Railroad Bridge Where Grant, Gould Died, May 25, 1923

Beneath this twisted mass of wreckage of the Norfolk Southern railroad bridge at Hertford, two men lost their lives when the locomotive and one freight car of train Number 63 crashed thru the bridge and fell 27 feet to the bottom of Perquimans River Friday night. The tragedy is about the most exciting thing that has happened in the history of the railroad at Hertford. It is estimated that fully 5,000 people visited the scene of the accident Sunday. The accident at Hertford has raised a lot of speculation about the security of other bridges of the Norfolk Southern. This accident has thrown a lot of fear in those of the travelling public who are acquainted with the types of structures over which Norfolk Southern trains travel daily. The Norfolk Southern has a bridge over the Albemarle Sound seven miles long. If an accident like this were to happen to a passenger train on that bridge the results would be hard to prophesy. The men who were penned in the submerged locomotive were Conductor Will A. Grant and Fireman Jesse Gould, both of Norfolk. Their bodies were recovered Tuesday. When the accident happened, Engineer Braxton Warren and Brakeman Frank Bernard jumped from the locomotive and swam ashore. Repairs to the broken bridge were completed Wednesday and trains are now going thru Hertford without interruption. The above picture is from a snapshot photo by D.V. Meekins.

From page 2 of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., May 25, 1923