N&W in 1908--Another fireman struck

[NW Mailing List]

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
December 20, 1908

KNOCKED FROM ENGINE
------
Fireman Blevins, of Clinch Valley Division Doesn't Know What Struck Him

    W. L. Blevins, a fireman employed by the railroad company, met with an accident yesterday similar to that which cost C. E. Whittaker his life a few nights ago.  Blevins was wiping the side of the engine on No. 85 near St. Paul while the train was moving along at its usual rate of speed and while leaning out at this work was knocked from the engine and fell to the ground where he was discovered.  After being picked up he was attended by a physician and was brought to this city on train No. 12 and taken to a hospital.  Blevins does not know how the accident occurred.  He says the last he remembers was that he was wiping the cab with a bit of waste when suddenly he lost consciousness.  The next thing he knew he was being attended by the doctor.  While it is not known what knocked him from the runway of the engine it is thought that he was struck by the C. C. & O. Ry. semaphore at St. Paul.  His face and hand were cut and he was injured about the body as a result of his fall from the cab.  He was able to walk from the depot to an ambulance but had to be assisted by several friends and then progress was very slowly made.
------
[Even though some engines with narrow fireboxes had doors that opened onto the running board, it's hard to believe that the fireman would have been out on the running board wiping down the engine while it was moving at usual speed.  It's also hard to believe that the Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio semaphore could have been close enough to the engine to have hit him even if he had been leaning out.]

Gordon Hamilton
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20081223/53eca611/attachment.htm>