Life
- Died
- Feb. 10, 1870
Career
- Fireman — Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad
Unknown–Feb. 10, 1870
Biography
Thomas Campia was a fireman for the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad and was killed in the Red River trestle boiler explosion near Clarksville on Feb. 10, 1870. Campia was aboard locomotive No. 9, a Norris & Son 4-4-0 used in freight service, when its boiler exploded about a mile from Clarksville. The blast killed Campia along with engineer Thomas J. Bradley and fireman Jonathan Cousins.
Bradley was thrown into a telegraph wire and killed instantly. Campia and Cousins were found beneath the wreckage and taken to the National Hotel, where they died later that night despite medical attention. The cause of the explosion was not determined. The accident came only months after the Budds Creek disaster and added to a series of deadly mishaps that marked the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville’s final years before its sale to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.