Hit by a Train and Survived

Growing up I was told this amazing story more than once. My Great Grandmother was born in 1900. She had several siblings. Her mother out lived not one but three husbands and would later die of a family genetic issue, gall bladder disease. My Great Grandmother definitely came from a family who lived through many unusual happenings. A stark contrast from the very religious family she would marry into through my Great Grandfather.
I'm not kidding when I say a very captivating television show could be made about these intertwined lives. The many stories I have been told are quite colorful and some almost unbelievable.
This leads me to the story of my Great Aunt Lizzy. My Great Grandmother and her siblings at this time lived in a beautiful two story home across from a park in downtown. Their Stepfather owned an ice cream factory in town. The basement of the home had an ice cream shop. My Aunt Lizzy worked the shop.
My Aunt Lizzy went to town with her girlfriend. I am guessing this was around the year 1915. They were still in high school. It was late in the afternoon when they started to walk back home. It was a short walk and shorter if you cut across the railroad tracks. This was not uncommon back then. Trains in those days were dirty and spewed black smoke from their coal fired engines. This area was coal country too. Coal was mined and coke ovens dotted the country side. Pittsburgh steel mills were an hour train ride away. The sides of the tracks were heavily built up with loose coal and dirt. So the girls shoes had to get dirty and would be a lumpy walk. I guess they were walking along the tracks, something unheard of now. A train was approaching like they often did in those days. My Aunt Lizzy was talking to her friend and suddenly her friend yanked her and pulled them both in front of the train bearing down full speed on the tracks! In a flash they were both hit. The engineer had no chance to stop. Her friend apparently was immediately found and was obviously dead. However Aunt Lizzy was no where to be found! Soon men in town created a search team. They worked the area all around the tracks. They could not find her. Dusk was falling. The search party was told to go home until daylight. One of the men was walking down the rail on the way home. He still was looking around. He started to scream for help. An arm was  sticking out of a coal heap. By the grace of God my Aunt Lizzy was flung away from the train and the force buried her in the coal and left unconscious and for dead. They got her out and transported to the hospital. I was told she always kept her arm wrapped and it could not be used. She went on to live her life. The accident was left to family history and not talked about. My Great Grandmother and Great Aunt Lizzy had a younger sister who did not fair so well after another strange accident. Their Mother heard the child's screams in the sitting room. She got too close to the fire and her nightgown became engulfed in flames. My Great, Great Grandmother threw her down on the Persian rug and rolled her up to extinguish the flames. This sibling was very traumatized and I was told never the same. She lived at home until she passed away. Ironically my Great Grandmother went on to meet a young man who would become a successful employee on the railroad retiring as a conductor.