Train Wreck 1873. Engineer killed buried in Orono Cemetery.

COMMENT: The accident actually happened on September 1, 1869. During a trial run over the brand-new Black Island Railroad Bridge, the flooring timbers gave way, sending the engine tender and two cars into the Stillwater River and killing the conductor (Winchell Woodard/Woodward of Patten). Supposedly his remains were taken to his home town, but there is no record of his burial there or anywhere else. The engineer (Edwin Lander of Bangor) died of his injuries the next day and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery. Initially, two others were reported to be missing and at least one to be severely injured, but no names were reported at the time --- other than that they were "French laborers belonging in Oldtown". The next day, the missing men were reported to have run away from the scene and to be alive and well. See Bangor Daily Whig and Currier, 1869/09/02, p.3 and 1869/09/03, p.3. On September 7, the Bangor Daily Whig and Courier also reported on a photo of the "late unfortunate disaster" taken immediately after the accident by Old Town photographer M. L. Averill. Probably the image presented here is a scan or photo of Averill's photograph. No original copies of the photo are known to exist.