The Wire Train

The incident occurred on the last weekend of July ‘86. The wire train which included the ex-Erie ACF baggage car and two ex DL&W tower cars had been tied up on the RVRR lead at the east end of Summit Yd. vs. it’s more conventional parking place on the east end of the Hill City Tk. or on Yard 1 east of the hand crossover accessing Main Tk. 2.

I had been promoted to the Mechanical Dept. one week previously and I was savoring a weekend off after owning a job that worked Sat. & Sun. for close to three years. Alas, the phone rang about time with calls from both the ACD and Frank Coccaro relating that the Wire Train outfit was missing. Frank was the MofE Field Officer and asked me to look for it. Off I went. I parked behind the remains of Summit Tower, called the ACD to advise that I was on the property and started east to the RV turnout. I walked across the Broad St. o/h br., through the cut section paralleling Overlook Pl. and then across the Morris Ave. br. There had been no regular traffic above Springfield on the RV for over ten years at this point and the ROW bore ample evidence of this. The further east I ventured, the more deadfall trees from storms and attrition there were. The descending grade at this point was close to 2% and the weight and momentum of the runaway cars kept them moving. The overgrowth and tree size became appreciably greater below the Benedict Miller Lumber turnout. The grade seemed to ease a bit but the track soon entered a left hand curve that brought the ROW behind Bryant Park pond. The first (east) tower car had fetched up against the trunk of a deadfall white oak; clearly an effective blocking device. I took some notes on car damage, noted all handbrakes to be in release and walked back to Summit and related all to the ACD. I also noted that because of track condition and equipment restrictions, clearing would have to occur from Kenilworth using RV/NYS&W resources.

I visited the derailment site the following Monday afternoon. The NYS&W Southern Div. Supt. had brought one of the RV 70-tonners up from Kenilworth and were attempting to put things right. As I recall, the wire train outfit showed up at Excee a week or so later pending movement to Tk. 95 in Hoboken for repair.