Train Wreck - 1914

DERAILMENT OF A PASSENGER TRAIN NEAR
SHEPHERD, MICHIGAN
Photo notes and comments by Hudson Keenan  2009

            A train derailment in 1914 would hardly be worth mentioning almost one hundred years later or at least it would seem this should be the case. The story revolves around a unique set of pictures tucked away in a Kodak envelope for many years and saved by Virginia Layfield of Mt. Pleasant MI. The topic surfaced one day when she inquired if I would like to see some railroad pictures her deceased father, a railroad employee, had saved from years past. The ten pictures in the envelope were extraordinary in providing a glimpse not only into a railroad happening but the local people that turned out to see the “train wreck’ first hand. The question quickly turned to where and when were these photos taken?
            The pictures were of Ann Arbor Railroad equipment and so the matter of the line was quickly settled. The photos of the fields revealed the time of year was spring or early summer. One final and important clue was a stamp on the Kodak Paper envelope stating that the photo paper should be used by December 1st, 1914. With these facts in mind a search of the microfilms of several Central Michigan Papers was initiated. Eventually articles were found which described the event and matched the photos. The date of the derailment was Thursday, June 25, 1914. Information from Ann Arbor Railroad records then helped to fill in additional details.

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            South bound Train 53 was moving along with little problem, having left Frankfort on Lake Michigan at dawn. It had been making stops in many towns and villages, keeping close to its schedule. Railroad travel was nearing its summer peak. In fact the railroad had recently announced that for the summer of 1914 it was adding a passenger train to its daily runs. Now on Thursday morning Jun 26th it had just made a short stop in Shepherd, the time being a few minutes of the 11 a.m. hour.
            The train was pulled by engine 105 a comparatively new locomotive of the “ten wheeler” type built in 1900. The engineer eased off on the throttle as the train approached the Salt River crossing. Just a little over a mile south of the village there is a bridge over the river and a gentle curve after which the rails then straighten out heading south to Alma.
            For some unexplained reason it was here, just behind the Salt River Cemetery the tender for the engine left the rails. Tipping to the east it came to rest in a precarious position. The baggage and mail cars were derailed. The engineer quickly stopped the train and as reported in the paper many were startled and a bit shaken up but no one was hurt.
            From this point on we can guess the sequence of events that are recorded in the pictures. Among those early on the scene was an individual who spent most of the day at the location recording the events which followed. Whoever the individual was they had a good knowledge of camera operation and an eye for composition as shown in these remarkable set of photos.