Catastrophe at Custer Creek: Montana's Deadliest Train Wreck

by Ian Campbell Wilson

Just after midnight on June 19, 1938, the Olympian No. 15, an elite passenger train operated by the famed Milwaukee Road, crashed into Custer Creek, which flows into the Yellowstone River southwest of Terry, Montana. In the moments before the train reached the small bridge spanning the typically dry creek, the waters had swelled dramatically, the result of a violent storm system that moved across Montana that day. The wreck killed forty-nine passengers and crew members and injured another seventy-five, making it the most devastating train accident in Montana history. Just after midnight on June 19, 1938, the Olympian No. 15, an elite passenger train operated by the famed Milwaukee Road, crashed into Custer Creek, which flows into the Yellowstone River southwest of Terry, Montana. In the moments before the train reached the small bridge spanning the typically dry creek, the waters had swelled dramatically, the result of a violent storm system that moved across Montana that day. The wreck killed forty-nine passengers and crew members and injured another seventy-five, making it the most devastating train accident in Montana history.

Catastrophe at Custer Creek documents the final ride of the Olympian. The sudden and violent wreck garnered national attention. It forever altered the lives of survivors and victims' families and dealt a significant blow to the Milwaukee Road's fortunes. In this vivid narrative history, author Ian Campbell Wilson reconstructs the lives of several passengers and crew members, probes what caused this unprecedented disaster, and surveys the intertwined histories of the Milwaukee Road and the eastern Montana communities that the Olympian passed through on its usual route from Chicago to Tacoma and back again.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Sharon Huether]

Montana's deadliest train Wreck happened at Custer Creek in June 19,1938.

The Author related all that happened, the crew of the "Olympian No. 15", the passengers and their backgrounds. The timetable leading to the crash and the torrential rains that led to the derailment and crash sending the train into a wild and rushing river caused by a violent storm near Terry Montana and East of Miles City, Montana. Forty nine people died and seventy five were injured.

[Amanda Hopper]

The first half was pretty slow and overloaded with information, but once it got to the actual events of the train wreck, I could not put it down. Such a tragic story!