September 11, 2025, marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the West Lafayette troop train collision.

In the early morning hours of September 11, 1950, a Pennsylvania National Guard Troop train, disabled three-quarters of a mile west of West Lafayette, Ohio, was struck in the rear by the passenger train “Spirit of St. Louis,” resulting in the death of 33 soldiers.

The troop train, commanded by LTC Townsend, was carrying members of the 109th Field Artillery Battalion en route from Wilkes-Barre to Camp Atterbury before being deployed to Germany during the Korean Conflict.

Radio station WTNS in Coshocton and news director John R. Terry broadcast a live radio-telephone hook-up to a radio station in Wilkes-Barre.

The rescue effort involved citizens of West Lafayette, Coshocton, and surrounding areas.

There is now a Troop Train Memorial in West Lafayette, OH.

Killed In the Wreck:

Service Battery:
CORP. CARL W. ARMBRUSTER.
CORP. JOHN L. BARNA.
PVT. WILLIAM R. DISBROW.
CORP. JOSEPH E. FLETCHER.
PFC EDWARD W. GALLAGHER.
PVT. WALLACE R. LUDWIG.
WO JAMES F. McGINLEY.
SGT. BERNARD S. OKRASINSKI.
CORP. THOMAS M. OSTRASZEWSKI.
PVT. WILLIAM F. TIERNEY.
CAPT. ARTHUR J. THOMAS.
RCT. THOMAS W. WALLACE.

Battery B.
PFC LEONARD BALONIS.
RCT. EUGENE CARR.
SGT. JOHN W. COX.
RCT. WILLIAM J. DOUGHERTY.
SGT WILLIAM C. EDWARDS.
RCT. HUGH L. FARGUS.
PFC. HAROLD HANDLOS.
PFC CLYDE P. HARDING.
PFC MARTIN F. HORNLEIN.
PFC RONALD J. JACKSON.
SGT. LESTER J. KUEHN.
CORP. LARRY L. LUZENSKI.
RCT. FRANK C. MARTINEZ.
RCT. CHARLES NORTON.
PFC RAYMOND PUDLOWSKI.
RCT RICHARD A. ROYER.
RCT. WILLIAM F. SOBERS.
WO WILLIAM M. WELLINGTON.
SGT. GILBERT B. WHARTON.
PFC EDMUND ZABICKI.
PFC DONALD C. ZIEKER.

A small display concerning this incident can be viewed in the lobby of the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum through November.

Sugarcreek, Ohio – The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum (AoSRM) in Sugarcreek, Ohio, is pleased to announce that after a year and a half of planning, the construction of a new, 10-stall roundhouse has begun. As a separate structure disconnected from the existing 18-stall AoSRM roundhouse with its display of 24 steam locomotives, the planned structure – officially referred to as the “East Roundhouse” – will contain an office, storeroom, and 10 stalls for rolling stock. This building was always included on the AoSRM master site plan, created by Jerry Jacobson dating back to 2008, but is needed now because the museum’s collection of vintage locomotives and railroad cars is beginning to outgrow the available space.

“When completed next year, the Age of Steam’s new East Roundhouse will increase our current roundhouse track capacity by 56%,” said Tim Sposato, Chief Mechanical Officer at AoSRM.

Unlike the current AoSRM roundhouse’s timber framing that uses heavy wooden parts, the new East Roundhouse’s interior structure will be framed with steel girders, columns, and beams, just as used in more modern roundhouses constructed during the 1930s and 40s. For an older exterior appearance, the back wall will be made of composite materials with fewer and narrower windows. Capping the new building will be an old-style monitor roof with a cupola. The East Roundhouse will have end walls made of brick and the front wall will employ electrically-operated, roll-type doors as points of ingress and egress for its 10 tracks, just as they did a century ago when older roundhouses were updated with these lower-maintenance doors. Like the longer stalls of the existing roundhouse, each new stall will have a 112-foot interior track. And for preservation, the East Roundhouse floors will be radiantly heated by pumping hot water through a spider web of tubes strategically placed within the 14-inch-thick concrete floors, just as found in the existing AoSRM roundhouse. 

It is planned that AoSRM’s new East Roundhouse will go into full service during 2026 and is not intended for public exhibition.  However, items located inside will be exchanged with those on the tour route of the main roundhouse to provide differing tour experiences.

For more information about the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, visit ageofsteamroundhouse.org and keep up to date with the latest news on Facebook.