This week's Historic Pinole harkens back to the heyday of railroads, telegraph lines and building bridges. It's also about a horrific accident involving runaway railcars and the toppling of a 27-ton steel girder.

While the article is somewhat confusing in describing the sequence of events, it clearly conveys the dangerous working conditions of the time. It also describes the fortunate result that only one man suffered a broken leg and other injuries while many others seemed to have cheated death.

The article is from the March 14, 1900 of the San Francisco Call newspaper.

RUNAWAY CARS CAUSE A VERY BAD ACCIDENT

A Huge Derrick Used in Bridge Building Demolished.

William Henry Is Seriously Injured at Pinole and Several Workmen Have Narrow Escapes From Death

Speclal Dispatch to The Call.

PINOLE. March 13.— At this place today, where the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railway crosses the county road, occurred a disastrous smash-up, which resulted in the serious injury of William Henry and the narrow escape from death of a large number of workmen.

A temporary bridge had been constructed and the rails laid up to that point so as to allow the transportation of heavy steel material necessary to construct a permanent bridge. Two flatcars holding two immense girders were standing on the bridge and the men were busy adjusting the tackle to lower the girders into position when, with hardly a moment's warning, three heavily laden flatcars rushed out of the long cut and collided with the cars on the bridge. William Henry was caught beneath the wreckage and had his leg broken and was otherwise severely injured. When the cars struck the last of those which had run away broke loose and rebounded fully two hundred yards, but still held the rails. All four of the remaining cars were completely wrecked and one large girder weighing twenty-seven tons was knocked down to the road leaving one end restlng on the bridge.

The accident was caused by three cars breaking loose from a construction train, seven miles from the scene of the wreck. A gang cf men were distributing crossarms for the telegraph line from the cars, and when the train reached the top of the grade and commenced to descend the other side it was discovered that the three head cars had broken from the train. They were soon beyond the control of the trainmen. There were no brakes on the three cars and the men who were on them wore powerless. After making efforts to check the cars by throwing ties in front of the wheels they were compelled to abandon them. The men followed as fast as they could, well knowing that there would be a disaster.

The great derricks used in placing the steel girders for the bridge were completely demolished, and a number of persons who were near the bridge had narrow escapes from being caught under the wreck. Captain Bermingham had barely passed under the bridge with his team when the crash came.

It will be several days before the wreck will be cleared owing to the great difficulty in getting apparatus sufficiently powerful to move one of the immense girders now lying on, the cars, which are too badly disabled to be moved. All laying of rail beyond this point toward Point Richmond has ceased.

This article comes from the California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cdnc. The collection hafs digitzed more than 400,000 images from newspapers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Images dated between 1846 and 1922 are in the public domain and not subject to copyright.