You’re reading “Echoes in Time,” a weekly newsletter by the Independent Herald that focuses on stories of years gone by in order to paint a portrait of Scott County and its people. “Echoes in Time” is one of six weekly newsletters published by the IH. You can adjust your subscription settings to include as many or as few of these newsletters as you want. If you aren’t a subscriber, please consider doing so. It’s free!
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by the Scott County Chamber of Commerce. Since 1954, the Scott County Chamber of Commerce has advocated for a strong community by supporting stronger infrastructure and leadership.
The 1915 train wreck at Winona
On March 28, 1915, quite a ruckus occurred at Winona when a trestle over Buffalo Creek failed and dumped a train into the water, killing one person and injuring four more.
The accident occurred on the Tennessee Railroad, which had originally been the Paint Rock Coal & Coke Co. Railroad and extended only from Oneida to Morning Glory, near the headwaters of Paint Rock Creek. The railroad had only come to Winona a few years earlier. It had been purchased by railroad magnate Samuel Spencer in 1905. He reorganized it as the Tennessee Railroad and began extending it to New River. By 1906, it reached New River at Winona and continued up the river to Norma. By 1912, it had reached Campbell County just beyond Smokey Junction. By 1925, it reached its terminus at Fork Mountain in Anderson County, where the Devonia depot served as the end of the line.
Three Shay steam locomotives operated on the Tennessee Railroad, one of them owned by the New River Lumber Company and the other two leased. On March 28, 1915, one of those Shay locomotives was pulling a load across Buffalo Creek when the 50-foot-tall wooden trestle collapsed. As a result, Engine #24 and Caboose #201 plunged into the creek, killing one person and injuring four others.
It was the first of four fatal train wrecks to occur in Scott County between 1915 and 1931. The others occurred in 1925, 1929, and 1931.
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◼️ Monday morning: The Daybreaker (news & the week ahead)
◼️ Tuesday: Echoes in Time (stories of our history)
◼️ Wednesday: Threads of Life (obituaries)
◼️ Thursday evening: The Weekender (news & the weekend)
◼️ Friday: Friday Features (beyond the news)
◼️ Sunday: Varsity (a weekly sports recap)