Charles H. Ewing
Encyclopedia
Charles H. Ewing was president of the Reading Company
from 1932–1935.
In 1921, Ewing was still Vice President of the line when disastrous head-on collision near Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
, on the Newtown branch of the railroad, on December 5, caused the deaths of 27 people, including passengers, crew, and rescuers. Although an investigation had just begun (which would find error in company policies as well as operational errors on that day), Ewing issued a statement the following day placing blame on the crew of the northbound train, which had ignored an order to take a siding to allow another train to pass. Ewing declared, "We are wholly at a loss to account for this gross violation of the order and the rules, except that it was an unexplained failure of the human agency."
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
from 1932–1935.
In 1921, Ewing was still Vice President of the line when disastrous head-on collision near Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census...
, on the Newtown branch of the railroad, on December 5, caused the deaths of 27 people, including passengers, crew, and rescuers. Although an investigation had just begun (which would find error in company policies as well as operational errors on that day), Ewing issued a statement the following day placing blame on the crew of the northbound train, which had ignored an order to take a siding to allow another train to pass. Ewing declared, "We are wholly at a loss to account for this gross violation of the order and the rules, except that it was an unexplained failure of the human agency."