The Loss of a Young Engineer

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311 Westview Avenue, Bristol, Pennsylvania 19007

 I am going to make an effort to write a story of a fatal accident which resulted in the death of a fine young man in the days when 'Steam was King.' I have found in past efforts that this is sometimes difficult or impossible after 50 years or more have passed. My last effort consumed seven years of part time research. However, in this case, thanks mainly to the cooperation of one man, I had a wealth of information available. This man was Mr. Granville Bly of Strasburg, Virginia, whose father was the owner of both engines involved at one time or another.

This story takes place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and must begin with a history of both engines involved, as this is an important part of the story. There were two engines involved, a Case and a Frick, both bought new by a Mr. Ide Moore, of Kernstown, Virginia. The Case, a 15 HP, #18798, bought new in 1907, was later equipped with special wheels with special spokes and extra cleats spaced closer together. This was so it could be used to haul apples over the roads into the town of Winchester, Virginia from the apple orchards of the Shenandoah Valley. The city was very strict on the type of iron wheels allowed in town. Due to the cleats being so close together, the engine was poorly suited to climbing the rocky, limestone roads found in this area. The second engine was a double cylinder Frick, 7 x 10, #15795, purchased by Mr. Moore in 1912. This engine was also specially equipped for the same hauling job as the Case. It had a jacketed boiler, extra side tanks, and heavy duty freighting wheels with filler blocks between the cleats so it could enter Winchester and operate on the city streets. The jacket was removed by Mr. Moore, and the filler blocks removed by Mr. Bly, at which time the cleats were reversed, after Mr. Bly bought it from Mr. Moore. Mr. Bly also replaced the front wheels, the original ones having only 20 spokes, with heavier ones having 30 spokes. Mr. Bly also purchased the Case engine, but from a man in Winchester who had bought it from Mr. Moore previously. Mr. Bly sold the Frick to his brother-in-law, Mr. Alvon Strosnider in May, 1922, who was living with and working for Mr. Bly. Mr. Strosnider was a well thought of young man, 24 years old, who owned a car, had paid cash for a new hay bailer, and had money enough in the bank to pay off the note on the engine, and was to be married the next month. At the time Mr. Bly had bought the Frick from Mr. Moore, he was not told of a defect in the engine thus neither were aware of a fault in the operation of the engine. Mr. Bly was to die in 1929, seven years after the accident which was to cost Mr. Strosnider his life without ever knowing the true cause. Several people were aware of it, it showing in two ways, first the engine could not be timed to exhaust evenly on boty cylinders, and second, when under heavy load with full throttle the engine would suddenly reverse. This was to lead to the tragedy which would cost Mr. Strosnider's life. These faults were later confirmed by several men who had operated the engine, including Mr. Hale Moore, the son of the original owner. Mr. Hale Moore stated that he had almost been killed once by the sudden reversing of the engine. According to him his father had a factory man come look at the engine when it was new. The factory representative informed Mr. Moore that the trouble was caused by a defect in the casting of the block, that this had been discovered and corrected in later engines, and nothing could be done about it in this case. This could well have been the cause of Mr. Moore's selling the engine.