Railroad work was dangerous in the best of weather, but winter made the job even more treacherous. Snow had to be cleared from the tracks quickly, and crews often worked close to moving trains, trusting that speed, distance, and warning would be enough to keep them safe.
In Chicago in 1911, that trust failed in a horrifying way.
Edward Donahue, a foreman overseeing a gang of laborers, was struck by an overland limited train while his men were clearing snow from the Chicago and Northwestern railway yards. The impact sent his body flying through the air with such force that he became, in the words of the newspaper, a “human cannon ball.”
Donahue’s body struck two other workmen standing fifteen feet away. The force of the collision killed one man and seriously injured another.
Donahue survived the initial impact, only to die later from his injuries.
Hit By Human Cannon Ball
CHICAGO, Illinois. — A man’s body hurled through the air after being struck by an overland limited trained, killed another man and seriously injured a companion.
The human cannon ball was Edward Donahue, foreman of a gang of laborers. He survived the effects Until today. The train, on its way to the Pacific Coast, had not cleared the Chicago and Northwestern railway yards here when the accident occurred.
Donahue, with 50 of his men, were at work cleaning snow from the tracks. The foreman apparently saw the locomotive approaching but before he could escape he was struck and his body shot through the air, keeling over the other two workmen who were 15 feet distant and had thought themselves safe. The limited was going 40 mph.
Source: The Norfolk Weekly News Journal. Norfolk, Neb. February 10, 1911.
