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Most of these photos were taken with a Kodak 126-format camera by Patricia Mathu (see "The Tracks Near the Farm" for memories of growing up in the 1940's near the KGB&W), with some additional photos from the daughter of railroad president H. Weldon McGee.

#315 On the Ground!

On Saturday May 31, 1969 Green Bay & Western locomotive #315 was leading a three-car special excursion train from Kewaunee to Green Bay when it collided with a gravel dump truck at County Road "P" - between New Franken and Luxemburg in Brown County.  Richard Dickey was the engineer.

This was the last day of the Kewaunee, Green Bay & Western RR, a subsidiary of the Green Bay Route incorporated in 1890. On June 1, 1969 the KGB&W was going to be fully merged into the parent line.

The impact was severe enough to derail the locomotive and all three three cars.  Notice the damage to the engineer's side of the front of the locomotive, and the other corner of the locomotive plowed into the ground.

I don't know who the man in the photo is.  A GB&W employee or a reporter, perhaps?

General View Of The Wreck

This photo is from the north side of the tracks.

On the far right is locomotive #315. Behind it are two cars: yellow bay window caboose #617, and green business car #603, rebuilt from a road caboose. Both were also derailed in the accident. At the end of the train is business car #600 "ROAMER," which was built in 1918 and acquired by the GB&W in 1944.  It also derailed in the accident.

The dump truck, owned and operated by Ray Theys, ended up in a field after the accident.

Derailed Cabooses

Here's a closer view of the derailed cabooses. The bright yellow caboose is one of the bay window cabooses built by International Car Company in 1965-66 (GBW #615 - #617).  The green car behind it is business car #603, which was modified from a wood sheathed bay window caboose.

Rear End of #315

Here's a shot of the rear end of the locomotive.  It looks like the truck pulled up a few ties as it skidded to a halt.  By the way, that sharp-looking seven-year-old kid in the red shirt is none other than yours truly.  Geez, those locos are huge to a seven year-old!

Side View of #315

Locomotive #315 is an Alco Century 430 model.  It was the last of 16 C430s constructed, and one of the last locomotives built by Alco before it ended domestic production.

This side view can give you an idea of the paint scheme used at the time.  GBW #315 was the last engine to get the red and gray scheme: beginning with GBW #316 in October 1968 locos began wearing the all-red paint scheme.

And no, that young fellow in the photo is not me this time. It's my younger brother, with my grandpa.

What About the Truck?

Here's the dump truck that was involved in the accident. The driver was a friend of the family, that's why my mom took pictures of the train wreck that day.  Although the driver wasn't permanently injured in the accident, he did spend part of the summer of 1969 wearing a neck brace because of the collision.  A cook on #600 "ROAMER," was also injured in the accident.

Clean Up the Mess!

Late in the day a wreck train with C&NW Crane 6333 and it's boom car, and GB&W's locomotive 313, a few work cars, and wood caboose 608 arrived to rerail the locomotive. 

In the Press

This accident was mentioned in Diesel Era magazine, September/October 1994 (Volume 5, Number 5) in their article "Alco's Final Four-Axle Design - The Century 430" by Stephen McMillan.  On page 27:

On May 31, 1969, 315 was leading a three-car holiday train, with the president of the road, H. Weldon McGee, aboard, on the return leg of a Green Bay-to-Kewaunee round trip. About 15 miles east of Green Bay, the train was involved in a grade-crossing accident with a dump truck. Although no one was  seriously hurt, 315 and all the cars derailed, with 315 coming to rest at about a 90-degree angle to the track. Not heavily damaged in the derailment, 315 was damaged more during rerailing. Apparently, the forward cable spreader bar slipped, causing the cables to squeeze the cab sides above the lifting pads."