Cole Bros. Circus 1946/ Train wreck #1

You may recall my recent pictures of the 1945 Cole Show train wreck in Brainerd, Minn. this one the following year in Redding, Cal. was not nearly as destructive but much more dramatic. The train pulled into Redding on a Sunday afternoon and had stopped right down town where the road engine was disconnected and a yard engine came to spot the various sections where they would be unloaded. Taking advantage of the situation my mother and I stepped off the train which was near a restaurant and theater. During the movie we heard an ambulance pass outside but thought nothing of it but later after exiting we saw a commotion and large crowd a considerable distance down the tracks. Someone then told us that the elephant car with all 13 elephants had been tipped over on it's side. The yard engine while moving a section of flat cars ran them onto tracks already occupied by another section. The elephant car and a flat car with animal cages were slid into each other and fell on opposite sides of the track belly to belly.