Local hero prevents runaway train collision in fall of 1966

Poplar Bluff museums tell the story of us, our family, and our history. I want to tell you some of those tall tales found within our museum walls.
On Oct. 30, 1966, Missouri Pacific (MoPac) engineer T.A. Perry was sitting in the cab of his switch engine in the Poplar Bluff rail yards. To his astonishment, he saw four runaway diesel locomotives heading toward him at full speed. Just then he saw the engineer from the runaway diesel jump from the cab.
Without hesitation, Perry went to full throttle to get in front of the runaway locomotives. He was going to try to couple up with them and slow them down. To make matters worse, the MoPac train #67 was heading straight toward him from the other direction.
Train #67 was running with three diesel engines and 81 freight cars. It had just passed the last checkpoint into Poplar Bluff.
The yard master was able to stop #67 by radio, but the runaway locomotives were still a problem. Perry was able to successfully couple with the four diesels without derailing. He shut down his switch engine and then climbed into the first locomotive. Perry shut down that engine and then climbed into the next. He continued this process until all four locomotives had come to a stop. The runaway train halted just two miles from train #67.
Engineer Perry’s quick actions averted a catastrophic head on collision of two trains, saving many lives and millions of dollars in damage.
He was shocked when the president of the Missouri Pacific Railroad gave him a reward.
Like all heroes, he didn’t think he was one. He was just doing his job.
This story was told in the Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic and the MoPac News.
These articles, with photos, are proudly on display at the MoArk Regional Railroad Museum. The museum is located in the old Frisco depot just across from the Black River Coliseum. It is open every Saturday free of charge from 1-4 p.m. Tell them Mike sent you!
Mike Shane is a veteran, Poplar Bluff resident and board member for the Poplar Bluff Museum.