OFF THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW
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GLADBROOK, Iowa - On March 21st, 1910, 47 people were killed when a Rock Island Railroad passenger train derailed at Green Mountain, near Gladbrook. The train consisted of 8 carriages, with Pullman cars marshalled at the rear, powered by 2 engines, both running tender first. Propelling their tenders as they were at high speed, one of them derailed as the train was passing through a cutting, derailing the rest of the train. Confined by the banks of the cutting, the coaches telescoped, the heavy Pullman cars demolishing the lighter-built day cars, killing or injuring everyone in them. This view shows the relief train that brought in rescue workers and transported away from the scene the walking injured and remainder of the passengers. Note the fleet of ambulances assembled to remove the casualties.