On This Date in Minnesota History: December 7

December 7, 1908 – The throttle clutched in the vise-like grip of a senseless and dying engineer, who lay half out of his cab window, blood streaming from a ghastly wound in his head, the Oriental Limited, the crack train of the Great Northern railroad, tore into the city limits of Minneapolis late this afternoon.

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Past speed-warning signs, gates and semaphores it rushed at a terrific speed, while 250 home-coming passengers from the West began to don their fur coats and waited expectantly for the moment that would land them among waiting friends—all unconscious of their danger.


Half a mile outside the station the fireman, alarmed by the terrific speed, shouted at the engineer. No answer—then he turned and saw his chief’s face covered with blood. He leapt across the cab and, prying apart the nerveless fingers in their death clutch on the heart-strings of the giant locomotive, hauled back the throttle and ran the string of Pullmans into Clearwater Junction.

There he detached the train and, in a race with death, drove the great engine to the Minneapolis and St. Louis depot. Pale and haggard, he dropped from the engine and shouted for help—but too late. The veteran of the throttle breathed his last as he was lifted from the cab.

The accident that cost Engineer George P. Irvin his life occurred at a steel bridge about two miles east of Robbinsdale.

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The train was about an hour late out of that station, and in an effort to make up time, he drew the throttle wide. Forgetting caution as the train neared the bridge, it is believed he stuck his head out of the window to look backward and was struck by one of the spans.

The top of his skull was crushed and a ghastly wound several inches in length inflicted. Sinking back into his seat, in a half reclining position, the dying engineer still kept his grip on the throttle, unnoticed by the sweat grimed fireman, Rudolph Doerr, who was furiously stoking coal into the roaring jaws of the steel monster.

Four nearly four miles the engine rushed on and then the accident was noticed simultaneously by the fireman and Brakeman Westcott, who looked out and saw part of the engineer’s limp figure hanging from the cab. Westcott threw on the air brakes as Fireman Doerr leaped to the throttle and a disastrous wreck was avoided.

The train was stopped and Brakeman Westcott and Conductor Marston ran forward to the engine. The train was then put in motion and ran to Clearwater Junction with the fireman at the throttle, where the engine was detached.

The body of the dead engineer was taken to the undertaking rooms of M. J. Gill on Second Ave. S., where they were viewed by the coroner. His verdict was “death due to accident.”

Irvin was one of the old timers in the employ of the railway company and during his 18 years of service his record was unblemished. He was 55 years old and leaves a wife and three children, an aged mother, two sisters and two brothers.

The Minneapolis Tribune; “Senseless Man at Engine’s Throttle. Oriental Limited Tears Into Minneapolis, Its Guide Unconscious. Brained by Bridge Support, Trainman Sticks to Duty as He Dies. George P. Irvin Killed in Cab and Cars Speed Onward.”; Dec. 8, 1908; p. 1.

¹https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Great_Northern_Oriental_Limited_1912.JPG

²Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Dec. 7, 2017, as long as acknowledgement included.

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