| From the Columbus (Ga.) Times |
| |
| September 23, 1864 |
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| Locomotive Explosion |
| The locomotive attached to the
passenger train on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, which left the city
Sunday evening, exploded its boiler at Sidney Station, making a perfect
wreck of the engine, and instantly killing the engineer. |
| The concussion was very
severe, the report being heard distinctly a distance of ten or twelve
miles. |
| The explosion took place just
as the train was starting from Sidney. The locomotive was separated from
the tender and lifted entirely from the track, the upper part of the
boiler being blown off and carried a considerable distance. The
unfortunate engineer, Mr. James Odom, was found lying on his back, some
twenty five feet from the track, and about ten feet from the engine. Two
of the firemen, who were standing near the locomotive, were blown a
distance of ten feet, but not seriously injured. |
| Some of the trucks of the
tender were thrown off the track, and two or three rails were torn up;
otherwise the material damage, beyond the loss of the locomotive, was
slight. |
| During the night an engine was
sent up from Whistler, and the passenger train carried forward at an
early hour Monday morning. |
| We learn that Mr. Odom was a
married man, and that his family reside in Enterprise, whither his body
was taken by the up passenger train. |
| Mobile Reg. |
|