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Rare 1911 RPPC Postcard Aneta North Dakota Train Wreck ND - 5 Dead in Fire
This postcard is made from a real photo of the December 30th 1911 train wreck and the deadly fire that resulted from it. This postcard is rare. At the time of writing this, it's the only item concerning this train wreck for sale anywhere on the internet.
Included are images of a newspaper of the times, printed in The Laramie Republican on December 30th 1911, which tells the story of what happened. By reading this newspaper article, you're learning of the wreck just like a person in 1911 did, which is fascinating to any history buff.
It reads:
"Five dead in wreck. Fast train on Great Northern Road ditched in North Dakota from a broken rail. General manager Gruber in official car was on train, but his car and observation car were not wrecked and were converted into temporary hospital care - bodies burned by fire.
Anita ND Dec 30th - thrown into the ditch by a broken rail, train No. 3 known as the "Oregonian," on the Great Northern, killed at least five persons and injured a score of others early today, two and a half miles south of Sharo, Steel County.
General Manager Gruber's car was attached, and his car and the observation car were the only ones to remain on the rails. The fatalities occurred in the dining car and the bodies were debris.
With the thermometer registering 12 below zero, and with a twelve-mile wind blowing, the injured passengers and trainmen suffered before they could be given aid.
The general manager's car and the observation car were both transformed into temporary hospitals, while some of the victims were taken to farm houses.
Six killed: Corrected list adds one name to causalities on Oregonian. Six people are known to have been killed and more than a score were injured in a wreck of the "Oregonian," the Great northern railroad's Pacific coat train, three miles south of here today.
The dead: The list of dead: Michael Mahoney. Great Northern brakeman, burned to death. En route home at Haver, Montana.
Joseph Moser: St. Paul cook in diner.
L. Lodge: St. Paul, cook in dining car
Two identified: believed to be husband and wife
Two-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. J. Bailey, Bottineau, North Dakota"
The date on the back of the postcard, the one hand-written, is off by one day. This was likely written by a previous owner of the postcard, and either the person wrote it one day off, or because the occurrence of the wreck and fire happened over the passing of midnight from one day to another, and in which case, the wreck event occurred December 29th - 30th.
Add this worthy piece to your collection today.
Please inspect the pictures, as they give the best representation of condition. May have discoloring, edge or corner wear, marks, creases, fading, smudges, corner or edge bends, tears, or corners missing.
(A140 inventory number)
