March
18, 1917
– March 18, 1917 – A terrible accident
happened on the Duluth & Northern Railroad in Cloquet, Minn., at about
11:20 p.m. this forenoon when Engine 16 plunged off the bridge over the St. Louis
River at the east end of Dunlap Island, and broke through the heavy ice,
falling to the bottom of the St. Louis River in 18 to 20 feet of water.
Map of Dunlap Island today1
The train crew, which consisted of Herbert Lessor, engineer; Ringvald Hanson;
fireman, and Archie Fox and Joe Reidl, brakemen, were taking the engine from
the roundhouse down to the Johnson-Wentworth Mill to bring up a string of empty
log cars. A loaded train of logs was standing on the main track at the Cloquet
Lumber Company’s landing on the island and they were running down over the
passing track at this point. The heavy snow there caused the pony trucks of the
engine to leave the rails, but as the drivers of the locomotive stayed on the
tracks, this was not noticed until they arrived at the switch, which is just at
the island end of the bridge opposite the Cloquet Lumber Company’s steam mill.
Lessor then noticed that something was wrong and applied the emergency brake,
but it was too late to save the accident, because as the engine slowed down it
toppled off the bridge and through the ice into the river. It is probable that
the pony trucks running on the ties struck the switch frog and buckled, tipping
the engine over as the driving wheels had not left the tracks, as an
examination of the bridge shows.
Pony trucks: The leading wheel or leading axle or pilot wheel of a steam locomotive is an unpowered wheel or axle located in front of the driving wheels. The axle or axles of the leading wheels are normally located on a leading truck. Leading wheels are used to help the locomotive negotiate curves and to support the front portion of the boiler.2
Reidl,
one of the brakemen, was on the gangway and was able to jump off safely onto
the bridge, the other three men being in the cab went down with the engine into
the water into the river. Reidl, fearing an explosion as the heated boiler of
the locomotive came in contact with the cold water, ran back on the track away
from the bridge. No explosion resulted, and he retraced his steps and saw
Lessor, the engineer, come to the surface of the water where the engine had
broken through. Reidl called to Lessor to hold onto the edge of the ice and
running down the bank and onto the ice he was able to reach out and seize
Lessor’s hand. Just then another hand appeared above the water, and Lessor
seized it and Reidl dragged Lessor and Hanson, the fireman, to safety. Fox,
however, failed to come up.
During the early days of railroading, one of the most deadly jobs in America
was that of brakeman, who worked from the top of moving trains in all weather.3
Lessor was scalded about the back and leg; Hanson on the shoulder from the
escaping steam and otherwise slightly bruised. Both were badly chilled from
being in the water. Their clothes were ice-covered by the time they were
hurried to the Northeastern Hotel nearby, where the alarm immediately caused a
crowd of men to hurry to the scene of the accident in the hope that Fox might
be rescued. This effort was futile.
The Cloquet Terminal Railroad still runs in front of the Northeastern Hotel on
Dunlap Island.4
Two days after the accident, H. H. Thompson a professional diver who had been
summoned from Thorn Apple, Wis., went down to the wrecked engine and recovered
Fox’s body, which he found in the cab. Death had been caused by drowning, as
there were no abrasions or wounds on the body. Additional piling is being
driven at the bridge to sustain the additional strain of raising the engine,
which will be done shortly.
Cloquet Pine Knot; “Locomotive Plunges
Into the River; Snow Causes a Bad Accident on D. & N. E. Railroad and
Archie Fox Loses His Life”; March 21, 1917; p. 1.
The Duluth Herald; “Cloquet Brakeman
Drowns in River; Archie Fox Carried Down When D. & N. E. Engine Jumps off
Trestle.”; March 19, 1917; p. 10.
1https://www.pinejournal.com/news/3712778-transforming-cloquets-riverfront
2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_wheel
3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brakeman#/media/File:900801-peckwell-apicnic.jpg
4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloquet_Terminal_Railroad
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Today, Engine 16 is stationed in Fauley Park, Cloquet, Minn., on the west side of the intersection of Highway 33 and Cloquet Avenue.
“With help obtained from the Duluth-Missabe shops in Proctor, heavy hoisting equipment was able to raise No. 16 from the St. Louis River channel” after this accident.
https://www.pinejournal.com/lifestyle/4156597-story-old-no-16-and-fauley-park
Duluth & Northeastern Railroad Steam Locomotive Number 16
http://www.steamlocomotive.com/places/minnesota/dne16.jpg
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