Re: New SV motorcar demolished

If the newspaper account is accurate the accident happened between Austin and Bates(ville), a distance of about one mile. The yard tracks at Austin extend into a substantial through cut, which ends in a fairly sharp right turn, and is probably the accident site as the rest of the track is more or less tangent

The Sumpter Valley was taken to task for dispatching trains without train orders so it might not have been entirely the fault of the engineer, though the railroad would be quick to assess blame. Many of the logging spurs did not have adjacent sidings, and the log trains had to use part of the main line for switching. The accident was most likely a light engine move, though the locomotive could have been moving cars dropped at Austin to the Bates mill. In later years the logging company trains had to have a pilot to venture out on the main, but this might not have been the case in the teens. In fact, there are photos of logs being loaded on the main line.

One account I read of the accident mentioned the headlight looming very large, so the accident could have happened at night. If so the motor car likely was an extra move, and was not expected by the log train.