Saluda artifact found

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http://www.tryondailybulletin.com/news/18092.asp

Train wreck artifact found
Anna Pack Conner
January 3, 2006

Editor?s note: History has a way of finding you when you aren?t really looking for it.
George Derwort, owner of Melrose Junction, was working on his property in November when his track hoe operator saw some metal barely sticking out of the ground. Derwort asked him to carefully unearth it.
?That?s when we realized it was the ?truck? assembly from the train that wrecked here,? Derwort said. The train had lost its brakes on the Saluda Grade and was out of control, he said. ?The train hit that curve there adjoining my property and didn?t make it. We found coal strewn there in a radius of several hundred feet. It was quite an impact.?
The axle and broken wheel were driven deep into the earth and left there for decades, until November, 2005 when work began on the Derwort?s new Rivercove neighborhood.
Below, Polk County historian Anna Pack Conner describes the Melrose train wreck and another, now part of the history of railroading in Polk County.

by Anna Pack Conner
The history of the Saluda Grade?its imaginative construction up the steep mountainside, its opening of a route from the sea over the mountains and beyond, and its numerous spectacular wrecks?reads like an exciting adventure novel. The railroad reached Tryon in 1877 and Saluda in 1878. The area between Tryon and Saluda was the setting of the drama.  
The trains had to stop at Melrose where a helper engine was attached to help push the train up the mountain. Even later when the diesels arrived, some trains had to be separated because only half of the train could be pulled up the mountain. But, the biggest danger was coming down the mountain. All trains stopped in Saluda so that brakes could be inspected and all precautions taken to ensure a safe descent.
The trains started down the mountain at a very slow rate of speed and the majority made it safely down to Tryon. There were, however, many accidents in which the cargo was dumped along the tracks and lives were lost.
In August of 1903 a freight train with 13 coal cars wrecked near Melrose, killing an engineer, a fireman, and a brakeman. This accident was reported in the Asheville Citizen and carried locally by the Polk County News in Columbus. The severity of the wreck prompted many articles and letters to editors concerning the dangers of the steep grade and possible solutions.
James Patton, a member of the corps of engineers during the time of construction between Spartanburg and Asheville, said:  ?When we reached a point where the town of Melrose is now located, it was found that if the original survey was adopted and the road built through Howard?s Gap, the contractors would not be able to complete the road to Hendersonville in the time allowed.?  
He added that it was decided to go straight up the mountain in order to meet deadlines and to later come back and build around the mountain through Howard?s Gap. However, shortly after, the railroad changed hands a couple of times, and the new route was never built.
Two weeks later there was another runaway, but this time it was a train going up the mountain. It stalled and began moving backward.
At the same time, a train had left Tryon starting up the mountain. The operator saw the train go through Melrose backwards and immediately notified the train coming from Tryon. The two trains managed to stop just in time?50 feet apart.
Because of public outcry concerning the frightful loss of property and lives, the railroad officials proposed construction of two safety tracks. Despite the generally held opinion at the time that this was not enough, the two tracks were built.
Safety Track No. 1 was the scene of a crash in September of 1940 (see photos, page 14). The runaway train went screaming down the mountain at the speed of 45 mph and went off the end of the safety track.  The engineer and brakeman were injured and the fireman was killed when tons of coal pitched forward as the locomotive stopped suddenly on the slope. This safety track was taken out of service in 1955.
When the diesel-electric locomotives began to travel the Saluda Grade in 1949, the trips up and down the mountain improved. Although this invention did reduce the number of accidents, they still occurred. In September of 1964, No. 154 lost its brakes and became a runaway.
At 1:50 a.m., the train entered the safety track at Melrose. The engine plunged over the end and down the mountain, severing trees 18 inches thick. Twenty-three cars loaded with 6,300 tons of coal turned over or derailed. In 1971 a second diesel runaway had three engines derail at the Melrose safety track with 44 cars piling upon themselves.
George Derwort, owner of Melrose Junction at Melrose, recently uncovered evidence of a wreck at a location where he was grading in an area below the tracks. The truck assembly has a solid steel axle that measures approximately four inches in diameter. As can be seen in the picture on the front page, the axle is bent, which gives evidence of the powerful impact of a train wreck.
It is hard to determine which of the accidents at Melrose left this bit of history, but Mr. Derwort and his partner plan to donate this interesting artifact to a museum.  
The train no longer travels through Tryon and up the Saluda Grade, but those interested in further study of this exciting time in our history can find materials and artifacts at the Polk County Historical Association Museum located at the Tryon Depot and at the Saluda Public Library.