The legendary lore of West Georgia passenger train service reads like a adventure novel, filled with tales of mysterious wrecks, daring robberies and even snakes slithering loose on a train.
This is the fourth part of our blog series exploring the history of passenger train service in West Georgia and the end of the passenger train era in April 1971.
Newspapers reported smash ups, collisions, and maimed or mutilated bodies as a result of riding the rails.
In the earliest days of West Georgia passenger train travel, train wrecks, derailments and accidents occurred commonly. According to the Etowah Valley Historic Society, “Newspapers reported frequent smash ups, run offs, collisions, turn overs, loss of life and maimed or mutilated bodies as a result of riding the rails. . . Letters of protest from passengers printed in regional newspapers claimed bad management and careless operations by state authorities. Disasters became so bad and so frequent that tabloids commonly reported disparaging headlines.” The article continued, stating that the route between Chattanooga and Atlanta “become known as the Valley of the Shadow of Death,” as reported on January 15, 1852 by Augusta’s Daily Chronicle.
We dug up stories of West Georgia passenger train wrecks and other tales by combing the newspaper archives of the Library of Congress. Following is a sampling of train wrecks and other stories we found, most including links to PDF files of the original newspapers as digitized in the Library of Congress archives.
Explosion in Marietta
In 1891, engineer W.A. Woolbright of Atlanta stopped his train at the Marietta Station. As he ran inside to get his instructions, the train’s engine exploded. “The noise was fearful and will never be forgotten by the citizens who heard it,” recounted the Feb. 7, 1901, Marietta Journal. The engine was destroyed, and nearly 200 window lights were broken at the Kennesaw House Hotel.
Baby Swept from Train
In May 1908, rushing winds swept a baby from a Western & Atlantic passenger train traveling from Acworth to Marietta. When Mrs. Dora Deitch realized what had happened to her child, she prepared to jump from the train to find the baby. Another passenger stopped her and pulled the emergency chord. The Marietta Journal reported the rest of the story:
“Reuben Jackson, a Western & Atlantic switchman, was in the lead of the searching party, and nearly a mile from where the train was stopped, he found the baby standing by the track and softly crying. It was hurriedly carried back to its mother and, after she had sufficiently recovered her composure, it was once more placed in her arms. The train reached Atlanta shortly after 7 o’clock Wednesday night, and, after examination by a physician, the baby was pronounced sound and well, with the exception of a few slight scratches on its head and arm.”
An Engineer’s Sacrifice
In May 1912, the L&N No. 4 Northbound left Marietta on a Monday morning, then derailed near Canton. Reports indicated the tender car, with the engine ahead and passenger cars trailing, jumped the tracks while doing 25 mph as it approached the Etowah River crossing. Engineer Joe Latimer remained at the controls, fighting to stop the train while the engine and baggage cars also derailed. As passenger cars crossed a small trestle over a ravine, the trestle gave way, dropping the passenger cars and stopping the train. The crash killed Latimer, and the Marietta Daily Journal reported his heroic efforts. “The fact that Engineer Latimer stuck to his post and stopped the train in the face of certain death saved the lives of practically everyone on the train,” the newspaper reported. It also noted that had the train not stopped with Latimer’s efforts “the passenger coaches would have rolled down the embankment into the Etowah River.”
Cobb Train Robbery
The Great Cobb-Fulton train robbery occurred in January 1914, on the county line. A lone gunman surprised a conductor, then robbed nervous passengers of their belongings at gunpoint. The robber took about $300 from the men and women on the train, then jumped into the darkness as the train slowed. (In 2025 dollars, that would be equivalent to just under $10,000.)
Working on a tip a week later, the sheriffs of Fulton and Cobb counties sought several accomplices in the robbery at the Kennesaw House Hotel in Marietta. The lawmen found the suspects had fled the hotel, leaving behind luggage that helped to identify them. Later, authorities arrested two accomplices in Atlanta.
Police identified the robber as John Nolan. In December 1914, a judge and jury sentenced Nolan to 20 years in prison.
Lost Governor Returns
A more somber passenger train arrival ocurred in Marietta in April 1923. The remains of former Georgia Governor and Revolutionary War soldier John Clark returned to Marietta from St. Andrews, FL. After his burial in 1832, the Daughters of the American revolution discovered his grave abandoned and in disrepair. The Georgia chapter worked to return the governor to the Peach State. Their efforts resulted in the reinterr,ment of Clark, his wife and two of their grandchildren at Marietta National Cemetery following transport.
The Gold Wreck
On April 18, 1933, one of the most suspicious passenger train wrecks occurred after the northbound Flamingo passed through Marietta and crashed three miles south of Cartersville. The Flamingo left the tracks while traveling between 40 and 50 mph, a high speed for trains of the period. Two train crew and two riders died in the crash. Among the shaken-but-uninjured passengers was actress Laura Hope Crews, best known for her role as Aunt Pittypat in the movie, “Gone With the Wind.”
The Atlanta Journal described the wreck this way: “The engine and tender went over on their sides on the curve at the top of the grade, just out of the cut. The mail car jammed against the tender and the side of the cut, with the express car, baggage car and two day coaches zig-zagged just behind.”
Rescuers and recovery personnel who reached the wreck first praised the engineer, who died in the crash. “His brake hand was found clutching the brake lever, and his foot had not been moved from the pedal he had been attempting to operate in the brief moment allowed him before the fatal crash,” the Atlanta Journal reported.
At the time of the accident, the newspapers didn’t report a cause for the crash. But, an intriguing report appears on the website of the Etowah Valley Historical Society. That account claims that a robbery may have been a part of the wreck story, citing a subsequent report in the Atlanta Journal
The Etowah Valley Historical Society website reports, “The Flamingo . . . was well known to often transport gold to points across the South. Witnesses reported seeing three men attempting to break into the express car that was directly behind the engine and tender car. The suspected robbers escaped, but detailed descriptions were given to the railroad police and local sheriff.”
(We searched microfilm copies of the Atlanta Journal newspaper at the Cobb County Library Georgia Room, but have yet to find the subsequent-referenced story about the potential gold robbery connection.)
Snakes on a Train
And one of the more humorous incidents occured on May 1, 1936, reported by the Washington DC Evening Star. As the L&N Flamingo sped through Georgia, with its daily stop in Marietta, several snakes escaped from captivity. The snakes were being shipped from Fort Lauderdale, FL, to a new home at the Detroit Zoo. But somewhere in Georgia, passengers reported hearing a hissing sound that was first dismissed as a steam leak. When the train reached Cincinnati, confirmations came that snakes had been among the cargo, including some poisonous. A search ensued, with cautious workers nervously passing items from the train. Finally, three non-venomous snakes, each about seven feet long, were found near the steam pipes and captured by a representative of the Cincinnati Zoo. With the gopher, pine whip and coach snakes captured, one railroad employee was quoted, “you’re liable to see anything in this business.”
