On July 6, 1915, a baseball excursion train with two passenger cars carrying teams and fans from Grants Pass and Medford, Ore., was returning from games in Montague, Calif. The excursion train was following a few minutes behind regularly scheduled Train No. 12.
The baseball special entered the Ashland yards on the main line just as a helper engine was entering the track and the two collided. Then a second helper engine crashed into the wreckage.
The passengers were jostled and some thrown around the cars. Jud Pernoll, pitcher for the Grants Pass team, had been standing at the front of one car and found himself turning two double somersaults and skidding into the back end of the car with his hat landing on the rack above his seat. He was not hurt, but 21 other passengers were.
Southern Pacific surgeon Dr. Boslough treated the injured at the hospital. Most of the injuries were minor, but Loyal Taylor, a fireman on one of the engines, was not expected to live.
Word of the train wreck spread quickly, jamming telephone exchanges with calls from concerned friends and relatives.
Today’s episode of As It Was was written by Alice Mullaly, edited by Kernan Turner, and produced by Raymond Scully. I’m Shirley Patton. As It Was is a co-production of JPR and the Southern Oregon Historical Society. To share stories or to learn more about the series, visit asitwas.org
Source: "Baseball Train in Collision in Ashland Yards 21 Injured." Medford Mail Tribune, 6 July 1915.
