Heinrich505
Active member
As I am slowly (emphasis on slowly, sadly) gathering information to try and re-create the Philly - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh line, I recently tried looking at trackage around the Johnstown - Conemaugh area, and inevitably got drawn into details about the terrible flood and devastation.
My google-fu seems to be woefully inadequate for the task of trying to pin down the engines of the PRR that were being used at the time of the flood (May 31, 1889). In eyewitness accounts, the No. 8 Day Train from Pittsburgh was trapped in the East Conemaugh train yard, along with several other engines and freight trains, but I could not identify what was pulling that train. Most of the trains in the yard were destroyed. There were about 24 engines that were destroyed when the 30-60 foot wall of debris and water hit the roundhouse in East Conemaugh at about 30mph. I can't seem to locate any details from the PRR about their lost equipment.
Engine No. 1309 somehow managed to survive the onslaught. It was described in accounts as an 8-driver Class R engine, but some researching found that the old Class R engines were later reclassified as Class H3, of which one, No. 1187, escaped the scrap heap and exists today. A picture of 1187 shows her to be a 2-8-0 consolidation, but in some of my searches, it seems that 2-8-0 consolidations may have been built later than 1889, when the flood occurred. As noted, my search abilities seem to be unsuccessful - comes from being a technosaur I suppose.
One of the heroes of the incident was PRR engineer John C. Hess, an engineer based out of E. Conemaugh yard. He was running a gravel train further up the line, checking and repairing washouts from the tremendous amount of rainfall the area had been getting. When the South Fork dam broke apart, further up the river, it released a wall of water that collected houses, people, trees, and bridges as it roared downstream.
Engineer Hess heard the roar of the flood before he saw it, and deduced what happened. He tied his train whistle open for a constant scream, and opened the throttle of his train wide, racing backwards towards E. Conemaugh while watching as the wall of water, trees, and debris kept overtaking his train. This warning spurred many residents to immediately rush for high ground, because rumors had been flying that the dam was going to break, and an engine with a constant scream of it's whistle was a warning that something terrible had happened. Engineer Hess's wife, in E. Conemaugh, recognised her husband's train whistle, and knew the worst had happened - the dam had broken. She got his family to safety.
Hess got his train to the yard safely, but only moments before the flood struck the town. He and most of the men on his train made it to high ground, but his engine, No. 1124, was washed away.
I cannot find any sort of details about what class of engine 1124 was. I'm guessing she would probably have been a 2-8-0, but she could have been an older 4-4-0 as she was pulling a work train. If there are any PRR afficionadoes out there that might be able to shed some light on this, I'd be grateful. I was thinking it would be rather cool to immortalize old PRR No. 1124 in honor of her crazy ride to warn people along with her engineer, John Hess, if I could figure out what kind of engine this was and how to reskin a number on her.
Any help and suggestions on this would be welcome. I didn't know where to post this so I figured General Trainz would be good for a start, and moderators could move it if so desired.
Thanks,
Heinrich505
My google-fu seems to be woefully inadequate for the task of trying to pin down the engines of the PRR that were being used at the time of the flood (May 31, 1889). In eyewitness accounts, the No. 8 Day Train from Pittsburgh was trapped in the East Conemaugh train yard, along with several other engines and freight trains, but I could not identify what was pulling that train. Most of the trains in the yard were destroyed. There were about 24 engines that were destroyed when the 30-60 foot wall of debris and water hit the roundhouse in East Conemaugh at about 30mph. I can't seem to locate any details from the PRR about their lost equipment.
Engine No. 1309 somehow managed to survive the onslaught. It was described in accounts as an 8-driver Class R engine, but some researching found that the old Class R engines were later reclassified as Class H3, of which one, No. 1187, escaped the scrap heap and exists today. A picture of 1187 shows her to be a 2-8-0 consolidation, but in some of my searches, it seems that 2-8-0 consolidations may have been built later than 1889, when the flood occurred. As noted, my search abilities seem to be unsuccessful - comes from being a technosaur I suppose.
One of the heroes of the incident was PRR engineer John C. Hess, an engineer based out of E. Conemaugh yard. He was running a gravel train further up the line, checking and repairing washouts from the tremendous amount of rainfall the area had been getting. When the South Fork dam broke apart, further up the river, it released a wall of water that collected houses, people, trees, and bridges as it roared downstream.
Engineer Hess heard the roar of the flood before he saw it, and deduced what happened. He tied his train whistle open for a constant scream, and opened the throttle of his train wide, racing backwards towards E. Conemaugh while watching as the wall of water, trees, and debris kept overtaking his train. This warning spurred many residents to immediately rush for high ground, because rumors had been flying that the dam was going to break, and an engine with a constant scream of it's whistle was a warning that something terrible had happened. Engineer Hess's wife, in E. Conemaugh, recognised her husband's train whistle, and knew the worst had happened - the dam had broken. She got his family to safety.
Hess got his train to the yard safely, but only moments before the flood struck the town. He and most of the men on his train made it to high ground, but his engine, No. 1124, was washed away.
I cannot find any sort of details about what class of engine 1124 was. I'm guessing she would probably have been a 2-8-0, but she could have been an older 4-4-0 as she was pulling a work train. If there are any PRR afficionadoes out there that might be able to shed some light on this, I'd be grateful. I was thinking it would be rather cool to immortalize old PRR No. 1124 in honor of her crazy ride to warn people along with her engineer, John Hess, if I could figure out what kind of engine this was and how to reskin a number on her.
Any help and suggestions on this would be welcome. I didn't know where to post this so I figured General Trainz would be good for a start, and moderators could move it if so desired.
Thanks,
Heinrich505