He recalls that aa passengers on the Orem interurban, he and his father and brother were bound for Salt zh City to the nate falr the day the accident occurl ltr gaasenger list swollen that morning because of ‘ both e state fair and LDS conference, the four-car Orem pulled out of the Provo Station at First West and Carter (whue the J.C, Putney store ls now located). at I:46, westbound for Salt Lake City, T The Heber Branch of the Rio Grande was southbound on Second West, apgroachlng Center. Buatneu buildings on the nort alde of Center obstructed nach train’: vlew of the other. “l’errmei’ Paaaagen The Provo Poet accmmt sld the Impact otwrred “wlth a tremendous crash” that “terrIfled” the puera. Rge0rem traln was drlven h Motorman Shelladay under dlrectlon of Conductor gg?. Harry Sharp of Provo was was and T. S. Ister conductor of the Heber tra whlch consisted of four freight and two panenger cars. The passenger coaches were at the rear of the train and occupants rm-e nor injured. As the Orem train approached the Second West tracks, the motorrnan realized he couldn’t gel past the crosslng unless the Heber Creeper could stop, sald the Provo Post account. So he turned un the power. Three of the inter-urhan’s coaches cleared the track but the fourth was:l;:arlt:1ne front steps by the mam engine ri in tr 1he0rewrcoedn was Qaatled ddnaaqea badly; the Heber train’s engine and tender also were derailed. Dam to the steam traln was mt. The Salt lake le Umelhllroad coadr incurred hnurt , onenewspaperorano eras ure, “A’;i.%”l'”” rr. r were the tgur already mentioned Bias E. Dwmres. Provo; Mr. ard Mn. Charles ard. Charlea Reynolds and J. A. Loveless of Payson; Heber Tlrnothy of Rnoaevelt, and Mn. M. J. Flnley.Mr1. Charles Evans, and Mr. and hfn. Boyer of Spnngville hnrslclarra treated the lnjured at the Provo General Hospital; in the Sutton-Chase Dnrg Store near the scene; and in the office of Dr. Walter T, Hula. Hoapltallaation was required for only one or two person: – and thls was brlel. Prlaaaa-1 Take ‘Iimble A nhdmm the wreck: Mr. Nelson remembered that the Iff wu aboard the Orem train. taking two prisoner to the state penitentiary. ‘lhe prlsooera were handcuffed tugetha- and went ggrawling down the lsle when the lrnpact ofthe wr occurred. Who was to blame for the accident? Newspaper enmmenuseundtodlaagreeontlrisandwe ound no official rwort of the lnvutlgatlm in later iaaues of the papers. Aa a P.S, to the story, the lnlerurnan went nu to Salt Lie Clty after the wred and the passenger: had a nlce time despite the experlenoe. Those who at ed the stalr falr were hanpy because Utah County walked off with sweepsta eu hmm; and the ccnlurence goers got to hear Joseph F. Srnltb, the church’: smh president. who was there to speak after a severe illness.