Editor’s Note: Western North Carolina is rich with untold stories—many resting quietly in local cemeteries. In this Tombstone Tales series, we explore the lives of people from our region’s past whose legacies, whether widely known or nearly forgotten, helped shape the place we call home.
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — On a June night in 1890, a freight train barreled down the steep Saluda Grade at more than 70 miles per hour. The brakes failed. Within minutes, the train jumped the tracks and slammed into a chestnut oak, killing three crewmen and injuring several others.
Among the dead was engineer Lewis Tunstall, a man regarded as one of the most trusted operators on the Asheville & Spartanburg Railroad. His death, and the catastrophe that claimed the lives of two fellow railroaders, led to critical safety changes on one of the most dangerous stretches of railroad in the South.
A Descent into Disaster
On June 17, 1890, freight train No. 11 departed Asheville, bound for Spartanburg with ten cars of coal. The train was met at the crest of the Saluda Grade, a notorious stretch of track that dropped an average of 237 feet per mile, by Tunstall and his helper engine. His task was to assist the train down the grade, keeping its speed under control…