THE HAMMONTONIAN | JULY 2022 | P . 19
100th anniversary of ‘ The Owl ’ train wreck
by GABE DONIO
At 11:28 p . m . on the night of July 2 , 2022 , Tony Macrie , owner of the Cape May Seashore Lines railroad and two of his employees , stood near the tracks at Winslow Junction in Winslow Twp ., marking exactly 100 years to the minute of the wreck of Reading Company Train No . 33 , The Owl , which derailed on the night of July 2 , 1922 ( Independence Day Weekend ).
Macrie , who possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of trains in general and the wreck of The Owl in particular , told the story of the tragic event on a rainy , misty night a century ago to The Hammontonian in a recent interview .
“ The Owl was an express passenger train operating from Camden to Atlantic City . The six-car train was traveling at 90 miles per hour on the southbound track , when it was inadvertently switched onto a sharp righthand descending curve and derailed into a gulley of the Pennsylvania Railroad ’ s track ,” Macrie said .
That night in the switch tower at Winslow Junction , Operator John De- Walt was controlling the switch and signal levers , directing the movement of trains through the junction , Macrie said . Years ago , Macrie said , he was told DeWalt lived on Tilton Street in Hammonton . According to the 1950-51 Clark ’ s City Directory , Violet DeWalt lived at 121 Tilton Street in Hammonton in 1950 .
“ In the two-story tower building , there were numerous levers which controlled the rods that switched the railroad tracks and controlled the wayside signals ( signals placed alongside the track to govern the
READING COMPANY P-5A , 4-4-2 ATLANTIC TYPE LOCOMOTIVE NO . 349 , THE LOCOMOTIVE THAT LED THE
movements of trains ). The tower operator controlled them by hand . It was a busy holiday weekend for both railroads that passed through Winslow , with trains operating to capacity , carrying passengers to Atlantic
BACK IN THE DAY
City . The two railroads were the West Jersey & Seashore Railroad , a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Atlantic City Railroad , a subsidiary of the Reading Company . The trains traveled much faster than they do today . During those times , you have to remember it was important
OWL ON JULY 2 , 1922 .
for the railroad to move people from Philadelphia to Atlantic City as quickly as possible ,” Macrie said .
Macrie recalled the events that led to the derailment .
“ On the night of July 2 , three key trains played a role in the accident . First , a local freight train ( Train No . 491 ) bound for Cape May , was switching cars at Winslow . Upon completion of its work , Train No . 491 was moved onto a siding track , to allow for the uninterrupted movement of passenger trains . Twenty-six miles away , at the Camden waterfront terminal , two passenger trains were scheduled to depart within minutes of each other . Train No . 33 , The Owl , was scheduled to leave Camden first , shortly before 11 p . m . Immediately following The Owl , Extra No . 120 , an empty deadhead train ( moving passenger cars to Atlantic City ) was scheduled to leave . Due to a delay at Camden , the departure times were switched , with the empty deadhead train leaving several minutes before the Owl .
“ Unfortunately , there was a communication error , and the information was not relayed to Operator John De- Walt at Winslow .
“ Within minutes , Train No . 120 , the empty deadhead train , roared through Winslow at 90 miles per hour .
“ DeWalt , thinking the empty dead-
See TRAIN , P . 20