Railroad work in the early 1900s was dangerous, and few jobs were more perilous than coupling cars in a busy yard. One wrong step, one trapped foot, or one sudden movement of the cars could mean terrible injury or death.
In August 1909, freight brakeman Ernest R. Croson was working in the Benning Yard in Washington, D.C., when a routine task turned catastrophic. His foot became caught, he was knocked down, and the wheels of the railroad cars passed over him.
Though gravely injured, Croson remained conscious and calmly spoke with police as he was taken to the hospital.
The following account describes the accident that left a veteran railroad worker fatally hurt while performing one of the most dangerous duties on the line.
Fatally Hurt Coupling Cars
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With his left leg cut off and his body badly mangled, Ernest R. Croson, freight brakeman on the Pennsylvania railroad, was able to converse with the police while being removed in the fifth precinct patrol wagon from Benning to Providence Hospital this afternoon.
Despite the terrible injuries he received, he did not lose consciousness and was able to direct the movements of those who had him in charge.
Croson, who is married and has several children, lives at 308 3rd Street NE. He was engaged in the work of coupling cars in the Benning Yard this afternoon when the accident, which will probably cost him his life, occurred. It is said that his foot caught in a frog, he was knocked down and the wheels of more than one car passed over him.
None of the wheels touched his face, however, and only his leg and body were disfigured. Fellow workmen went to his assistance and cared for him until the arrival of the police patrol wagon, when he was hurried to the hospital.
It was said at the hospital that he cannot recover.
The victim of the accident is a veteran employee of the railroad company and is well and favorably known throughout this division of the road.
Source: Evening Star. Washington, D.C. August 19, 1909.
