Murder On No. 10

[jacon12]

Not that this has anything to do with modeling, but I thought it was interesting.

From the pages of The Macon Telegraph.. 

"On Leap Year night in 1896, two trains plunged into the dark waters of Stone Creek in Twiggs County, about 8 miles southeast of Macon (Georgia).  Three men were killed and 39 passengers injured.  The story was newsworthy enough to be carried on the pages of The New York Times .

The arrest of the two men charged with sabotaging the tracks became one of Middle Georgia's most celebrated court trials of the late 19th century.

An unfaithful husband. A sinsister plot.  A heinous crime.

The two men, Thomas Shaw and Warren Cresswell were arrested 10 days later.  They were tried, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

Under the cover of darkness they had pulled the spikes from the inside rail of a section along the 600 foot trestle crossing the creek.  The Southern Railway passenger train No. 10 left the depot in Macon about 8 pm, bound for Reed's Station.  The wreck occurred just across the Bibb-Twiggs (county) line, not far from the Bond's Swamp area. 

Traveling at 45 mph, with a full head of steam, the engine and six cars plunged into the abyss.  A second wreck occurred when a freight train, No. 65, arrived on the same mangled tracks and could not stop.

Thomas Shaw had married his wife, Sally Lee Kitchens, of Jones County, against her parent's wishes.  He later left her and got a job as a farmhand on John Tharpe's plantation in Bibb County .  Although he was still married, he posed as a bachelor and began courting Miss Belle Johnson, a young lady related to Tharpe.

After she rejected him, he returned to his wife and family.  On Feb. 29, he bribed his wife with $5 shopping money and suggested she go into Macon with Cresswell's wife, their neighbor.  They were to return that evening on the train.

Shaw and Cresswell plotted to kill their wives in order to extort money from the railroad.  Shaw believed his wealth would impress Miss Belle Johnson.  But that line of thinking was a wreck, too.  The wives of Shaw and Cresswell were hurt, but both survived the wreck.

In the tangled steel and swampy waters that took innocent lives, maimed and injured dozens of others, a lover's leap is a footnote to a tragic Leap Year." 

[twhite]

Jacon--

Oboy, THERE'S a novel waiting to be written or a movie waiting to be made!  I remember reading about that years ago--I think in one of Lucius' Beebe's books on trains.  The back-story on that Macon wreck always kind of fascinated me.   Talk about Victorian Melodrama leading to a tragic conclusion!

Tom

 

[jacon12]

 Tom, there was a book.. "The Stone Creek Wreck: A Modern Will-O-The Wisp", published in 1898 by W.F. Combs, a public relations agent with Southern Railway.  The paper says 'the book is avaiable in the Genealogical and Historical Room at the Washingon Memorial Library (Macon, Ga.)"

I'd like to read it but it's probably not available anywhere else.  But... who knows.

Jarrell 

 

Jacon--

Oboy, THERE'S a novel waiting to be written or a movie waiting to be made!  I remember reading about that years ago--I think in one of Lucius' Beebe's books on trains.  The back-story on that Macon wreck always kind of fascinated me.   Talk about Victorian Melodrama leading to a tragic conclusion!

Tom

 

[tomikawaTT]

Fast forward to the 21st century.

These days, the plotters would probably do something involving a SUV, some C-4 and a cell phone...

Yes, I know...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[MisterBeasley]

I'm gonna blame my next derailment on those guys.

[jacon12]

hmmmm... too bad I don't model this era, might make an interesting scene.  I wonder what type steam loco it was?

Jarrell 

[dehusman]

Under the cover of darkness they had pulled the spikes from the inside rail of a section along the 600 foot trestle crossing the creek. 

Depending on what they mean by the above, and whether or not there were tie plates, their lawyers should have been able to get them off scot free.

If they removed spikes from the "inside rail" on a bridge, that would be the guard rail and it being unspiked would only matter if the train was derailed when it came onto the bridge.

If they removed the spikes from the "inside of the rail" on the bridge, and there were tieplates then the cant of the tie plates should have kept the rails upright and spikes on the outside of the rail would have held them in gauge.

If I were their laywer, I would have selected a 600 ft stretch of track (with tie plates), pulled out the same number of inside spikes and then run a train back and forth to demonstrate that the train wouldn't derail.  Then get the charges dropped to vandalism.

Dave H.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, what REALLY hapened when my extra train derailed and side-swiped 403, vandels threw the turnout which the dispatcher had forgotten was bribed to "forget" to lock, causing two boxcars to derail and get dragged into the other train.

[Johnnny_reb]

I great story I'll have to look that up at the library down town. I live just up the road from there.

[OzarkBelt]

Yeah, what REALLY hapened when my extra train derailed and side-swiped 403, vandels threw the turnout which the dispatcher had forgotten was bribed to "forget" to lock, causing two boxcars to derail and get dragged into the other train.

Better fire your dispatcher... imagine taking bribes like that. its unthinkable

[sueberry]

Under the cover of darkness they had pulled the spikes from the inside rail of a section along the 600 foot trestle crossing the creek. 

Depending on what they mean by the above, and whether or not there were tie plates, their lawyers should have been able to get them off scot free.

If they removed spikes from the "inside rail" on a bridge, that would be the guard rail and it being unspiked would only matter if the train was derailed when it came onto the bridge.

If they removed the spikes from the "inside of the rail" on the bridge, and there were tieplates then the cant of the tie plates should have kept the rails upright and spikes on the outside of the rail would have held them in gauge.

If I were their laywer, I would have selected a 600 ft stretch of track (with tie plates), pulled out the same number of inside spikes and then run a train back and forth to demonstrate that the train wouldn't derail.  Then get the charges dropped to vandalism.

Dave H.

