On This Date in Minnesota History: September 21

September 21, 1904 – One of the most serious wrecks in the history of Northern Minn. railroading occurred in the Crookston railroad yards this afternoon. A heavily loaded east bound wheat freight crashed into the ditch north of the city and piled twenty or more wheat cars and their contents into a solid mass of debris and wreckage. A defective switch was responsible for the accident, and the fact that no lives were lost is considered marvelous.

Hobos, who were riding beneath the cars upon the tracks, had narrow escapes and several were severely injured. The engine and fore part of the train got safely over the switch that was responsible for the accident, but the heavily laden wheat cars pried the switch open and the resultant shift of the tracks resulted in the tearing up the tracks and ditching nearly the entire train. The track was torn up for half a mile and all train service delayed while the wreckers are at work. Steel rails were literally chopped to pieces by the force of the impact. There are 3,000 bushels of grain on the tracks. A man is missing who may be in the wreckage.

The Bemidji Daily Pioneer; “Bad Wreck. Freight Cars Piled up at Crookston—Steel Rails Chopped to Bits.”; Sept. 22, 1904; p. 4.

Crookston Railroad Depot

http://www.lakesnwoods.com/CrookstonGallery.htm

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