February 18, 1900: Great Train Massacre Caused by Farmer's Poor Decision

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

February 18, 1900: The great train massacre of 1900 has claimed ten lives and badly injured many more, whose squeals were “something frightful” The crew had a lively time because the gore and blood from the mangled carcasses so greased the wheels that the brakes would not hold, and for the rest of the trip they had trouble stopping and starting the cars. Sand had to be sprinkled on the tracks to get traction.

This all happened because a farmer had carelessly driven his pigs onto the railroad tracks in front of an oncoming freight train, converting them into quite a slaughterhouse.

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