 

Quiz your brain on a few things -- I am writing a novel based on this with the "why" it happened changed -- and want your take -- in Railroad Magazine, the spikes, fishplates and bolts are removed.  If this were true and if the altered track was at the very beginning of the bridge, then the train should derail if the spikes, fishplates (your tie plates) and bolts were removed from the inner rail, leaving the guard rail by itself unsupported -- correct? 

[sueberry]

Not that this has anything to do with modeling, but I thought it was interesting.

From the pages of The Macon Telegraph.. 

"On Leap Year night in 1896, two trains plunged into the dark waters of Stone Creek in Twiggs County, about 8 miles southeast of Macon (Georgia).  Three men were killed and 39 passengers injured.  The story was newsworthy enough to be carried on the pages of The New York Times .

The arrest of the two men charged with sabotaging the tracks became one of Middle Georgia's most celebrated court trials of the late 19th century.

An unfaithful husband. A sinsister plot.  A heinous crime.

The two men, Thomas Shaw and Warren Cresswell were arrested 10 days later.  They were tried, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

Under the cover of darkness they had pulled the spikes from the inside rail of a section along the 600 foot trestle crossing the creek.  The Southern Railway passenger train No. 10 left the depot in Macon about 8 pm, bound for Reed's Station.  The wreck occurred just across the Bibb-Twiggs (county) line, not far from the Bond's Swamp area. 

Traveling at 45 mph, with a full head of steam, the engine and six cars plunged into the abyss.  A second wreck occurred when a freight train, No. 65, arrived on the same mangled tracks and could not stop.

Thomas Shaw had married his wife, Sally Lee Kitchens, of Jones County, against her parent's wishes.  He later left her and got a job as a farmhand on John Tharpe's plantation in Bibb County .  Although he was still married, he posed as a bachelor and began courting Miss Belle Johnson, a young lady related to Tharpe.

After she rejected him, he returned to his wife and family.  On Feb. 29, he bribed his wife with $5 shopping money and suggested she go into Macon with Cresswell's wife, their neighbor.  They were to return that evening on the train.

Shaw and Cresswell plotted to kill their wives in order to extort money from the railroad.  Shaw believed his wealth would impress Miss Belle Johnson.  But that line of thinking was a wreck, too.  The wives of Shaw and Cresswell were hurt, but both survived the wreck.

In the tangled steel and swampy waters that took innocent lives, maimed and injured dozens of others, a lover's leap is a footnote to a tragic Leap Year." 

 

Hi  Sorry to be joining the discussion so late but just found this.  I am working on such a novel with some minor twists to why it happened -- not necessarily how it happened (and yes, I know about the book in Milledgeville on the wreck -- it is also on Ebay believe it at $400+ dollars -- even found a Spanish and Chinese link to it on ebay). 

There is also an Atlanta-Journal article on it (written in 1896) and a April 1951 Railroad Magazine article.  Do you know the date of the Macon Telegraph article?

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Tom, there was a book.. "The Stone Creek Wreck:

My mother has this book! I read it when we lived in Germany but had forgotten about it until I started reading the original post.

[R. T. POTEET]

I'm gonna blame my next derailment on those guys.

Sure more exciting than blaming it on bad trackwork! isn't it?

[steemtrayn]

In the name of Homeland Security, I hereby demand that this thread be removed before the TERRORISTS GET ANY IDEAS!!!

[sueberry]

Hey now us cats have to band together and stop those terrorists even if we have to suffer their yapping and barking!  Trains must keep a schedule!

[MarthaShaw]

My husband is related to Tom Shaw who was rightfully convicted of the Stone Creek Wreck.  I have been trying to find a copy of this book for some time now.  Can you please contact me about the copy your mother has?  If she is interested in parting with it, I am interested in having it.  There is one copy for sale online at an extremely high price that I simply cannot afford.  [e-mail] Thanks very much.

[AntonioFP45]

Hmmmmmmm,

If this had happened today.........

1. The survivors would have sued the railroad (likely either the NS or CSX if it's near Macon) for deliberate negligence. 

2. The criminal who "assisted" the actual perpatrator gets a plea deal from the prosecutor and become a witness against his partner who plotted the destruction. Gets sentenced to 3 years, plus counseling and a slap on the wrists.

3. The perpatrator's lawyer convinces the jury that the perp was under extreme stress, not in his right mind, and now finds his act horrifying. He then points out that if railroad workers had been alert, inspected the tracks more often, or if the engineer would have looked ahead with binoculars........., the disaster could have been averted!   The deep thinking idiots---er jury--- sympathize and find him guilty by reason of temporary insanity.  He is sentenced to attend a mental health institution for a thorough psychiatric treatment, followed by 5 years in a minimum security jail. Treatment includes therapy by running trains on an HO layout at the hospital.  With good behavior, he will be eligible for parole in 3.

4. Both criminals sue the railroad for not doing its job in stopping them from causing the wreck. The railroad is considering settling.

5. The government fines the railroad $300,000 for neglect in the areas of security and maintenance.

6.  On the 6:00 o'clock news:  FRA announces the enactment of a new mandate in which all locomotive crews must be trained to be more vigilant in spotting vandalized tracks and saboteurs within 100 feet ahead of the locomotive while running at speed. Conductors will use binoculars on runs to look ahead every 30 seconds as his/her train moves. Conductors and engineers will be responsible for immediately alerting the dispatcher if anyone is spotted along the rail line or on public roads acting suspiciously, including photographing trains, and waving at train crews.  

7. Another new FRA mandate: All mainline tracks on Class 1 railroads will be inspected every 15 minutes by MOW crews. 20 minutes for regional railroads.

Ah yes, Ain't the 21st Century wonderful?!