Day That A Sherman Tank Was Hit By A Train. 1951, Barberton, Ohio

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World War II: M4 Sherman tank 775th Tank Battalion and Ohio National Guard engaged on Luzon Philippines 1945.

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 12-5-2022

Credits:

Summit Memory // Find A Grave // Korean War Educator // Akron Railroad Club

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Greetings ~

I've known about this accident since I was a teenager. It took place four months before I joined the world. It was a local story around here. At the time the war in Korea was under way and there was all sorts of military movement around the country.

When the Ohio National Guard was moving equipment in Barberton, Ohio, they came to a railroad crossing. Like most crossings at that time, there were no gates or lights. It was left up to the vehicle drivers to stop, look both ways and make sure they were clear before proceeding across the tracks. This practice resulted in many train/vehicle crashes and many injures and deaths. But, putting it simply, that's the way it was.

On April 29, 1951, A Sherman tank, along with other U.S. Army vehicles, were being moved to another base. Upon approaching the crossing in Barberton, The convoy stopped while a member of their personnel got out of a Jeep to look for trains. Not seeing or hearing anything, he flagged the others to continue. However, a six-car Erie Streamliner passenger train was about 3,200 feet away around a bend and traveling at 60-MPH.

The train hit a Sherman tank that was crossing the tracks in front of it killing three soldiers inside the vehicle. Two who were standing outside of the turret at the time managed to jump just before impact and survived.

While researching this story I was surprised to find very little about it on the internet. The information that I have posted on this blog comes from only two sources and it is limited. Plus, there are not many photos of this tragedy.

This blog is dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives that day in 1951 at a railroad crossing in Barberton, Ohio.

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From: Korean War Educator ~

A convoy of Jeeps, trucks and tanks from the Ohio National Guard was on its way to another base on April 29, 1951. The convoy stopped at the Fairview Avenue railroad crossing in Barberton, Ohio. A lieutenant in one of the jeeps got out, looked both ways, and then motioned the convoy to go ahead and cross the tracks. What that lieutenant didn't know was the fact that a six-car Erie Streamliner was rounding a blind curve at the speed of 60 miles per hour 3,291 feet away. There were no gates at the crossing.

Two guardsmen jumped from the tank turret before the crash, but the other three crew members inside the tank didn't stand a chance. The passenger train smashed into the tank at 5:45 p.m., pushing the tank about 130 feet and fatally crushing three guardsmen. The tank was mangled, the train derailed, and the tracks bent on impact. In addition to the fatalities, one guardsman was injured and so were seven civilians.

Tank Crew

Cox, Sgt. Dale E. (killed) - Age 27, Akron, Ohio. Sergeant Cox is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Park, Akron, Ohio.

Jameson, Sgt. Don W. (survivor - jumped to safety).

Livingston, Cpl. William E. (killed) - 22, Doylestown, Ohio.

Corporal Livingston was born in 1929 in New York, the son of Amos Elva Livingston (1901-1978) and Frances Ellen Kirk Livingston (1907-2000). He is buried in Lower Boone Cemetery, Reelsville, Indiana.

Nichols, Pfc. Carl (survivor - injured).

Peterman, Cpl. Ronald L. (killed).

Corporal Peterman was born January 01, 1932, a son of Bryan Bartleson Peterman (1897-1981) and Florene "Flo" Wallet Peterman (1903-1974). His siblings were Gary E. Peterman and Carol D. Peterman Kapish. Corporal Peterman is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Park, Akron, Ohio.

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From: Akron Railroad Club ~

1951 Barberton Erie Crash Featured in Classic Trains

A story about the April 30, 1951, collision in Barberton of an Erie Railroad passenger train with an Ohio National Guard M4 Sherman tank appears in the fall issue of Classic Trains.

The article was written by Dan Olah, a resident of North Bend, Washington, who retired after a 33-year career with Burlington Northern and BNSF.

As a child living in Northeast Ohio, he was given by the widow of a former Erie conductor an envelope with 16 photographs of the aftermath of that 1951 collision but which came without any details as to where it was and when it occurred.

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From the Find A Grave website ~

NOTE: Some of the information here is different from the other accounts. Such as it was raining at the time of the accident and that the crossing did have lights and gates. But it is added here as it appears on the website.

At 5:45 pm during a rainstorm on April 29th. 1951, three Ohio National Guard tanks were returning to Norton Ave. A Barberton Police cruiser escorted the tank column. The tank column had stopped at the crossing to let a freight train pass. The police cruiser, a Jeep, and tanks started to cross when the crossing lights came on again. An Erie passenger train bound for New York struck one of the Tank's killing three guardsmen and injuring eight others. One of the guardsmen killed was 19-year old Cpl. Ronald Peterman of Barberton. The investigation centered on the timing of the crossing lights for fast-moving trains.

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NOTE:

If you have any information about this event and/or you were a witness to it, please e-mail me at bomurs@aol.com. I would like very much to add your accounts and/or pictures of the crash to this blog. Let me know if it's alright to use your first or full name. Thanks!

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Erie locomotive that became uncoupled from the passenger cars after colliding with an Ohio National Guard tank at the Fairview Avenue crossing in Barberton, Ohio.

Erie locomotive tilted on the tracks after colliding with an Ohio National Guard tank.

Ohio National Guard tank shortly after being hit by an Erie train.

Workers trying to clear the tracks a day after the crash.

Fairview Avenue railroad crossing in Barberton, Ohio a day after a collision between an Ohio National Guard tank and an Erie passenger train.

Moving the wrecked locomotive from the site.

Photograph of Lt. P. R. Bolin, left, signaling for an Ohio National Guard tank to test drive across the Fairview Avenue railroad crossing in Barberton, Ohio during the investigation into a collision between a tank and train which took place days earlier. Three guardsmen were killed in the crash. Bolin, commander of Co. B, 137th Medium Tank Battalion, was signaling tanks at the time of the crash. Investigators, pictured at the right, are checking the crossing time.

Akron Beacon Journal. April 3o, 1951 - Monday. Page-3.

Sgt. Dale E. Cox ~

Cox, Sgt. Dale E. (killed)

Age 27, Akron, Ohio. Sergeant Cox is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Park, Akron, Ohio.

Private 1st Class William E. Livingston

Livingston, Cpl. William E. (killed) -, Age 22, Doylestown, Ohio.

Corporal Livingston was born in 1929 in New York, the son of Amos Elva Livingston (1901-1978) and Frances Ellen Kirk Livingston (1907-2000). He is buried in Lower Boone Cemetery, Reelsville, Indiana.

Cpl. Ronald L. Peterman

Peterman, Cpl. Ronald L. (killed).

Corporal Peterman was born January 01, 1932, a son of Bryan Bartleson Peterman (1897-1981) and Florene "Flo" Wallet Peterman (1903-1974). His siblings were Gary E. Peterman and Carol D. Peterman Kapish. Corporal Peterman is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Park, Akron, Ohio.

No gravestone image found.

Two Surviving Soldiers

Nichols, Pfc. Carl (survivor - injured).

Jameson, Sgt. Don W. (survivor - jumped to safety).

Cpl. Ronald L. Peterman as a child.

N4A1 Sherman Tank.

The railroad crossing today. There's crossing lights there now but still no gates.

Path train was taking. "X" marks crash site.

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