Wife Niola
Mother Augusta Hiatt
Father Carl Edgar Baum
LaGrande, Ore, (Special to The Stateman) – The engineer and fireman of Union Pacific’s westbound passenger train No. 25, the Pacific Limited, were killed outright late Saturday night when the engine and five baggage and express cars derailed as the train rounded a curve on the precipitous banks of Meacham creek canyon.
There were no injuries among the passengers, and none of the passenger cars left the rails. Those killed were Clarence Rizor, 55, the engineer, and Guy Baum, the fireman, both of La Grande.
Chief Dispatcher B. J. Johnson said that the 16-car train was six miles west of Duncan, 33 miles east of Pendleton, Ore. In the picturesque Blue Mountain section of Oregon division, when the wreck occurred.
Johnson said he had no information as to the cause of the derailment. He said the track was too badly torn up by the accident to permit an immediate investigation being successful.
Rizor and Baum were killed when the huge 3800-class Mallet engine toppled over on its side. First reports had declared three persons were killed, but careful check of the train crew and passengers proved the report erroneous.
As word of the wreck was flashed in from Duncan, the Union Pacific dispatched relief trains with wrecking and first aid equipment both from Pendleton and La Grande.
The fact that the train was moving slowly while negotiating the curves of the canyon prevented a greater tragedy, officials declared.
The waters of Meacham creek are barely 75 feet from the rails, and had the train been roaring along at top speed, the crowded passenger cars might have been toppled into the canyon, declared Johnson. Five express and baggage cars left the rails, but neither the engine nor the cars fell into the canyon. The wreckage was still beside the tracks Sunday, and it was not expected that removal would be completed until Monday afternoon.
The tracks were cleared sufficiently to permit resumption of through traffic at 11:15 a.m. Sunday.
Number 25 was delayed 14 hours by the wreck, and the first and second sections of trains 17 and 18, the Portland Rose were delayed about 12 hours.
Number 18, eastbound through Boise from Portland, did not arrive in Boise until 6 p.m. Sunday.
Number 25 went through Boise Saturday shortly after 1 p.m.
The victims were taken to authorities in Pendleton. The remains were to be return to LaGrande late Sunday.
The crew dispatcher said both Rizor and Baum were married.
Rizor was a veteran of the road, and the fact that he was killed in the engine indicated, said railroad men here, that he had no warning of any trouble on the track. The system is protected by automatic block signals.
A full investigation of the wreck will get underway today, with examination of the locomotive in an effort to determine cause of the derailment.
Idaho Staresman (Boise, Id)
Monday Jan. 21, 1946
Mother Augusta Hiatt
Father Carl Edgar Baum
LaGrande, Ore, (Special to The Stateman) – The engineer and fireman of Union Pacific’s westbound passenger train No. 25, the Pacific Limited, were killed outright late Saturday night when the engine and five baggage and express cars derailed as the train rounded a curve on the precipitous banks of Meacham creek canyon.
There were no injuries among the passengers, and none of the passenger cars left the rails. Those killed were Clarence Rizor, 55, the engineer, and Guy Baum, the fireman, both of La Grande.
Chief Dispatcher B. J. Johnson said that the 16-car train was six miles west of Duncan, 33 miles east of Pendleton, Ore. In the picturesque Blue Mountain section of Oregon division, when the wreck occurred.
Johnson said he had no information as to the cause of the derailment. He said the track was too badly torn up by the accident to permit an immediate investigation being successful.
Rizor and Baum were killed when the huge 3800-class Mallet engine toppled over on its side. First reports had declared three persons were killed, but careful check of the train crew and passengers proved the report erroneous.
As word of the wreck was flashed in from Duncan, the Union Pacific dispatched relief trains with wrecking and first aid equipment both from Pendleton and La Grande.
The fact that the train was moving slowly while negotiating the curves of the canyon prevented a greater tragedy, officials declared.
The waters of Meacham creek are barely 75 feet from the rails, and had the train been roaring along at top speed, the crowded passenger cars might have been toppled into the canyon, declared Johnson. Five express and baggage cars left the rails, but neither the engine nor the cars fell into the canyon. The wreckage was still beside the tracks Sunday, and it was not expected that removal would be completed until Monday afternoon.
The tracks were cleared sufficiently to permit resumption of through traffic at 11:15 a.m. Sunday.
Number 25 was delayed 14 hours by the wreck, and the first and second sections of trains 17 and 18, the Portland Rose were delayed about 12 hours.
Number 18, eastbound through Boise from Portland, did not arrive in Boise until 6 p.m. Sunday.
Number 25 went through Boise Saturday shortly after 1 p.m.
The victims were taken to authorities in Pendleton. The remains were to be return to LaGrande late Sunday.
The crew dispatcher said both Rizor and Baum were married.
Rizor was a veteran of the road, and the fact that he was killed in the engine indicated, said railroad men here, that he had no warning of any trouble on the track. The system is protected by automatic block signals.
A full investigation of the wreck will get underway today, with examination of the locomotive in an effort to determine cause of the derailment.
