Train Wreck at American Falls, Worst in Short Line History

The worst train wreck in Oregon Short Line's existence occurred in 1897 at American Falls, when the air brakes (a relatively new invention) failed on a westbound freight train. The engineer of the westward passenger train, which was stationary and waiting for the freighter to be switched to a siding so it could continue on, recognized the approaching calamity (the freighter's speed, the brakeman atop the cars trying to set the hand brakes, the engineer's whistle clued him in) and attempted to back up. But the switching area sat in a dip and the tracks were wet due to the proximity to the falls, so the train wouldn't move. Nonetheless, the action prevented dozens from getting killed, as when the freighter struck the passenger unit it yielded rather than presenting a fixed target.

The brakeman jumped before the trains collided and broke his leg. The fireman jumped and rolled down an embankment without injury. An engine tore through the depot but the station agent, his wife and three children escaped injury. Bodies flew into the depot along with freight cars and their cargo.

The freighter carried unpaid passengers, mostly sheep shearers, who had packed the empty cars. Nine were killed and eight more injured.

You can read about the accident in Celia Klassen's recently released Power County: A Century in the Making, where she has collected photos from the wreck.

Ralph Thurston is the author of The Shanghi Plain: Bingham County's Early History, available at Kesler's Market in Blackfoot and online at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CCCS7XLR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860