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On July 19, 1912 Gwendolyn's grandfather Joseph Frank Hirschvogel was
working as a telegraph lineman for Western Union and was traveling home to
Pocatello on a speeder after working on a job west of American Falls Idaho. At
mile post 241 1/4 he was struck from behind by train No. 10, engine 858 with
conductor L. A. Lehrbas and Engineer Luke Lamb. He was killed instantly. This
happened at 6:07 p.m. and it was determined that this was all my great
grandfather's fault, he had forgotten, it was said, that the train was
due. But was this really all his fault? What we know comes
from two newspaper articles.
| July 21, 1921 Pocatello Tribune, page 8
LINEMAN MEETS INSTANT DEATH
Joseph Hirschvogel Struck by Engine No. 10 in Cut West
of American Falls and Instantly Killed - Leaves Family Here - Was Lineman
for Western Union - Evident That Unfortunate Had Forgotten Train Was Due
From West.
Joseph Hirschvogel, a lineman in the employ of the Western Union
Telegraph Company, was struck by the engine of fast mail train No. 10, in
the cut two miles west of American Falls and instantly killed.
The deceased, who has been working in the vicinity of the Falls for some
time, was on his way to the town on a speeder when the accident happened.
The train was five minutes late and was turning the curve to the left when
Engineer L. F. Lamb cited Hirschvogel not 30 feet ahead. The grade is so
steep and the speed of the train so great that there was no time for warning
or slaking of speed. The speeder and its rider was thrown fully 40 feet. The
train was stopped as soon as possible and Conductor L. H. Lehrbus, who was
in charge, was at the side of the victim in two minutes after the accident,
only to find that death had preceded him. The body was brought to American
Falls, where an inquest was held this morning. Later it was brought on to
this city and taken to the undertaking rooms of W. T. Walker, where it is
being prepared for burial.
Deceased was a resident of this city, coming here about two years ago
from Salt Lake. He leaves a wife and two daughters, Helen and Florence, at
the grief-stricken home at 1153 South Forth avenue.
Mr. Hirschvogel was an active member of the local lodges of the Moose and
the W. O. W., which organizations will undoubtedly have charge of the
funeral arrangements, the hour of which has not as yet been fixed.
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| July 24, 1912, Pocatello Tribune
HIRSCHVOGEL RESPONSIBLE
LINEMAN BLAMED FOR HIS TRAGIC DEATH
Man Struck and Killed by East Bound Fast Mail Found by Board of Inquiry to
Have Failed to Exercise Due Precaution While on Speeder.
A board of inquiry convened at Pocatello, Saturday, July 20, for the
purpose of investigating and fixing responsibility in connection with the
death of Joseph F. Hirschvogel, lineman, struck by train No. 10, Engine 858,
Conductor L. A. Lehrbas, Engineer Luke Lamb, mile post 241 1/4, west of
American Falls, Idaho, 6:07 p.m., Friday, July 19, 1912.
The board found:
"That deceased left Pocatello that morning on his motor car to do
some work between Quigley and Wapi, distance about 45 miles west, and was
returning home at time of accident, riding on motor car at speed of about 15
miles per hour, on time of fast mail train No. 10, consisting of five cars,
that train being about five minutes late: that train No. 10 was running at a
speed of from 45 to 50 miles per hour, which is usual at this point; that
track in vicinity is tangent for approximately two miles west of point of
accident on gradient of two to seven-tenths per mile; except for milepost
241 to point one-fourth miles east, or point of accident, and extending
approximately one-fourth mile beyond there is a curve of one and four tenths
degrees to the left, there being a cut 760 feet, more or less, west of point
of accident, which prevented fireman seeing the speeder, and engine had
advanced to within 150 to 200 feet of speeder before fireman observed it,
when be immediately notified engineer, who was prevented from seeing track
around curve to left, and the latter at once put air into emergency and
sounded engine whistle simultaneously, which whistle is of the calliope type
and average in intensity of loudness, but before train could be brought to
stop, engine had struck speeder and its passenger, and ran five or six train
lengths beyond, resulting in instantaneous death of deceased, whose body was
thrown clear of and to right of engine; that deceased was riding motor with
feet to inside of track, contrary to usual and good practice, which is
substantiated by fact that he turned head to left when approaching engine
was within 20 to 30 feet of him, and that post mortem examination showed
that force of concussion was on left side and back of body; that deceased
was fully aware of the danger of operating motor car on railroad tracks, and
has been cautioned to be on constant alert for trains to protect himself and
that he apparently was aware of train No. 10 was due, and was looking at his
watch at time as it was found in left sleeve of his coat, and that he had
full view of block signal almost constantly, either to rear or in front,
which would show if both was occupied by train."
