OBIT: Vincent W. WERTNER, 1902, Altoona, Blair County, PA

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FATAL FREIGHT TRAIN WRECK

Three Men Killed and Four Others Will Probably Die - Cars and Engines 
Smashed.

  Altoona, Pa., February 14 - Three men killed, four probably fatally, 
and two seriously injured, one freight train a complete wreck and 
another nearly so, are the results of an accident this morning on the 
Pennsylvania Railroad on the steep grade a few miles above the 
Horseshoe Curve.
  The dead are A. S. Grove, conductor of the forward train; U. B. 
Westner, brakeman of the forward train, and T. W. Cooney, brakeman of 
the forward train.
  The following are probably fatally injured:
  M. W. Hartman, flagman of the forward train; B. W. Kinkaid, engineer 
of the forward train; J. W. Fluke, engineer of the rear train, and 
Simon Frederick, brakeman of the rear train.
  The firemen of both engines, whose names are unknown, were seriously 
injured.
  Control of the second section of an east bound freight train was lost 
soon after emerging from Galitzin [sic] tunnel, and two miles west of 
Allegrippas [sic] it crashes into the rear of the first section.  Ten 
cars, the caboose and two engines were completely wrecked.
  Grove, Westner and Cooney were in the caboose of the forward train.  
Their bodies were torn to pieces.  Hartman was standing on the front 
platform of the caboose, and the shock threw him far down over the 
mountain side.  Engineer Fluke and his fireman jumped when they saw the 
train ahead of them.  Fluke was found unconscious fifty feet away from 
the track.
  All the injured men were taken to the Altoona Hospital, where it was 
said that Fluke was dying, and that there was little hope for the 
recovery of Hartman, Kinkaid and Frederick.
  The homes of the dead and injured were in Altoona.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 14, 1902

Notes: 

  The killed are: A. Grove, brakeman; W. B. West, conductor; T. W. 
Cooney, brakeman.

Tyrone Daily Herald, Tyrone, Pa, February 14, 1902, page 2

  The killed were Samuel Grove, conductor; N. W. Wertner, brakeman; 
T. W. Cooney, brakeman.

Tyrone Daily Herald, Tyrone, Pa., February 15, 1902, page 1

John P. Lafferty Funeral Home Records, 1889-1907, Blair County 
Genealogical Society: Wertner, Vincent W., d. Feb. 14, 1902 
a. 23y  r. n/g  i. Feb. 18 Patton, Pa. bld. PRR Co.

Hickey-O'Neill Funeral Home, 1897-1911, Blair County Genealogical 
Society: Samuel Grove, died 14 Feb 1902; interred 17 Feb 1902; Oak 
Ridge Cemetery, Altoona

1900 Census shows Thomas Cooney, age 23, PRR brakeman, living as a 
boarder with the Michael Morning family in Altoona Ward 1.  John P. 
Lafferty Funeral Home Records, 1889-1907, Blair County Genealogical 
Society: Thos. W. Cooney, d. Feb. 14, 1902; interred Feb. 17, 1902, 
Lilly, Pa.