Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1955: Five Clovis men were killed when two freight trains collided near Vaughn.
The Portales Daily Tribune reported the trains collided head-on “and the ensuing holocaust cremated five crew members and injured three.”
One of the trains failed to switch onto a siding, which would have allowed the other to pass, the paper reported.
A fire caused by acetate that spewed over the wreckage burned for seven hours.
Both train engineers, one train’s fireman and two brakemen were killed in the collision.
The three injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, the paper reported.
Officials said 25 freight cars were derailed “piled up into a space only about a block long.”
The eastbound freight train consisted of 84 cars, while the westbound train had 132 cars.
Parallel tracks were not damaged or blocked and train service continued without interruption.
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