Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet! (Updated Pic 3/3/08)

[DirkSears]

I had about 2 hours to go and investigate this location. Here's the quick history of this event...

In 1861 a train consisting of 6 rail cars full of Union Soldiers were traveling from Illinois to Ohio. A group of Southern sympathizers (some say KKK, others say KGC) sabotaged the bridge. The locomotive made it across, the rest of the train cars did not. I believe 26 or 28 soldiers were killed and 50 to 60 more were wounded. Eventually help arrived and carried the dead, wounded, and the rest to Ohio.

I didn't have a long time to search yesterday but I did go for about 2 hrs. I found some old RR scrap ( nuts, bolts, spikes ), but we found what we believe to be roller wheels off of the doors of the train cars (sorry, no pics yet...to rusty) and then my best find to date...

An 1853 III cent piece!!!

You can bet your sweet arse I'm going back when I get more time!

 

[FlatCat]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Cool find! I wish there were more places like that around here

 

[Bridge End Farm]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

nice find I would be back for sure

 

[ModernMiner]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

What an awesome coin DS!!! I can hardly wait to see what you find after a day long hunt. I would LOVE to find a coin like that.
That hunting spot looks great. Very neat story.
Congrats on your best find.
-MM-

 

[Caryl]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Removed to keep location more quiet for main poster.

Yank some of your details from your orig. post. That wreck is common knowledge around here, but you've got enough info in that first post to google an exact location.

Sorry about that Dirk. I',m still in research mode for work, I'll slip into my MD clogs by 11 when I squirrel away to my own secret haunt ! LOL!

 

[paleo10kbc]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Great Find! How did you pull that from all the trash? I assume you are somewhere in Indiana?
Please keep us posted!
Paleo10kbc

 

[DirkSears]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Thanks Caryl for posting that info. I have the same story but I was trying to keep it a little more secretive , what with the town name and all. That's OK, I'm sure no one would bogart my site . I actually posted the same story in the "General Discussion" forum but I omitted all the dates and cities. It is really cool history and a cool site. I can't wait to get back.

I am in Indiana.

That little coin was sitting all by it's self, nothing else around it.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Congrats on the awesome III cent coin! You might consider checking the tracks for RR date nails, they are very collectible. HH, Mike

 

[DirkSears]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Thanks Caryl for yanking that. Now that you mention it, I think I will scrub that other post. Are you from Indiana?

 

[incajoe]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Cool find! I wish there were more places like that around here

You wish there were more deadly train wreck sites around your area??

 

[goldgrubber]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Great coin! Can't wait to see what other treasures ya find there.

 

[JimBeHuntin']

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Nice research and a great first recovery to pin down the location ... hope many more nice artifacts to come ~ Jimmy

 

[halfdime]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

That 3 cent piece is a great find! Thanks for the interesting story, too. I'd love to get my hands on some of that stone in the bridge supports.

 

[Caryl]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

I'm about an hour away from that spot, local train town here too. Just a common civil war story for these parts. I guess some of the walking wounded were brought up through here on their way back up to Columbus.

 

[Caryl]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

BTW concentrate your search on the OHIO side of that bridge about 50 feet from the old line.

 

[possumheaded]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

What a site! Congrats and good luck hunting there!

Ed

 

[DirkSears]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Here's a shotgun cap that we found there. Not sure how old it is. Might be well after the time of the wreck.

 

[Fisher]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Awesome find! Cool story too, can't wait to see what else you're gonna find.

 

[junior967]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Thanks Caryl for posting that info. I have the same story but I was trying to keep it a little more secretive , what with the town name and all. That's OK, I'm sure no one would bogart my site . I actually posted the same story in the "General Discussion" forum but I omitted all the dates and cities. It is really cool history and a cool site. I can't wait to get back.

I am in Indiana.

That little coin was sitting all by it's self, nothing else around it.

Well I am West of Indianapolis and you can have no worries about me moving in on your hunting grounds. It is your find, and good luck out there. Maybe we can get together some time and find a central location for us to hunt.

 

[desertfox]

Re: Civil War train wreck site. My best find yet!

Congrats on the research and nice find. I think I'd make a phone call monday morning and it would go like this: Ah, boss, ah, ah, I'm gona be sick for the next three days or so. HH

Desertfox