B. Bittner's Miraculous Escape from a Train Collision
Published October 5, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While crossing the Utah Central Railroad track near the Francklyn Smelter, B. Bittner was caught by a rapidly advancing train, which destroyed his wagon and threw him into the air. Despite the violence of the impact and the fall, he suffered only moderate injuries and no bones were broken.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 46, No. 3, 21 January 1884, p. 47):
B. Bittner, while crossing the Utah Central track near the Francklyn Smelter, was struck by a train, his wagon demolished, and he was thrown some distance, but escaped with only slight injuries, no bones being broken.
In Their Own Words
“B. Bittner lately had a narrow escape from death. While driving across the U. C. Railroad track, near the Francklyn Smelter, a rapidly advancing train caught the wagon upon which he was riding, breaking it to pieces and throwing him into the air. He was considerably bruised by the fall, but no bones were broken. — Millennial Star 46:3”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 21 January 1884 (Vol. 46, No. 3). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1884-01-21_46_3 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 46, No. 3, 21 January 1884, p. 47 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1884-01-21_46_3
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