1srelluc
Diamond Member
Sherman is hit by an express train in Barberton, Ohio in 1951. Three were killed.
"Tank-train crash survivor tells his tale
Carl Nichols, now 78, leaps from disaster, lives to tell about it By Mark J. Price Beacon Journal staff writer Published: May 4, 2009 - 02:30 AM | Updated: June 18, 2011 - 02:12 AM
History never sleeps. Here are some interesting updates from the world of This Place, This Time:
Tank survivor Carl Nichols, 78, of Bath Township, remembers hearing the whistle. He remembers preparing to leap for his life. He doesn't recall anything after that. ''I was in the tank that was hit,'' Nichols said.
Nichols has personal details to add to last week's article about the Ohio National Guard tank that was struck by an Erie Railroad passenger train on April 29, 1951, at the Fairview Avenue crossing in Barberton.
Three guardsmen were killed. Nichols was a 20-year-old private first class when soldiers from the 137th Tank Battalion in Barberton drove in a convoy of jeeps, trucks and tanks. ''It was just an ordinary day,'' Nichols said.
At the crossing, a lieutenant got out of a jeep and motioned the convoy to roll. No one knew that a six-car Erie Streamliner was hurtling 60 mph around a curve about 3,291 feet away. ''All of a sudden, I thought I heard a train whistle,'' Nichols said. ''Why I climbed out of that tank, I don't know. Just instinct.'' It saved his life.
He scrambled out of the turret, stood on the engine compartment and prepared to jump. Everything went dark after that. ''The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital,'' he said.
He spent a week at Barberton Citizens Hospital with scrapes and bruises. That is where he learned his buddies had died. ''The three fellows that was with me, there was no chance,'' he said. Former Barberton Police Officer James Peresta, 88, who retired in 1973 after 25 years, vividly recalls that day. ''You don't forget something like that,'' he said. He and another officer, Stephen Despot, had met the convoy at the city line on state Route 619 and served as escorts.
After the guard lieutenant gave the all-clear sign, Peresta drove his cruiser over the tracks. He noticed warning lights as he reached the upper level, and whirled to see a rushing train. ''I looked back and the tank was coming up on the tracks,'' he said. ''I'm sure they didn't know there was a train coming.''
Just before the horrible collision, Peresta spotted a soldier — no doubt Nichols — on the tank. ''I saw him jump,'' he said. ''Boy, he had about a 10-foot drop.'' Peresta radioed authorities to send ambulances.
About 20,000 spectators gathered at the scene. He can't believe it's been 58 years. To this day, he avoids the Fairview Avenue crossing. ''Even now, I take the bridge on State Street,'' Peresta said. ''I think there's no sense of me crossing that railroad there.'' Nichols has four children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He shudders to think about his family if he hadn't made a fateful leap in 1951.
Darn, I can't even fathom what that would have looked like on video.
I'm surprised that the Sherman did not take more damage.
The train did not fair well either.
oscardeuce
Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 14336
EE: 100% (6)
Posted: Yesterday 9:38:55 PM EST
[Last Edit: oscardeuce]
Last edited:
