Railroad Accidents, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Sep. 2006 Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ TRAGIC RAILROAD ACCIDENTS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING HERE SINCE 1854 BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian Ponchatoula has suffered a series of accidents in recent years as several motorists and passengers, and just this past spring a pedestrian, have been struck by trains traveling through our town. These tragic deaths are but the latest in a large and sad volume of railroad accidents in our community. Ponchatoula owes its existence to the presence of the railroad line but since its first year of operation in 1854, passing trains have taken a toll on any living thing in their path. During the first half centrury of railroad operations in Ponchatoula most of the train accidents involved cattle, horses, or mules which happened to meet an approaching train. Sometimes persons in wagons, buggies or even pedestrians would be part of the deadly collision of flesh and steel. Such a tragic accident took the life of a Ponchatoula man on the evening of March 12, 1912, as Rufas E. Tucker was instantly killed by a passing train. This thirty year old carpenter was the son of early Ponchatoula residents Zelotas Tucker (1837-1915) and Caroline Bradly (1840-1913). Rufas had come into Ponchatoula that tragic Wednesday, probably after finishing his day's work. He left the Blass Spiller store in the first block of West Pine Street and walked east along the wooden sidewalk towards the railroad tracks. It was about 8:20 in the evening as Rufas walked the half block to the tracks, pausing perhaps a moment at Jake Abels' general store at the corner to light a cigar before crossing Southwest Railroad Avenue and stopping at the railroad tracks. The few lamps in the nearby stores gave some light, but each passing steam engine emitted a quantity of black smoke which made the night even darker. Rufas waited by the tracks while a northbound freight train clanked along the double set of rails. No one will ever know his final thoughts as he saw the lights of the train's caboose pass by on its way to Hammond. Rufas stepped through the smoke, noise and darkness onto the closet set of tracks and was immediately struck by a fast passenger train called "The Panama Limited" which was heading south. Was it the vibration and noise of the passing freight train, the swirling smoke and the general darkness that night, or other factors with distracted Rufus as he crossed the tracks? The locomotive of "The Panama Limited" had a steam chest which projected 14 to 20 inches from the boiler, and it was this part of the engine that struck Rufas and killed him instantly. As the train came to a stop some distance to the south, the bloodied body of Rufas Tucker was carried across the tracks to the nearby Pierson and Butler Store {located where the Collinswood Museum is today}. It was immediately apparent that there was no hope of returning life to the shattered body. A young boy named Will Ed Butler remembered the scene many years later. His mother had sent him away to avoid the grisly scene but the young man found a secluded place to observe the crowd of adults looking over the body and discussing the tragedy. Ponchatoula's town marshal, Edwin S. Tucker, a kinsman of Rufas, had observed the accident while standing near the milk shed on the west side of the railroad tracks {the shed and spur track were located where the small Ponchatoula tourist information office is today located}. Marshal Tucker had instinctively moved back a step or two as the Panama Limited sped by the milk shed. He was looking across the street at the engine as it hit someone and he saw a spark from that person's cigar fly into the air. Only after the train had passed and he reached the body did Marshal Tucker learn the victim's identity. Rufas Tucker's body was brought to his east side family home and soon buried in the family plot in Sand Hill Cemetery. although the Illinois Central Railroad Company claimed they were not liable in this accident, litigation began witch would stretch out for the next five years before the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of the company. While the litigation crawled through the court systems, the railroad company took steps to improve visibility at Ponchatoula's main railroad crossing. The train depot which was very close to East Pine Street was jacked up, placed on log rollers and moved north to the location of the present depot {the Country Market}. The twenty foot long milk shed and spur line next to it were also removed and relocated. Moving these railroad buildings away from Pine Street increased visibility which became even more important in coming years as greater numbers of wagons, cars, and trucks used this major crossing. Accidents would continue to happen at the town's crossings after the tragic death of Rufas Tucker, but the improved safety conditions were at least a small comfort for the Tucker family. There is only one main set of tracks through Ponchatoula today. Some crossings have been closed and the others are gated; but one fact remains constant: in 1912 as now, when steel and flesh collide on the tracks, steel always wins. Anyone with comments, questions, or additional information about Ponchatoula's rich heritage may call Jim Perrin at 386-4476.