"After listening to all the testimony, we find accident due entirely
to carelessness of deceased, who has worked on railroads, and was familiar
with train movements during past three years, and that engineer and firemen
exerted every effort at their command to avert the fatality."
The report is signed by J.F. Hogle merchant; H. J. Plumboff, assistant
superintendent; C. E. Brooks, assistant superintendent; G. W, Lillie,
assistant superintendent.
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This type of board of inquiry was probably common in the
early 1900s, but today it is apparent that the board left a lot of questions
behind. We have found out over the Internet that engine 858 was a
Common Standard Atlantic type with 4-4-2 wheel arrangement. Built by Brooks in
March 1908 and scrapped in January 1928 and was owned by Union Pacific Railroad subsidiary
Oregon Short Line. It burned coal and was one of 12 owned by the Oregon Short
Line.
We found that in the December 1912 Timetable for the Union Pacific, that No. 10 was "the China &
Japan mail" which went from Los Angles to San Francisco to Salt Lake
City, Ogden and Cheyenne on its way to Chicago. Normally this train did
not get anywhere near Pocatello or American Falls.
At the time there were three trains East thru American Falls: #6 the Portland
& Puget Sound Express due at 3:30 am, #18 the Oregon Washington Limited at
10:30 am and the #14 Utah Express at 3:30 pm.
The question is, was the China & Japan mail diverted to
the Oregon Short Line and if so was Hirschvogel given information about this
change in the timetable? The basic railroad
handbook Notes on Track: Construction and Maintenance published in 1903,
nine years before the accident, states (page 681) Hand
cars are often needlessly smashed by being run into by irregular trains.
All irregular trains should blow the whistle before rounding each
curve. The type of speeder or motor car that
Joseph Hirschvogel was using when the accident occurred was very likely a
Sheffield Gasoline Motor Velocipede Car that is illustrated below. Click on it to
make it bigger and use your back button to return. 
Note
that the operator sits on top of the single wheel bench. The machine is
designed for operating with the right hand and the foot platform encourages
operators to sit with there legs pointed into the track. It is more than a
little disingenuous that the board of inquiry would suggest that the proper mode
of operation is with the legs on the outside forcing the operator to use the
left hand to control the car. Joseph
Hirschvogel died on the eve of the railroad industry's first real safety
program. Aldrich (1992: 7) states that In
1907, 4,534 employees were reported killed on American railroads--more than ever
before or since. The fatality rate was 2.72 per thousand, nearly an
all-time high. and on page 14 and 15 Nineteenth-century
railroad managers invariably blamed accidents on the lack of discipline which
was, in turn, the fault of unions or the men themselves or virtually anybody, it
seemed, except management. . . Management's urge to "blame it on the
engineer" had been powerfully reinforced by self-interest. Rules, it
was generally acknowledged, were designed to be paraded in liability court, not
to be obeyed. Thomas Ryan, an engineer on the Delaware & Hudson,
bluntly told a New York investigating committee that there was "not a trip
I make I don't violate some rule, and the managers of the Company know
it." Other employees told the same story and even the railroad press
concurred. Noting the pressure to adhere to the schedule at the expense of
the rules, Railway Age claimed that "any engineman who fails to make his
schedule time habitually . . . is likely to be discharged." I
visited the scene of the accident during the summer of 1999. It is easy to
find as the railroad still uses the same mile posts and mile post 241 is marked
on a power pole east of the site. This is what it looked like (click on it
to expand the photograph and use your back button to return). 
I
took this photograph looking west directly at the accident site. To
me it looks like the train crew had a clear view of the track where Hirschvogel
was before they both entered the cut and curve. The landscape has not
changed since the accident. Our conclusion from
all of the above is
that the railroad rushed to judgment by putting all of the blame on Joseph Frank
Hirschvogel. The railroad's concern to limit its liability precluded it
from properly assessing who was at fault.
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