Valentines Day - 1945

It was 1:15 a.m. on February 14, 1945; the southbound Cotton Belt Passenger train #1 out of Memphis, en-route to Dallas, Texas. The engineer was Walter J. Barnett ( 62 ) of 618 Pine St. of Pine Bluff and his fireman was Ivan B. Buckley of 2607 West 40th Avenue. Buckley had hired out on August 13, 1942 and had been on the Memphis run with Barnett for about 8 months. Barnett died of injuries received in the collision and Ivan B. Buckley received numerous serious injuries.

Barnett was known as a hard-driving engineer who operated his train on schedule. "He entered town wide open and would run to the station and stop on the exact spot each time,'' recalled William P. Ellis Jr. of 1916 West 23rd Avenue, Jefferson County treasurer. Ellis's father was cashier for the Cotton Belt and young Ellis would go down to the station to watch Barnett bring his train in.

The night of the wreck, Train Number 1 was running on time. The weather was partly cloudy, wet and cold. It had rained earlier in the evening. "There is a long curve in the main line where the Pine Bluff Warehouse is now located ( East Barraque and Byrd Streets);'' Buckley said. "it fools you because you think you can see around it but you can't. The freight train was stopped, waiting to get into the yards. The Caboose was at the south-end of the curve."

When Barnett yelled at Buckley, Buckley crossed the gangway to the engineer side and saw the caboose of the freight train ahead so he ran back to his side and jumped from the train. Buckley said, "I always heard that if you jumped with your body at a sharp angle to the ground with your feet out in front, you would straighten up and hit the ground running. I tried that but I landed on my face. Walter landed straight up and was flipped over on the back of his head."

When Barnett "big holed" the brakes, the train was traveling between 50 and 55 miles an hour. ( The term "big -hole" referred to the breaking mechanism on steam locomotives. In regular service, the brake lever was applied gradually, permitting the air to escape in small quantities and thus letting the brake shoes come in contact with the wheels slowly. In an emergency, the brake lever could be pulled to its limit and this would permit the air to escape immediately, bringing the brake shoes in contact with the wheels at once. The train seemed to only pick up speed when it was "big holed" and both men jumped from the locomotive.

Buckley was knocked unconscious when he hit the roadbed, then regained consciousness for a while before passing out again. An ambulance had crossed a corn field next to the main line to reach the injured men. After the men were placed in the ambulance, it became mired in the mud and a pickup truck was used to transport them to Davis Hospital. Barnett died soon after arriving at the hospital. Buckley had a crushed ankle, broken jaw and nose as well as back injuries.

"Two days later, they had to dig my nose out of my face and put it in place," said Buckley, who shows no ill effects from the wreck today. J. B. Wilbanks Jr, of West 3rd and Willow Street said he was "swing" brakeman on the freight train. "I had a fusee in my hand, swinging it to signal the engineer on our train, "Wilbanks said.,''When I saw the passenger train couldn't stop in time, I stuck my head in the caboose and shouted to everyone to get out of the caboose. J. F. Coburn was on the front steps of caboose when the engine hit it.

Coburn died of his injuries the next day. Story, a brakeman who lived at. 1307 West Sixth, sustained scalp and facial injuries, A.H. Hanson, a flagman on the freight, received back injuries. The only person injured on the passenger train was John Derrick of Route 2, a passenger who had a chest injury.

George Candy, shop superintendent, later told Buckley that the only part of the locomotive that could be salvaged was the left cylinder. The rest of the engine was scrap metal.

"Federal Investigators tried to reconstruct the events by parking a caboose in the same position in the curve where the freight train was." Buckley said. "When they brought the train around the curve, they couldn't see the caboose either and ran into it."

The federal agency said the cause of the wreck was the failure of the Trainmen aboard the freight to follow safety precautions. According to Buckley, No fusees were placed behind the freight, a flagman was not stationed at the rear of the caboose to warn oncoming traffic, and torpedoes (explosive warning devices) were not placed on the tracks at a distance behind the train to warn engineers of its position. Also passenger train engineers were allowed to run full speed into the depot whereas, freight engineers had to slow down when approaching the yard.

Thanks to Ivan B. Buckley (age 83) for this story. Mr. Buckley (Cotton Belt Engineer) is now retired but the events of Valentines Day, 1945 are still vivid in his mind.

This article reprinted from Pine Bluff Commecial, September 5, 1976

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