Idaho Staresman (Boise, Id)
Monday Jan. 21, 1946
Wife Niola
Mother Augusta Hiatt
Father Carl Edgar Baum
LaGrande, Ore, (Special to The Stateman) – The engineer and fireman of Union Pacific’s westbound passenger train No. 25, the Pacific Limited, were killed outright late Saturday night when the engine and five baggage and express cars derailed as the train rounded a curve on the precipitous banks of Meacham creek canyon.
There were no injuries among the passengers, and none of the passenger cars left the rails. Those killed were Clarence Rizor, 55, the engineer, and Guy Baum, the fireman, both of La Grande.
Chief Dispatcher B. J. Johnson said that the 16-car train was six miles west of Duncan, 33 miles east of Pendleton, Ore. In the picturesque Blue Mountain section of Oregon division, when the wreck occurred.
Johnson said he had no information as to the cause of the derailment. He said the track was too badly torn up by the accident to permit an immediate investigation being successful.
Rizor and Baum were killed when the huge 3800-class Mallet engine toppled over on its side. First reports had declared three persons were killed, but careful check of the train crew and passengers proved the report erroneous.
As word of the wreck was flashed in from Duncan, the Union Pacific dispatched relief trains with wrecking and first aid equipment both from Pendleton and La Grande.
The fact that the train was moving slowly while negotiating the curves of the canyon prevented a greater tragedy, officials declared.
The waters of Meacham creek are barely 75 feet from the rails, and had the train been roaring along at top speed, the crowded passenger cars might have been toppled into the canyon, declared Johnson. Five express and baggage cars left the rails, but neither the engine nor the cars fell into the canyon. The wreckage was still beside the tracks Sunday, and it was not expected that removal would be completed until Monday afternoon.
The tracks were cleared sufficiently to permit resumption of through traffic at 11:15 a.m. Sunday.
Number 25 was delayed 14 hours by the wreck, and the first and second sections of trains 17 and 18, the Portland Rose were delayed about 12 hours.
Number 18, eastbound through Boise from Portland, did not arrive in Boise until 6 p.m. Sunday.
Number 25 went through Boise Saturday shortly after 1 p.m.
The victims were taken to authorities in Pendleton. The remains were to be return to LaGrande late Sunday.
The crew dispatcher said both Rizor and Baum were married.
Rizor was a veteran of the road, and the fact that he was killed in the engine indicated, said railroad men here, that he had no warning of any trouble on the track. The system is protected by automatic block signals.
A full investigation of the wreck will get underway today, with examination of the locomotive in an effort to determine cause of the derailment.
Idaho Staresman (Boise, Id)
Monday Jan. 21, 1946
Mother Augusta Hiatt
Father Carl Edgar Baum
LaGrande, Ore, (Special to The Stateman) – The engineer and fireman of Union Pacific’s westbound passenger train No. 25, the Pacific Limited, were killed outright late Saturday night when the engine and five baggage and express cars derailed as the train rounded a curve on the precipitous banks of Meacham creek canyon.
There were no injuries among the passengers, and none of the passenger cars left the rails. Those killed were Clarence Rizor, 55, the engineer, and Guy Baum, the fireman, both of La Grande.
Chief Dispatcher B. J. Johnson said that the 16-car train was six miles west of Duncan, 33 miles east of Pendleton, Ore. In the picturesque Blue Mountain section of Oregon division, when the wreck occurred.
Johnson said he had no information as to the cause of the derailment. He said the track was too badly torn up by the accident to permit an immediate investigation being successful.
Rizor and Baum were killed when the huge 3800-class Mallet engine toppled over on its side. First reports had declared three persons were killed, but careful check of the train crew and passengers proved the report erroneous.
As word of the wreck was flashed in from Duncan, the Union Pacific dispatched relief trains with wrecking and first aid equipment both from Pendleton and La Grande.
The fact that the train was moving slowly while negotiating the curves of the canyon prevented a greater tragedy, officials declared.
The waters of Meacham creek are barely 75 feet from the rails, and had the train been roaring along at top speed, the crowded passenger cars might have been toppled into the canyon, declared Johnson. Five express and baggage cars left the rails, but neither the engine nor the cars fell into the canyon. The wreckage was still beside the tracks Sunday, and it was not expected that removal would be completed until Monday afternoon.
The tracks were cleared sufficiently to permit resumption of through traffic at 11:15 a.m. Sunday.
Number 25 was delayed 14 hours by the wreck, and the first and second sections of trains 17 and 18, the Portland Rose were delayed about 12 hours.
Number 18, eastbound through Boise from Portland, did not arrive in Boise until 6 p.m. Sunday.
Number 25 went through Boise Saturday shortly after 1 p.m.
The victims were taken to authorities in Pendleton. The remains were to be return to LaGrande late Sunday.
The crew dispatcher said both Rizor and Baum were married.
Rizor was a veteran of the road, and the fact that he was killed in the engine indicated, said railroad men here, that he had no warning of any trouble on the track. The system is protected by automatic block signals.
A full investigation of the wreck will get underway today, with examination of the locomotive in an effort to determine cause of the derailment.
Idaho Staresman (Boise, Id)
Monday Jan. 21, 1946
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