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6 February 2005 Peg Price

1903 Train Wreck Site

corner of Rita Road and Houghton Rd.

JOURNAL OF ARIZONA HISTORY for Winter 2004 has an excellent article by William D. Kalt III called "I'll Meet You in the Cornfield: Southern Arizona's Tragic Train Wreck of 1903. "Meeting in the Cornfield" meant a head-on collision and that's exactly what happened in the area of Rita Road and Houghton Rd. Nothing is there to alert anyone to the tragedy that occurred on this spot but there are plans afoot to have plaques places at the site as a memorial to those who died. The accident was blamed on the dispatcher who failed to warn the Southern Pacific's Sunset Limited to pull over to a siding rail to allow the Crescent City Express to come through. One of the men killed was Engineer Jack Bruce who brought the first train into Tucson in 1880.

I went over to the site after reading an article by Bonnie Henry in the DAILY STAR and was amazed to see remnants of the old rail bed showing so clearly through the ground. Off in the woods is the slag bed from the railroad.

This photo was taken in front of the Pyramid Credit Union and shows the approximate site of the collision.


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Peg Price04-Jan-2010 04:08
Thanks, D. Looking at this photo, it sure needs straightening! But it is a very interesting site historically and I bet most people have not a clue what tragic event happened here as they drive each day.
Thanks for the extra information on the coal bed.
Is it true Rita Road is named after Rita Hayworth? And do you know where Howard Hughes's plant was located here?
Peg
D Jones 03-Jan-2010 07:08
Peg,
I've lived in Rita Ranch for over 15 years. When I first moved here I explored the area after remembering a story from my dad about the train wreck. I did find old mangled railroad tracks just on the nw corner where the Fry's is now located. Also, I hiked the old rail bed from where it currently intersects with the track today and lost it at about Kino exit off I10. If you know where to look, you can still see the coal bed there. D. Jones
Peg Price18-Jun-2009 01:16
Hi Paul,
I'm surprised the metal wasn't still there. I'll have to go back there when I get back to Tucson in a few weeks. I wonder why they would pull it up?
Peg
Paul Daniels 17-Jun-2009 18:02
Hi Peg. I had to check out the rail lines for myself. Unfortunatley,
The only metal I could find was probably some kind of irrigation
Control, and in no way substantial enough to have ever been part
Of a railway. This metal strip is clearly visible on at. Least both of
The eastern corners, and to memory the sw corner.
I will endeavor to find the real location of te original lines.
Paul.