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Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio History

The Doodlebug

Pictures - Personal Accounts - Cuyahoga Falls Victims

Residents Recall Areas Worst Disaster The "Doodlebug"

July 31, 1940 was an average summer day.  It was warm, calm and peaceful.  In fact, it was just like any other summer day, except...the "Doodlebug" crashed.

The gasoline-powered shuttle car, that operated on the Pennsylvania Railroad, was making its daily trek from Hudson to Akron.  Many of the 46 passengers on the "Doodlebug" were commuters from jobs in Cleveland.  Most of the passengers of the train were young.  Some were students, some were prominent leaders in the community.

Traveling at 40 mph, the "Doodlebug" entered Cuyahoga Falls about a half an hour after it had left Hudson.  Somehow the signals were mixed or ignored, and the shuttle car continued its journey at a steady clip.  Just a few yards beyond the Front St. crossing, there was a 73 car freight train.  The single car crashed, head-on, into the freight.

The crash caused the 350 gallon gasoline tank to explode enabling the burning gasoline to escape and cover the tracks, cars and people.

The impact of the collision threw the passengers and seats into the front of the car.  People and debris were piled on top of one another, making it impossible for anyone to attempt an escape from the inferno.

There were three men who did survive the fatal crash, the engineer, conductor, and brakeman.  Todd Wonn, of Akron, is the only one of the three that is still living.  Wonn, sitting in the baggage compartment because the coach was full, noticed the conductor ran from the one end of the train to the other.  He was a shouting something about a crash.  Following his first instinct to jump, Wonn escaped from the crash, suffering only a cut on the head and torn ligaments in his ankle.

Several Falls residents took that fatal train ride.  Fred Palmer, a member of the Board of Directors of the Cuyahoga Valley Savings and Loan Assoc. was on the "Doodlebug", and never reached his destination.  Cleon Wills had been commuting on the railroad, to his work with Fulton and McCreary, Cleveland architects, for more than four years.  Wills, a native of the Falls, was the designer of the American Legion Home in Cuyahoga Falls.  Earl Clifford, after whom the Falls High stadium is named, was also a rider on the shuttle car.  Clifford was on the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education and was president of the Falls recreation commission.  

Ross Durst, 1995 Germaine St., is a long time resident of the Falls.  He recalls hearing the crash as he was sitting on his front porch.  Over 15,000 people came to the site of the accident.  Some came to help, some came just to see.  According to Surst, cars were parked solidly from the area of the wreck to Newberry St.

Many folks remember the accident as just about dinner time.  Fred R. Allen, formally of the Falls recalls that the Cleveland Indians had finished playing an overtime game.

How could such a disaster occur?  What went wrong?  Pennsylvania Railroad authorities said the pilot of the "Doodlebug" had received order in Hudson to take siding in Silver Lake, in order to allow the freight train to pass.  Whether these orders were ignored or misunderstood is something that we will never know.  According to railroad officials, both the Doodlebug and freight engineers had copies of the orders.  No charges were held against the Doodlebug engineer or conductor.

The worst disaster in the history of Cuyahoga Falls occurred on a calm, peaceful summer day.  In fact, it was just an average day...until the "Doodlebug" crashed.

Written Thursday, August 21, 1969  for the Falls News Press, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

These are donated by Barbara A. Barnes in the name of her father Charles P.
Moody, photographer. Click to enlarge

Mrs. Barnes was 7 years old at the time of the accident. She lived on Front Street near Northland and was in the front yard watering the garden when she heard the northbound train pass through and then heard the subsequent explosion. .

Pictures - Personal Accounts - Cuyahoga Falls Victims