An Erie freight train roaring across the Cattaraugus Creek bridge about 12:40 a.m. Wednesday morning was derailed from an undetermined cause, piling up 63 freight cars, about half of which were scattered along the bank or dumped into the stream. No one was reported injured.
The pictures above, taken by Al McDonald, early Wednesday morning show much of the chaos, which one Erie official said was the worst derailment on the line in 35 years. The train was traveling from Meadville, Pa., to Buffalo. It had descended the Dayton hill and the four diesel units pulling the train plus eight cars had crossed the bridge when the accident occurred.
Lt. William Hart of the Erie Railroad Police said it would be days and possibly weeks before the railroad could determine the exact cause of the wreck. A piece by piece examination would have to be made of each car as it was removed from the scene to try and locate the cause. He could not say whether one of the trestles on the bridge gave way or if a piece of equipment was at fault. Two of the trestles were down in the creek bed.
Conductor of the 120 car freight was Wm. R. Theon of Gowanda. The flagman was Henry Bouquin and the engineer was Gordon Becker. Dale Beaver was on duty at the freight depot near the scene of the accident at the time. Freight cars not involved in the accident were detached and re-routed over other lines into Buffalo.
Lt. Hart said the railroad was fortunate in one respect in that the train did not carry any perishable merchandise. The majority of the cars carried heavy goods such as lumber, cement, coal, and steel.
Officer [John] Callinan of the Gowanda Police force, on duty at the time of the wreck, notified State and County Police and called out the Gowanda Fire Department. The fire department set up floodlights and helped maintain order during the early morning hours, as more than 500 people collected at the scene of the accident.
Source: Gowanda News. Gowanda, NY. October 13, 1955. Provided by Phil Palen.