If you head north on I-75, about 45 minutes, take the Jellico exit just before crossing into Kentucky, then go east on 25-W a few miles, you’ll find a historical marker on the north side of the road overlooking the Clear Fork River. On the opposite bank lie the railroad tracks, presumably now owned by Norfolk Southern or CSX.

This area of Clear Fork, 82 years ago, was known as Highcliff and was the site of one of the worst stateside military disasters of World War II. There was no battle, there were no bombs nor acts of terrorism. Just a train clocking through a curve in a mountain pass faster than it should be and jumping the tracks to the ravine below.

The Louisville & Nashville Troop Train #47 was traveling from Indianapolis to North Carolina, carrying 1,000 new recruits to Army basic training. The locomotive was pulling 12 coaches and four kitchen/baggage cars when it left the tracks around 9 PM on Thursday, July 6, 1944. The engine and four of the Pullmans separated from the rest of the party and tumbled 50 feet or more down the ravine to the river below.

The first responders in this case were the people around Highcliff and Jellico. Despite the presence of the interstate, this is still a somewhat remote area now, and was in more so back in 1944. Even still, old fashioned oil torches and smudge pots began to dot the landscape. Eventually emergency flood lights came in.

Doctors, nurses and volunteers arrived from the surrounding area, including Knoxville. Soldiers stationed in Oak Ridge were dispatched. Ropes were sent down both sides of the gorge as most of it is too steep to climb unaided. Those who somehow survived the crash without serious wounds hauled themselves up. Then came the painstaking task of hauling up the wounded and deceased, which could take 10 men to pull one on a rope sling stretcher up the cliff.

Doctors and nurses descended into the crumpled Pullmans to administer plasma and other aid to wounded survivors trapped in the wreckage. By daybreak on July 7, most of the survivors had been extricated. By 11 AM there were only a handful still needing to be freed. A joint taskforce of Army intelligence, the Knoxville office of the FBI and officials from L&N was quickly convened to investigate the cause of the accident. While eventually ruled an accident, the country was in wartime, and in the immediate aftermath sabotage had to be ruled out.

Engineer John C. Rollins, of Etowah, had taken over the helm in Corbin, Kentucky. He was found dead, wedged in his cab, his watch still ticking. Fireman J.W. Tummins, also of Etowah, initially, somehow, survived the crash. Whether he jumped or was just thrown from the engine is unclear, but he was found near the water’s edge, grievously scalded. He was taken to Jellico Hospital, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. But before he died, he uttered the words immortalized on that plaque: She jumped the tracks. The wreck claimed the lives of 33 and injured 99.

Source: Knoxville Journal digital archives, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.

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