On This Date In Twin Cities History - August 15, 1912

On this date in 1912, a train Engine from the St. Paul Bridge and Terminal Railway Company carrying eight carloads of cattle, sheep and hogs from the Hoffman Avenue Yards in St. Paul to the stockyards in South St. Paul plunged off of a swing bridge into the Mississippi River.  The bridge had been opened to allow a steam boat to travel downriver and when the train aproached the open bridge in the fog that morning, the engineer did not see the open bridge, nor did he hear the warning whistle from the swing bridge operator.  The train’s engineer, Charles C. Crame, was killed in the crash and Fireman Frank Weber and switchman James Garvin were injured.