The Explosion of Engine No. 347

Susquehanna River, as seen from Cove Mountain

 

The view from atop Cove Mountain is arguably the most enchanting in all of Perry County. Below, the wide blue Susquehanna winds past the borough of Duncannon and meets with Sherman's Creek at a bend in the river. The overlook atop Cove Mountain is a popular destination for locals as well as Appalachian Trail hikers, who flock to the summit to experience one of the most scenic views in a state renowned for scenic views. From this lofty perch, one can watch a seemingly endless parade of trains crossing over the Sherman's Creek bridge at the foot of the mountain. But, on the morning of September 5, 1865, this scenic river bend was the site of a tragic disaster, when Pennsylvania Railroad Engine No. 347 exploded while pulling the Erie Express.

It was around five o'clock in the morning when the eastbound Erie Express reached Duncannon. It should have been an uneventful run; at the helm was Theodore Dougherty, an experienced engineer from Altoona, who was assisted by fireman David Medara. Also aboard Engine No. 347 was Edward Bechiel, an off-duty PRR engineer from Centre County who had hopped aboard for a ride to Harrisburg. With three experienced railroaders aboard the engine, it was inconceivable that anything could go wrong.

However, just as the Erie Express rounded the curve below Duncannon, a curious explosion occurred-- curious in the sense that virtually all the sleeping residents of Duncannon were awakened by it; yet few of the train's passengers had noticed it. The Harrisburg Telegraph reported: Strange to say, the concussion was not heard by some of the passengers on the train , and when the train itself stopped, passengers in the rear cars imagined the stoppage was only the result of some ordinary cause.

But an ordinary cause it was not; because of a structural defect in the steel used to construct the boiler, the explosion blew out downward, essentially launching the engine and tender into the air like a rocket and landing upside down, while leaving the rest of the train intact and unscathed. The force of the explosion was such that the locomotive's heavy driving wheels landed a hundred yards away, and 250 feet of track were torn up. Yet, the majority of passengers hadn't felt, or heard, a thing.

Duncannon residents, however, were roused by the explosion, and when help arrived on the scene, the damage to Engine No. 347 was unimaginable. The Telegraph wrote:

A more complete, thorough and irreparable destruction of a locomotive could not have been made. Bars of iron which formed portions of the machinery were broken and twisted in all imaginary shapes. The wood work was scattered into countless splinters, the running gears torn asunder, and the boiler itself torn into shreds resembling the torn edges of rotten cloth when subject to malicious destruction... We are constrained frankly to admit, after having witnessed several explosions of steam boilers, on steamboats and in factories, that this explosion was the most complete, in its destruction of machinery, that we ever witnessed.

The testimony taken on the ground by authorities was brief; all railroad employees aboard the passenger cars testified that Dougherty was one of the most skilled and most careful engineers on the road, and the possibility of human error was quickly discarded. As for the engineer, he was discovered alive beneath the overturned locomotive, but died before any effort to save his life could be made. The agony of being crushed and pinned beneath several tons of hot metal is too horrible to be imagined.

As for David Medara, the locomotive's fireman, he was fortunate that death came quickly and suddenly. Medara's head was torn off from the nose up, and his mangled body was retrieved from beneath one of the baggage cars. The body of Edward Bechiel was the last to be found, as it had been blown into the river by the explosion. Based upon the battered condition of the body and the shreds of fabric that had once been his clothes, it was safe to assume that he, too, had died instantly.

As fate would have it, not a single passenger aboard the Erie Express was injured.

The coroner's inquest ruled that the iron used to manufacture the boiler was unfit for use, and recommended the firing of the locomotive inspector at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company shops in Altoona, though no criminal charges were recommended.

How powerful was the explosion that destroyed Engine No. 347? In February of 1892, nearly three decades after the terrible disaster, the Duncannon Record reported that the young son of resident John Roller was playing on Cove Mountain when he found an 18-pound hunk of metal. Upon giving the relic to his father, Roller recognized it as a brass valve from the boiler of a steam locomotive-- undoubtedly a fragment of what had once been Engine No. 347. Considering the ferocity of the blast that tore the locomotive to bits, and how little of the wreck was ever recovered, it's safe to assume that other chunks and scraps of Engine No. 347 are still scattered around Cove Mountain or buried beneath the mud of the Susquehanna River.