Western Maryland Railway's Worst Accident
The Ransom Train Wreck in 1905
Around 5:55 p.m., near Ransom, a little village southeast of Patapsco in Carroll County, the Thurmont Express and the freight train collided head-on.
“Just west of the bridge, they came together with terrific force, the three engines being piled one upon another, fortunately in such a manner that sufficient steam connections were broken, to relieve the boilers, and thus prevent the further horror of one or more explosions,” reported the Washington Post.
“After the freight train whizzed past Patapsco, it was only a couple of minutes and it sounded like the whole train rolled down the track. The noise was terrific! I never heard such an awful noise like that!” Caple said in a 1977 newspaper interview.
Responding to the Accident
The Frederick Daily News reported that the men who were sitting on the bumper suffered the greatest casualties.
“When the crash came the more fortunate, who were on the engine, jumped or were thrown from the train and were only injured. Those in the baggage cars were terribly mangled, and the crews of all three engines were killed. Their bodies all believed to be under the wreckage of the engines,” reported The New York Times.
Despite the impact of the engines in which “the three steam monsters were reduced to scrap iron,” none of the passenger coaches derailed. They all survived because of this, and “none of the passengers were injured aside from slight cuts, bruises and shocks.”
Caple said that everyone who had heard the wreck came running. “I ran right along with them as fast as my legs could carry me. On the way down, we passed a man with a railroad flag in his hand running towards the Patapsco store. Somebody asked him, ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘My god, I don’t know.’ He ran up the track to telephone Westminster,” Caple said.
When Caple arrived at Ransom, it was hard for him to see the actual wreck because of all the steam escaping from busted engines and what he did see, he wished he hadn’t.
“People were crawling from the wreck scalded. Some were laying with arms and legs chopped off and screaming and crying were terrible. Carloads of lard in wooden barrels had burst open and many passengers were covered with it and rescue crews had to work in it up to the knees to pull people out. They told all of us to either help or we would have to leave. So no matter what age, every one of us pitched in to help.
“I helped pick up arms and legs. No one knew for sure who they belonged to, so they told us to give them to anybody who didn’t have one that it looked like they belonged to. I helped another man who was scalded. He kept crying that he was so cold, so I got a coat and put over him. They said he had been scalded inside and I believe he died.
“The whole bottom just west of the Patapsco River was strewn with wreckage and bodies and people calling for help.”
Assessing the Damage
When the final count was made, 26 people had died in the wreck and 12 were injured. It was the worst accident in the history of the Western Maryland Railway.
A view of the Ransom train wreck
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