We went up to Swampscott today to see the memorial at the train station for the 1956 Swampscott train wreck. The memorial reads:
IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED IN THE
SWAMPSCOTT TRAIN WRECK
FEBRUARY 28, 1956
WALTER D. ALLEN WALTER B. LEE
RUTH F. BEAN PAULINE PAVLO
FRANCIS E. BOETTNER GEORGE S. SILLARS
ALBERTA L. HALEY DONALD K. TAYLOR, JR.
RAYMOND F. JONES ERNEST A. TOURTELOTTE
PENELOPE KOTSOVILLIS GARDNER S. TRASK, SR.
GEORGE V. WARREN, JR.
DEDICATED NOVEMBER, 2005
The memorial is relatively small, and sits at the bottom of the wheelchair access ramp that leads from the parking lot up to the train platform. The actual wreck took place about a half mile farther up toward Salem, along an inaccessible stretch of track.
Our grandfather’s name is the first one on the list: Walter D. Allen. He died before my mother had children, so neither my sisters nor I knew him. Even so, I found it affecting to see his name there.