Meldrim group raises $57,500 for park
Twenty-three people died when a freight train derailed at an Ogeechee River swimming hole near Meldrim on June 28, 1959.
Meldrim Memorial Park will get new playground equipment after a citizens' group raised $57, 500. (Photo: Scott Bryant)
Forty-seven years ago today a freight train derailed and exploded at an Ogeechee River swimming hole outside Meldrim, killing or fatally injuring 23 people.
A citizens' group announced Tuesday that it has put together $57,500 to refurbish playground equipment in Meldrim Memorial Park, dedicated in October 1960 in memory of the victims of the train disaster.
The funds include a $25,000 state grant, $20,000 from the Effingham County Commission, and $12,500 from the Meldrim Civic Club.
The money will be used to buy new playground equipment that's safer and meets federal accessibility standards for disabled children, said Stephen Newsome, the civic club's president.
"We're doing the project mainly just to make sure everything that is there is safe," said Newsome, a lifelong Meldrim resident. "Much of what's there is outdated. The same equipment is there that I grew up on."
A formal ground-breaking ceremony will be held later this year, Newsome said.
Several years ago, Meldrim received a $17,000 state grant to build a picnic shelter and an accompanying pavilion at the park.
Many Meldrim residents still remember the disaster. Witnesses recall that nearly all the cars of a 124-car Seaboard Air Line freight train had crossed an Ogeechee River trestle when 16 cars derailed just a stone's throw from nearby swimmers and picnickers.
Nobody died during the derailment itself. But as curious onlookers gathered, a white fog of propane from a ruptured tanker car came into contact with an ignition source - possibly a camp fire, maybe a lit cigarette - and erupted into an explosion that was visible from miles away.
The Interstate Commerce Commission ultimately concluded that 96-degree summer heat had caused the rails to expand and spread apart, causing the derailment.
Survivors and victims' family members filed at least 20 lawsuits in U.S. District Court, many seeking $1 million or more in damages although the actual awards were usually much less. The railroad settled most of the lawsuits out of court.