Erie Railroad Newburg Yard Derailment Recovery Photo Archive with Named Crew, Cleveland, Ohio, 1959

Erie Railroad Newburg Yard Derailment

Photograph

Erie Railroad accident recovery photo archive depicting a freight train derailment at Newburg Yard on August 10, 1959, most likely in the Cleveland, Ohio, Newburg or Newburgh industrial district. Newburg was an old industrial section of southeast Cleveland tied to railroads, steel works, and freight switching, with the former Atlantic & Great Western, later Erie, running through the area. The location identification is strengthened by the yard name, Erie equipment, industrial overpass setting, and the known Cleveland use of Newburg or Newburgh in railroad and steel district geography. The wreck occurred one year before the Erie Railroad merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in 1960, placing the scene near the end of the independent Erie era.

Photo archive of 8 silver gelatin photographs, approximately snapshot to small-format prints, Newburg Yard, August 10, 1959. Freight cars sit overturned and jackknifed across multiple yard tracks, with Pennsylvania and Erie-marked cars visible among the wreckage. A crane works beside the damaged cars while railroad men stand along the ballast, on the embankment, and under a bridge or overpass, watching the clearance operation from trackside. Several views show the same derailment from elevated and ground-level positions, including a crushed cab or caboose area, tipped hopper cars, tangled rails, scattered debris, and crews working near the crane boom. Verso captions repeat “Aug. 10-1959,” “Newburg Yard,” “Walczak Cond.,” “Lyons Bachman,” and “Kompura,” with faint “Kodak Velox Paper” stamps on the backs.

Railroad yard accidents in the 1950s were handled before modern centralized emergency-management practice, relying on railroad wreck crews, cranes, section men, conductors, brakemen, and yard personnel to reopen tracks quickly so freight could move. The repeated captions naming the conductor, brakemen, and additional crew members give the group stronger labor value than an anonymous wreck scene, tying the damaged rolling stock to the men responsible for the train and its aftermath. Light curling, handling wear, minor creasing, and light verso soiling; overall in good condition. The archive preserves a dated Erie Railroad freight accident with named crew, visible wreck-clearance work, and a probable Cleveland, Ohio, Newburg Yard setting.

Item #23519

Price: $450.00