Oscar was a retired Passenger Conductor of the New York Central Railroad Co, but is better known for his heroism. He was a flagman on the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train when it left Michigan City on it's way to Hammond, Indiana, June 22, 1918. On the way, one of the train cars developed a hot box and he was told to signal the engineer to stop. Once the train had stopped, Oscar started setting up signal flares. His words were "Then I realized that another train was headed our way. I started to run down the tracks to stop the other train. It went passed out yellow warning light, and disregarded the red light and the flares set up along the tracks". As the train roared by, he tried to attract the attention of the engineer (Alonzo Sargent) by throwing a lit flare into it's cab, but it hit the window and went out. "As the train went past, all I could say was, 'Oh my God.'" The other train plowed through the caboose and four sleeper coaches that were carrying circus performers to their next show in Hammond. The wooden circus coaches exploded on impact by the kerosene lanterns lanterns used in the circus coaches. Oscar and another man found Joseph Dierickx who was thrown from the train during it's impact and rushed him away from the burning coaches. Because of Oscar's heroism and yelling for others to help, some lives were saved. The railroad vice principal later cited him for his bravery.
Oscar was a retired Passenger Conductor of the New York Central Railroad Co, but is better known for his heroism. He was a flagman on the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train when it left Michigan City on it's way to Hammond, Indiana, June 22, 1918. On the way, one of the train cars developed a hot box and he was told to signal the engineer to stop. Once the train had stopped, Oscar started setting up signal flares. His words were "Then I realized that another train was headed our way. I started to run down the tracks to stop the other train. It went passed out yellow warning light, and disregarded the red light and the flares set up along the tracks". As the train roared by, he tried to attract the attention of the engineer (Alonzo Sargent) by throwing a lit flare into it's cab, but it hit the window and went out. "As the train went past, all I could say was, 'Oh my God.'" The other train plowed through the caboose and four sleeper coaches that were carrying circus performers to their next show in Hammond. The wooden circus coaches exploded on impact by the kerosene lanterns lanterns used in the circus coaches. Oscar and another man found Joseph Dierickx who was thrown from the train during it's impact and rushed him away from the burning coaches. Because of Oscar's heroism and yelling for others to help, some lives were saved. The railroad vice principal later cited him for his bravery.
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