Glenn,
I don’t find anything in a 1911 newspaper search about a wreck at
Riverside. However, by searching wider, I found information on a Nov. 5,
1901 accident in which the eastbound fast mail, aka Cannon Ball, collided
head-on with a freight train at Riverside. Crew of the fast mail were
injured. Crew of freight train were not. Accident occurred in
fog, which obscured signals, and the freight train was crossing over to the west
bound tracks, thinking that the fast mail had already passed. That also
explains why the freight train crew were not injured. The mail train
probably hit the freight train behind the engine.
I cannot say with certainty that this is the accident, but with a different
date, if the locals go search their newspapers and the Chicago papers, they may
find more information that collaborates the date, or does not collaborate
the date. Let us know what you find, please. No photos in any of the
papers I found, but that is not surprising.
Chuck Hatler
KC MO