Camp MacArthur Troop Train Derailment
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On June 18, 1918, a troop train carrying soldiers from Camp MacArthur’s 80th Field Artillery left East Waco and traveled eastward on the Cotton Belt line, heading toward a southern training camp. After traveling for fifteen minutes (about seven miles), the train derailed just north of Selby, killing Corporals Laurn Harrell and August Handschumacher, Jr. and injuring about thirty military personnel and four railroad employees.
According to a report made by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) on the incident, Troop Train Number 264 consisted of fourteen passenger coaches, six freight cars, and a caboose, and was a Baldwin Consolidation-type, 2-8-0, Number 510, of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas, also known as the Cotton Belt line.
The derailment occurred as the train approached a trestle crossing the Tehuacana Creek. After an official investigation and upon hearing statements from the train’s engineer, Statham, the ICC came to the conclusion that a sun kink served as the main factor in the accident. Sun kinks can occur when extreme heat causes rails to bulge or spread. At the time of the accident on that June day, it was reported to be 103 degrees. Statham reported to the agency that the sun kink was “3 to 5 inches in width and about half a rail length long, located about 400 feet south of the trestle; he then set the air [brakes] in emergency and jumped.”
The ICC report also factored in the poor condition of the track: “this section was not properly supported by a ballast, and should not have been permitted to remain in that condition.” This information led to the determination that the locomotive began its derailment 113 feet south of the trestle, causing the engine to turn over when it began to cross. A Waco News-Tribune account of June 19, 1918, states: "at the time of the wreck [the train] was passing over a wooden bridge across Tehuacana Creek. As the engine went onto the bridge, timbers suddenly gave way and the locomotive ploughed through.”
The ICC found no mechanical problems with the Baldwin Locomotive Number 510. However, the arrangement of the cars made the event more tragic. During the derailment, the engine’s tender cistern detached from its frame, and unfortunately, the first passenger car directly behind it was composed entirely of wood. The tender’s frame and tank practically demolished the wooden coach, and the two deaths and many of the injuries occurred in this car. The ICC claimed that placing this lighter wooden coach behind the locomotive with the heavier steel cars behind it “undoubtedly increased the danger of injury to the passengers.”
Much speculation followed the incident as to the cause. On June 19, 1918, the Waco News-Tribune reported on a popular belief: “The favorite opinion of the hundreds of officers, camp and railroad officials, and citizen spectators, was that the bridge or the rails had been tampered with, by persons knowing of the troop movement.” With the United States into its second year of involvement in World War I, it is not surprising that such theories of sabotage were being put forth. Just a few days after the derailment, the investigation reports debunked these theories.
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Wacoan Observers
Spectators, many of whom had detected the sound and smoke, came out to see the wreckage. An early motorbike with a sidecar is seen in the foreground of this photograph. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
Disastrous Results
Although the ICC investigation revealed no mechanical problems with the steam locomotive in question, the poor condition of the track created disastrous results on that hot June day. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
Rising Tensions
Spectators survey the wreckage, likely wondering at the cause of such a severe wreck. With tensions rising around the country in relation to US involvement in World War I, it is unsurprising that many immediately jumped to the conclusion that the train or track had been sabotaged. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
Designed for Strength
This photo shows the underside of the Baldwin Consolidation locomotive with its 2-8-0 wheel configuration. Although few rail lines purchased this type after its introduction in 1873, within a few years it became one of the most popular locomotives in the United States because of its ability to move freight twice as heavy as its predecessor. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
Train Wreckage
The Pullman coaches had their undercarriage torn away as the rails and limestone bed gave way underneath, resulting in severe damage to the train and serious injury to passengers. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
80th Field Artillery
Soldiers stand between the derailed Pullman and a Wells Fargo freight car while a telephone worker restores service. Just a few months after the train derailment, the 80th Field Artillery moved overseas in August of 1918. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
New Normal
Soldiers and military life became a regular part of everyday happenings in Waco following Camp MacArthur’s construction in 1917. Noted photographer E. C. Blomeyer took this photograph showing Wacoans inspecting the aftermath of the accident. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
Major Supplier
Baldwin Locomotive Works served as a major supplier of engines—like the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas’ Number 510 Baldwin Locomotive steam engine pictured here—to the Allied powers throughout World War I, producing over five thousand trains for the war effort. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University
Safety Regulations
In 1906, the Pullman Company began replacing all of its wooden coaches with safer steel cars. However, this process took some time and the derailment of Camp MacArthur Troop Train Number 264 proved the danger of relying upon the wooden models. At the time of this accident, the United States Railroad Administration had assumed control of the company’s operations, citing the war emergency. | Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University