Train

Articles appearing 12/27/1934 regarding the Powellton, Fayette County, WV train crash.

Two Score Men Injured in Mine Train Engine's Blast

Montgomery, Dec. 27 -

Thirteen men were killed and at least 35 were injured Thursday morning in the explosion of the
boiler on a locomotive drawing a train loaded with miners en route to work at McDunn, Fayette
county, near Powellton.
Approximately 350 men were in the train. They had been picked up at their homes along
Armstrong creek by the work train operated daily by the Elkhorn-Piney Coal company.

All of the men killed where in the first of three coaches on the train. The coach was torn apart by
two explosions as the train halted while the locomotive picked up steam.
Bodies were hurled along the tracks and a building nearby was shattered by the blast which tore
the locomotive to bits.

Charles Kitchen, 16 years old, both hands burned, his face scalded, head bandaged and ankles
sprained, told of the explosion from his bed in the Coal Valley hospital at Montgomery.
"We were sitting in the coach, talking and waiting for them to move on when we heard a blow," he
said.

The first one blew the cap off the front of the engine and hit a lot of us in the coach. Then a
minute later, there was another and it tore our car to pieces.

About 100 men were riding in the first coach.

Nearly all were hurt.

Many others in the 3 other coaches on the little work train were cut or bruised by flying debris.

The only man identified quickly was Engineer Blankenship of the work train.

Meanwhile ambulances and private automobiles from all the sections of Armstrong creek poured
injured into the hospital at Montgomery where 35 had been received this morning and others still
were being rushed there.

BLOWN TO PIECES

Stories of men being literally blown to pieces were told by the injured men as they reached the
hospital.

"One man said he saw another's head blown off", said Dr. W. R. Wilkinson, as he took a moment
from treatment of injured to answer questions.

"We've been so busy we haven't had time to try and piece together a coherent story of just what
happened."

The place where the explosion occurred is about 12 miles up Armstrong Creek from Montgomery
in the thinly settled coal regions of the hills.

The men live in tiny settlements along the valley and the ride to work on the train which stops at
their doors each morning.

Others employed in the mine - one of the largest in this field - ride buses from their homes in
larger villages.

TAKE DEAD AND INJURED AWAY

Montgomery, Dec. 27 -

At least 13 men were killed and two score were injured early Thursday morning when a
locomotive hauling 350 miners to work at the No. 5 mine of the Elkhorn - Piney Coal Mining
company, at McDunn, exploded near Powellton.

The dead were brought in busses and ambulances to a Montgomery undertaking establishment,
and the injured, nearly all of them who were scalded, were rushed as quickly as possible to the
Coal Valley hospital, where they were placed four in a room in some instances.

The train consisted of four passenger coaches, loaded with workmen. There were two
explosions, according to eye witnesses, so violent that the locomotive and the first coach was
torn to bits, and steam under terrific pressure, swept through the coaches.

One man died in the hospital entrance before he could be admitted. Although the last blast
occurred about 6:30 o'clock, so great was the confusion at Montgomery that no complete list of
the casualties was available at 9:30 o'clock.

Bodies are Hurled
At the Hoover undertaking establishment, it was said that a complete check of the dead had not
been made, but that an employee of the coal company was en route to Montgomery to identify the
victims.

Bodies of the victims were hurled for great distances along the tracks, according to eye
witnesses. Many of them suffered severe injuries, and in addition to their scalds from the steam.

The entire countryside was rocked by the terrific blast of the exploding locomotive, and a
building near the tracks,where the train was at a standstill,was wrecked.

Most of the men live in the vicinity of Powellton, and were being taken to the mine on the work
train.

Death Toll In Train Blast Is 18; 21 Of Victims Still In Hospital

Most Serious Industrial Accident in Valley Since Boomer Mine Explosion November 30, 1915,
When 23 Men Were Killed, Occurred Thursday Morning in Work Train Blast at MacDunn

The death this afternoon at 4:30 o'clock at the Coal Valley Hospital of Okey V. Litton, 54, of
Powellton, where he had resided the past six months, brought the total deaths in the explosion of
a locomotive boiler at MacDunn, on Armstrong Creek, Thursday morning, December 27, up to
eighteen.

