Episode 38: The 1918 Hammond circus train crash

Disaster Area

Truecrime, Explosions, Aviationaccidents, Floods, Fires, Earthquakes, History, Shipwrecks, Volcanoes, Disaster, Hurricanes, Planecrashes, Disasters, Tornadoes, Massshootings, Society & Culture

4.2 • 839 Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2017

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You're the engineer on an empty troop train in the middle of the night in 1918, headed west to pick up more soldiers meant to head off to the war in Europe. You've had little sleep but you've eaten well and taken some pills for your kidneys. Almost all of the rest of the crew are back in the caboose -- perhaps playing cards or sleeping, with no passengers to tend to. You are alone, and after a while the movement of the train rocks you right to sleep. So you don't see the circus train cars on the tracks in front of you, not until it's too late.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello everybody. This is Jennifer Matarise, and before I start this episode, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to those affected by the two terror attacks this week.
0:11.2	The first at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, in Britain, and the second on three men defending two women from an Islamophobic attack in Portland, Oregon.
0:22.6	Please do whatever you feel you can do for those traumatized, injured, or killed in both attacks.
0:29.5	Please remember the 22 who died in Manchester and the two men murdered in Portland,
0:34.8	Ricky Best and Talizan Namkai Meche. People have been sharing the quote
0:40.4	from Mr. Rogers about what his mother told him when he would see scary things on the news as a child.
0:47.0	Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping. If there's anything I hope this
0:52.5	podcast teaches, it's how true that statement is.
0:56.7	Thank you very much for listening this week, if you feel up to it, and welcome to disaster area.
1:08.0	Episode 38, the 1918 Hammond Circus Train Crash, June 22, 1918, 50 to 100 deceased, 127 injured.
1:24.9	I'm so mad at my parents, I might just run away and join the circus.
1:30.3	Back when the threat was both still a common turn of phrase and a legitimate threat given
1:36.3	bad economies and worse family lives, a kid just might tell their parents they were going
1:42.8	to run away and join the circus for everything
1:45.1	from getting caught stealing a few pennies to suffering through violent abuse on a daily basis.
1:52.0	The circus, not just to children but also to adults, must have sounded like such an exotic
1:58.0	adventure.
1:59.0	You'd ride the rails, meet clowns and acrobats, feed the elephants, and maybe even learn
2:06.0	how to tame the lions as you rode to places all across the country you've never even dreamed
2:11.6	a visiting.
2:13.0	Except that's not quite what circus life was like back then.
2:18.0	There was always some back-breaking work that needed to be done, and if you weren't able
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Disaster Area, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Disaster Area and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.