When George A. Lupfer Prevented A Train Disaster, Watsontown 1883

George & Sarah (Pines) Lupfer

 On December 8th 1883, there was not a train wreck in Watsontown.

 But there would have been, if not for the quick actions of George Lupfer.

On the very foggy evening of December 8th 1883, Mr. George Lupfer was returning to his home on Main street in Watsontown, when along the tracks he spotted a "re-tracker". 

 A wreck train, used to put cars back on the track after a wreck, was sitting nearby in town, and someone had stolen the re-trackers and placed them on the tracks near the culvert above town, in an attempt to cause a wreck.   According to the local papers, re-trackers " are used in pulling cars on the rail and would throw off a train instantly." 

This Shamokin Wreck Train would be decades newer than the one Lupfer saw, but it is the only good photo I have found showing a Wreck Train, so far.

The evening train was full of passengers, and with the fog, there was little chance the engineer would see the trap in time to stop.  Thankfully, not only did Lupfer spot the re-trackers, but he knew what they were, and how to remove them.  Although he worked for the Car Factory in 1883, he had for several years prior worked on the wreck train.  

"Being acquainted with the manner of adjusting the instruments he knew how to remove them quickly and did so, but he states that his shirt seemed to creep up his back while he was doing it, as he feared the train would be on him before he could get it accomplished. "

The train was  crowded that night, and its impossible to know how many lives Lupfer saved in preventing that wreck.  

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Find More Stories & History Of Watsontown Here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/04/watsontown-pa.html

And more local history, from surrounding areas, here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html

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See photos of the Watsontown Train Station here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/04/watsontown-train-station.html

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George Albert Lupfer was born in Perry County Pa in 1842.  After serving in the civil war he returned to Perry County, then came to Watsontown, and later Milton, for a decade or two, before returning to Perry County, where he died in 1918.  He married Sarah Pines in Perry County Pa, and they had 4 children: Emma, Joseph, Lydia, & Anna. Joseph Elmer Lupfer married Elizabeth Moll, of Dewart. Lydia, "Mina" married Robert Watts, or Watsontown.

A Devilish Act. - An attempt was made on Saturday evening last to wreck the Williamsport accommodation on the P. & E. road near Watsontown. a short distance above that town, and within twenty feet of a culvert. A pair of re-trackers, as railroad men call them, were placed on the track ; they had been stolen from the wreck car stationed at Watsontown. They are used in pulling cars on the rail and would throw off a train instantly.

The evening was foggy and the engineer could not see any distance ahead. Fortunately Mr. George A. Lupfer, an employee of the car works, and for several years employed on the wreck train, discovered the obstruction and removed it just as the train rushed by. He was on his way home a short distance up the road, and providentially discovered it just in time to save many lives, a the train was crowded.

 Being acquainted with the manner of adjusting the instruments he knew how to remove them quickly and did so, but he states that his shirt seemed to creep up his back while he was doing it, as he feared the train would be on him before he could get it accomplished. 

There are two sets of these instruments, one set of which is fastened to the rail with a set screw, while the other has no fastenings. It was the latter set that was used. Had it been the other he would have had no means of loosening the screw, and therefore could not have removed it from the track in time to prevent a frightful disaster. He also states that had the night been clear it is doubtful if the engineer would have discovered them, a the obstruction would have appeared but very flight, even in daytime. What motive could have prompted such a devilish act of course is unknown.