Durand Union Station
P.O.Box 106
200 Railroad Street
Durand, MI 48429
Office Hours:
Tuesday to Friday
9 AM to 5 PM
Telephone:
(989)288-3561
Fax:
(989)288-3494
Email:
Durand Union Station
Master of Transportation X.H. Cornell, of the Grand Trunk,
and Undertaker George W. McLain, assisted by the village authorities,
have kept the telegram and telephone wires busy trying to locate relatives
or friends of the deceased in the morgue. Twelve bodies lie in caskets ready
for shipment or burial. Of this number three have been positively identified
and instructions received as to what disposal to make of them. Of the remaining
nine, names have been affixed to three but their homes or relatives have not been located.
The bodies will be held in the morgue until Tuesday, when the unknown will be
buried side by side. The caskets are covered with bouquets purchased with money sent
to the village authorities by the bosses of the John Robinson Circus. The officials of
Shiawassee County, such as the prosecuting attorney, sheriff, coroner and others,
have been heard from and they are indignant because some of the state newspapers are
roasting them. [8/9/03]
The bosses with the John Robinson Circus sent $45.00 to the sufferers in the
Wallace wreck at Durand, Michigan.
The Wallace Show turned people away noon and evening at Bay City, Michigan,
the first Stand after the wreck.
C.B. Wallace has not yet made public the estimate he places on his loss.
The actual damage to the circus is figured at $20,000.00, but this does not
include the loss due to two cancelled dates in Lapeer and Caro. [8/22/03]
This exhibit features photographs and written accounts of the 1903 collision of two circus trains near the Durand Union Station. Text is from a brochure compiled in 1999 by Margaret Zdunic from archival holdings.
Others May Be added to the List By Night
Some of the Injured Taken to Detroit Hospitals
Harrowing Sights at the Scene of the Wreck
Said That the Disaster Was Due to Failure of Air Brakes to Work
Wallace Brothers Train Wreckage
The Wallace show exhibited at Charlotte yesterday and after loading
started for Lapeer, where it was billed to appear today. The trains
were run in two sections, the first containing 22 cars and the second
16 cars. As the first section was nearing Durand a flag was sent out
by a stock train ahead which was holding the main track, to hold the
circus train until the track was cleared. This held the first section
of the train fully a half mile west of the station.
After the first section of the circus train came to a stop a flagman with a torch
was immediately sent back to protect the first train, but the flagman had not gotten
back far enough before the second section came in sight, and as they were running
very fast, and the air brakes did not work well,it was impossible to stop the train
before reaching the caboose of the first section.
The first section was struck by
the engine of the second section with great force, completely demolishing the
caboose and the sleeper next to it. The engine of the second section was thrown
into the ditch on one side of the track and the tender on the other, both badly wrecked.
The first section consisted mostly of wagon cars, and at the rear were two sleepers
and a caboose. It was in the last sleeper that the majority of the victims were killed.
The light caboose between the sleeper and the engine of the second section crushed like
kindling, and did little to stem the speed of the on rushing engine. The occupants were
all asleep and knew nothing of the danger which confronted them until the crash came,
and in an instant the killed, dying and wounded were hurled in the mass of wreckage.
The news of the awful wreck soon reached the village and the railroad men, together
with all the physicians and many citizens of Durand were soon on the scene rendering
every possible assistance.
The Hotel Richelieu was turned into a hospital, and those who were severely injured
were carried on the mattresses on which they had been sleeping in the cars in the dining
room and other rooms, and the house is filled with those who were victims of the wreck.
Every possible aid and attention is being bestowed upon them. Some of those who were
injured the worst, begged to be shot, that their sufferings might be ended.
It is reported that the death list numbers twenty-three. Among the killed are Trainmaster James McCarty and Detective Large, both well known officials of the Grand Trunk. The work of identifying the dead, is being carried on with some difficulty. Most of those killed were performers. The second section of the train consisted mostly of animal cars, and the cars next to the engine of this section were badly damaged. Among the valuable animals killed were three camels, one elephant and a dog said to worth $1,000. The second section was in charge of Engineer Probst and Fireman Coulter, of Battle Creek, both of whom were slightly injured in jumping from their engine just before the collision, which occurred at 4 o'clock.
Recovering the Dead
As near as can be learned the number of wounded is about forty, some twenty of whom are badly injured. Several of the less seriously injured were able to make their own way to town, where they were given such medical attention as was available. At 10 o'clock it was stated that eight bodies had been taken from the wreck, and it is now believed that these are all the fatalities resulting from the disaster.
* News from Harper Hospital * Raymond Stevenson Collection *