It was stated this afternoon following Litton's death, by hospital physicians, that all of the others
who were injured in the accident, and now in the hospital would recover barring unforeseen and
unexpected complications. Litton's body was turned over to a Milton undertaker and taken there
for burial Saturday afternoon.

The complete list of dead follows:

The Dead.
James Hunter, 34, of Whipple.
William Judd Maynus, 38, of Powellton.
S. L. Runyon, 55, of Powellton.
Delmar L. Oxley, fireman, 37, of Powellton.
William B. Blankenship, engineer, 55, Powellton.
Eddie Huelett, 23, Leach, Ky.
Jerome Walters, 38, Charleston.
J. L. (Pat) Murphy, 49, MacDunn.
Thomas Craft, 22, of Cannelton.
Ray A. Tarter, 18, of Marting.
Everett Leach, 48, Mt. Carbon.
Steve Kozma, Sr., 51, MacDunn.
Burnice Hall, 29, Lacky, Ky.
John Lowe, 39, of Kimberly.
Homer Cart, 38, of Powellton.
Henry McMillion, 46, Powellton.
Jess Persinger, 42, of Eagle.
Okey V. Litton, 54, Powellton.

Representatives of the Interstate Commerce Commission investigating the explosion of the
boiler reported Sunday that the blast was caused by "an overheated crown sheet on account of
low water."

Three inspectors for the Bureau of Locomotives of the commission said that a formal report to
that effect will be submitted to the chief of the bureau in Washington.

Crown Sheet Overheated.
L. D. Allison, of Columbus, one of the inspectors, said "the explosion was due to an overheated
crown sheet on account of low water."

Allison, W. A. McKown, of Columbus, and J. M. Hall, of Washington, assistant chief inspector,
conducted the inquiry.

The finding as reported by Allison concurs with that of Clarence L. Jarrett, state labor
commissioner, who also expressed the opinion that lack of water caused the boiler to explode.

The No. 5 mine of the Elkhorn-Piney Coal Company, to which the work train was carrying about 350
miners at the time of the blast last Thursday, resumed operations Monday.

The train of four wooden coaches was being drawn by the engine which was backing up the
creek, with the front part directly against the front coach. The train carried more than 300 men
enroute to their work in a mine of the Elkhorn-Piney Coal Mining Company. The train had made its
last stop of the trip and was preparing to again get underway when the explosion occurred.

With a deafening roar the boiler reared into the air and crashed back upon the first car. A part of
the cab was hurled to the left, across the creek and crashed into the rear of a house, barely
missing a woman and her two children who were asleep in their beds. Another part of the engine
was hurled to the right of the track and through another home, injuring no one.

In the car there was an indescribable scene of horror. The morning was cold, and the men were
huddled in the forward part of the coach where it was warmer. The seats were filled and many
stood in the aisle. The front of the engine ap[p]arently was blown directly through the front end of
the coach, mangling many. The hurling boiler crashed down upon many more, and escaping steam
burned still others.

In all 65 persons were killed or injured in the explosion. Five persons who received minor
injuries were not sent to the Coal Valley Hospital in this city, to which 47 of the injured were
rushed in ambulances and private automobiles, while 12 men who had died instantly were taken
to the Hooper undertaking establishment here.

During the day three of the injured died at the hospital to swell the death list to 15, and this week
three more have died to bring the total deaths up to eighteen.

Jesse Persinger, died at hospital entrance from shock.
John Lowe, 40, died four hours after admission to the hospital.
Ray Tartar, 18, died three hours and 35 minutes after admission to the hospital.
Henry McMillion, 41, died six hours and 50 minutes after being admitted to hospital.
Homer Cart, 38, terribly burned, died Monday.
Okey V. Litton, died one week after being admitted to the hospital.