Headline and text from The Portsmouth Times, Friday, September 17, 1965, p. 1, written by L.W. Burns.
A $3 million wreck on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's Northern Division line about five miles north of Sciotoville at 4:22 p.m. Thursday may have been caused by a broken axle.
Company officials reported today that 43 cars were derailed and of this number 38 were considered a total loss. The pileup resembled a logjam.
None of the five-man crew were injured although all were shaken when the midwest train rolling at 58 miles per hour came to a sudden halt.
Railway officials estimated the double-track line would not be reopened to traffic before Saturday.
Wrecked in a narrow gorge about 20 to 25 feet deep, the heavily laden cars jackknifed and piled three deep. Many of the cars were virtually demolished. Others rode through the crash with minor damage.
The accident occurred at the rear of the home of Merritt Hayward, state fire warden, who resides on Route 335. One of the cars rolled up an embankment behind the Hayward home, mashed down corn and small trees, then tumbled atop other wrecked cars.
Railroaders expressed belief that a "hot box" caused the axle on one of the cars to burn in two.
About two miles of track were torn up, knocked out of line or otherwise damaged. About 1,500 feet of the double track was almost completely obliterated. Rails were ripped from ties, and ties were buried in the ballast. Rails were twisted and broken.
Some of the cars were crushed like match boxes. Steel sides were twisted off others. Some were turned over completely, others remained upright and some landed on their sides.
Engineer Joe C. Alley, 61, or Ironton, told Deputy Sheriff Clarence Pack that "we were traveling about 58 miles per hour when suddenly the emergency brakes set and the two-engine train came to a sudden halt. I didn't know what happened."
J.D. Thompson, 35, of South Point, was riding the cab with the engineer. Conductor Otis Riley, 66 of Russell; Brakeman H.M. Colvin, 50, of Raceland, and Flagman Edward Pancake, 58, of South Point were riding the caboose.
"We were rolling along, enroute from Columbus to Russell," Pancake said, "when suddenly the train stopped. We were bounced around but none were injured. We don't know what caused the accident."
Hayward said, "I was in my home when I heard a terrible noise at the rear of the house. I ran outside and at first could not see anything for the dust. Suddenly I noticed railway cars popping up through the dust and settling down in a heap. It was a terrible accident. The worst I've ever seen."
Several hundred sightseers were attracted to the scene. Sheriff C.R. Burns and several deputies and State Highway Patrolmen were busy keeping Route 335 open to traffic.
The cars were loaded with cereals, beer, cement, pipe, calcium, refrigerators, washers, and other merchandise. Cereal flew in all directions when the side of one car was torn off. A carload of beer was damaged. Two carloads of pipe were scattered.
C&O detectives were on the job quickly protecting the merchandise and patroling the scene.
The train was No. 190, carrying 85 cars of which 60 were loaded with 48,010 tons. There were 24 empty cars in the train.
The 26th car from the engine left the tracks followed by all the cars between it and the 18th car from the caboose.
A wreck crew from the Russell Terminals began moving the first car at 10 p.m. Another wrecker from Columbus worked from the north end of the pileup.
The C&O passenger and time freights are using Norfolk & Western Railway lines between Kenova and Columbus while the Northern Division is closed.
The C&O has employees the Roy McGovney Construction Company to assist in cleaning up the wreckage. Three bulldozers are being used to drag the wrecked cars off the right of way.
By 10 a.m. today 15 of the cars were pulled aside. The Ohoi Highway Patrol reported Route 335, a narrow curving road still was jammed with sightseers today.
Hayward reported his bees are being stirred up and expressed fear sightseers will be stung. He has several hives near the wreckage, and reports the impact caused the bees to scatter Thursday night.
Scores of workmen were assembled on the scene during the night by the C&O. Work trains arrived from Huntington and Columbus and maintenance crews were brought in from several terminals.
Salvage at C&O Wreck Site Pushed
September 20, 1965, p. 11Chesapeake & Ohio Railway crews continued work today clearing wreckage and salvage operations on the Northern Division, five miles north of Sciotoville.
One line was reopened Saturday and all traffic has been using these tracks through the wreck area.
Derailment of 43 cars caused heavy damage with 39 demolished. It was the most serious non-fatal train accident in Southern Ohio in recent years, railroaders reported.
The cars piled up like a log-jam about 4:22 p.m. Thursday in a deep, narrow gorge behind the home of Merritt Hayward, state fire warden.
Hayward's farm was turned into a conglomeration of twisted steel, broken rails, splintered ties, railway wheels and trucks, bent pipe and hundreds of broken cases of cereals.
The railway is using his farm to deposit the wreckage during the cleanup operation. Bulldozers dragged wrecked cars out of the gorge and across the field to make room for rebuilding track.
Like the ads say, cereal is a tower of strength but in this case it was the cardboard boxes that contained the power. Hundreds of boxes of cereal ground under the steel tracks of bulldozers formed firm footing in mud for the heavy equipment.
Wreck crews munched on the cereals, taking their choice of the many kinds available, minus cream and sugar.
The C&O now has a blended ballast at the scene of cereal, salt, calcium, cement, sulphur, cardboard and splinters.
A "hot box" which burned an axle in two was believed to have caused the wreck.