After days of heavy December rains had swollen the creeks and loosened the hillsides, the weather snapped suddenly cold. An overnight coating of ice and wet snow blanketed the line. It was during a sudden heavy snow squall just beyond the Mahoning Creek bridge that southbound #19 (Baldwin 2-8-0, 1885), with a local morning freight in tow, encountered a large rockslide that had partially buried the track. The engineer and fireman just had time to jump clear before she hit - Putting her on her side, and causing enough damage that she was not repaired until the following spring.
#19 was never quite the same after that. It is believed that her frame was twisted in her fall and only partially repaired. She re-assigned to wreck train and MoW service in the summer of 1916 and renumbered #5. Ultimately, this is probably what saved her, as her 4 identical siblings were scrapped after newer power came online after WWI. ----- Actually, it was this morning. But I couldn’t resist!
