Corwith, Iowa
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From the files of the Corwith Herald. Jan. 27, 1959. This letter was written by W.C. Woodbury, agent at Corwith.
I probably have the dubious distinction of being the first person in railroad history to give a train dispatcher a telegraphic report of a freight train derailment within seconds after it had happened.
I had been standing on the platform watching for possible defects in the cars as No. 50 passed the station. I went inside the office to report their departure to the dispatcher. On the way to the telegraph desk I glanced out of the east window, and noticed something strange happening in the train. About one half a mile away, cars seemed to be going into the air, and to both sides of the track. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me--I shook my head and looked again, cars that had been going into the air were coming down, and heading for the right of way fence. When they had settled down, I could see a pile up of some cars extending from the track to the right of way of fence on my side and some cars on their sides on the other side of the track. This all happened in about 30 seconds.
I immediately went to the telegraph key, and told Dispatcher Ralph Calles what I had seen---No 50's cars flying through the air. He evidently thought I was having hallucinations, but was finally convinced. There was no apparent activity around the caboose, so my first thought was that Conductor Max Sedlemeier (sp) was probably in there injured, as I had seen him when the caboose went by me. I then hurried down the track on foot toward the caboose, expecting to find Max knocked out.
He was in the caboose when I arrived there so I started up along the cars that were still standing on the track to see what damage had been done. About half way to the derailed cars I met Max, Brakemen Barney Bird, Pat McLaughlin and Engineer Roy Gamper coming back towards the caboose. Max had been alerted with the first jar and had braced himself in his seat so was not injured.
With the information that ten cars had been derailed, I returned to the telegraph office. Like a "well oiled machine" Mr. M.J. Reitan, Chief Dispatcher, and the "boys" in the office went to work.
W.C. Woodbury
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